On paper this was a natural for Errol Flynn and might have been written for him; alas, by 1950 no one was writing this kind of swashbuckling role for a Flynn no longer up to the physical demands of the genre. Less than a decade previously Burt Lancaster had been an active circus performer and was still in shape but his acting ambitions were way loftier than aspiring to be the next Errol Flynn. He was, however, happy to flesh out his CV with a couple of action films (see: The Crimson Pirate) aimed at the lowest common denominator and makes a decent fist out of this entry with the reliable Jacques Tourneur (also slumming, see: Out Of The Past) behind the camera. Good solid support too, if anybody asks you, from the likes of Aline McMahon and Norman Lloyd, who, at aged over 100, had a film out last year. Easy diversion, if you're ten years old you'll love it.

An entertaining swashbuckler with Burt Lancaster as a sort of Continental Robin Hood, who with his band of not always merry men (and women) rails against the strictures of the rich evil count who controls the district with an iron fist. In one of a number of unusual plot strands, Burt's son by the Count's daughter becomes the focus of a kidnapping which sets up the climactic finale when the castle is stormed and as you'd expect, almost every wrong, (bar the fate of the boy's mother) is righted.Perhaps too many similarities from the legend of Robin Hood are employed for the story's own good, but familiarity breeds content as Dardo escapes death at the gallows, falls in love with the beautiful Virginia Mayo, engages in a do-or-die sword fight near the end and generally runs, jumps and swings about everywhere like the trained acrobat he was. At his side is his faithful, mute sidekick Piccolo, played by Nick Cravat, although quite how Burt makes sense of the latter's bowdlerised sign language is a mystery to me.What I liked about the film was that Dardo isn't the gold-plated hero you'd expect. He's at times stubborn, misguided and in his early scenes with the tit-for-tat capture of Mayo as a pawn to get back his son, occasionally cruel. He's also insensitive to the claims of his son's mother on the boy and also has a kiss for every woman with whom he has even a passing acquaintance, but in the end this lovable rogue, played with great verve by a tousle-haired Lancaster, wins the day and I suppose the audience's affections.The action is colourful if occasionally underpowered, the sets are fine, especially the castle interiors. Lancaster claimed to do all his own stunts but that seems very unlikely given the evidence and editing seen here, nevertheless it's his drive and energy which keeps the action moving. Mayo is fetching in her elaborate robes although her character seems too feisty to suddenly capitulate to Dardo's less than magnetic charms. Robert Douglas as the dashing but double-dealing Marquese and Frank Allenby as the tyrannical count are both very good in support.I'm still scratching my head a little as to the relevance of its title to the film itself other than to advertise its action-packed credentials, but as swashbuckling entertainment, this lively movie was a fun, undemanding watch.

Burt Lancaster and his real-life trapeze partner Nick Cravat perform some pretty astonishing acrobatic stunts in "Out of the Past" director Jacques Tourneur's nimble Technicolor swashbuckler "The Flame and the Arrow" as they tangle with the villains and rescue gorgeous damsel-in-distress Virginia Mayo. Two-time Oscar winning scenarist Waldo Salt, who won his statuettes for "Midnight Cowboy" and "Coming Home," penned the screenplay for this frisky "Robin Hood" style adventure yarn that rarely takes itself seriously. This colorful twelfth-century tale takes place in medieval Italy in a province known as Lombardy. Dardo Bartoli (Burt Lancaster of "The Killers") is an agile huntsman whose unfaithful wife has abandoned him for the arms of Hessian nobleman Count 'The Hawk' Ullrich (Frank Allenby), but Dardo knows that he is better off without the dame. Indeed, he enjoys the companionship of his son Rudi (Gordon Gebert of "The Narrow Margin"), and he refuses to become involved with the local rebels who want to oust 'The Hawk.' Dardo's non-participatory attitude changes after 'The Hawk' abducts his son at the request of Dardo's wayward wife, Francesca (Lynn Baggett of "D.O.A.") wants her son to enjoy the privileges of a nobleman. Ernst Haller's cinematography is a bonus that got an Oscar nomination along with Max Steiner's orchestral score. Although the plot is predictable from fade-in to fade-out, Lancaster displays gusto galore as the heroic mountaineer who is adept with a bow and arrow. If you're a Burt Lancaster fan, this Warner Brothers costumer should keep you enthralled.

Warner Bros. continued the Robin Hood tradition with "The Flame and the Arrow". Jacques Tourneur's movie casts Burt Lancaster - sporting what looks like a Buddy Holly hairdo - as Dardo, a freedom fighter in medieval Lombardy. Rallying his people to expel despot Ulrich (Frank Allenby), Dardo - a man of seemingly limitless wit - used some Roman ruins as his operations base. He and his mute friend Piccolo (Nick Cravat) employed lots of cool acrobatics in their raids on the castle.There was one thing that looked very unrealistic, although it may have been accurate: Dardo's love interest Anne (Virginia Mayo) wears pants in some scenes, and even wears shorts in some scenes. I can't imagine that any woman in medieval Europe would have worn pants, let alone shorts. But maybe she really did dress like that. Whatever the deal was, Virginia Mayo is as hot here as she was in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".Anyway, this is the sort of classic action flick that makes one keep wanting more. Silly at times, yes, but impossible not to like. Exactly the sort of film that people behind the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies would have loved to spoof (and they made a number of cartoons parodying this genre). Really good.