El Espadachín de Siena

This fairly standard Italian swashbuckler is considerably enlivened by two factors: the presence of Stewart Granger, one of movie's great swordsmen who actually was a good swordsman -- only Basil Rathbone was better. The swordplay in this movie is very real -- although the casual moviegoer might not understand the seemingly motionless pointwork, it is very well shot.

The other high point of the movie is the horse race, the famous Pallio of Siena. Although the real Pallio is a bareback race, this version of it is shot very excitingly with some nice point of view shots and excellent stuntwork.

Although I viewed an excellent print, it was dubbed, and therefore a bit hard to judge most of the performances. The costumes are excellent and the result is a surprisingly good Italian potboiler.

Like so many contract players in the days of the studio system decline in the Fifties Stewart Granger found himself looking for work and taking it where he could find it after MGM let him go in the late Fifties. He found work in Europe and in this particular swashbuckler Swordsman Of Siena which was released in America by his old studio MGM. Later on he would be doing spaghetti westerns.

But the swashbuckler was a film genre Granger was as comfortable and looked as comfortable as Errol Flynn. He's a mercenary, an Englishman working for whoever hires him and in this case it is Spanish captain Riccardo Garrone. Back in those days of the 16th century most of Italy was part of the Spanish empire either under Emperor Charles V or King Phillip,II of Spain. In this particular part of Italy, Tuscany they're not crazy about the occupying Spanish governor Garrone and his enforcer brother Fausto Tozzi.

Garrone wants to employ Granger as personal bodyguard to Sylva Koscina the daughter of the local Italian noble. She tolerates Garrone for the sake of the father, her sister Christine Kaufman is far less so.

There's a horse race which is the town's biggest event about to be held and it's more like the chariot race from Ben-Hur. With just about the same rules applying. The Spanish occupiers always win as a matter of propaganda and pride. Granger upsets a whole lot of plans.

In films like Moonfleet and The Prisoner Of Zenda, Stewart Granger showed he mastered the art of the swashbuckler. This one is all right entertainment, but hardly in the same league as those other films from his glory days at MGM.

Better than those spaghetti westerns to come.

Here it is--a G-rated movie for the family that is dashing, up-beat, and which provides positive role models for both men and women. The entire set, costuming, storyline, romance, intrigue, plot twist and fencing were spot on. Granger turns in another fine performance as in the Prisoner of Zenda and Scaramouche. And what a fine swordsman he was, with only Cornel Wilde, Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone being a convincing match. I am a European historian who spent several years there and who loves these kinds of productions. When the movie ended, with a final little plot twist, I just sat there in the easy chair smiling, or was it beaming! A jolly good show.

This one of the best of the genre. the swordplay is fantastic and the costumes excellent. the only fault i find is the dubbing. The plot is a bit thin but who cares. If you like swordplay the technical aspects of this film are hard to beat. The character that Granger plays is one that he seems to be at home with. The wit and banter between him and his co-star are funny and to the point. The film lacked only the final duel, between Granger and the villain. The end I felt was anti-climatic. However the beauty of Sylva Koscina more than makes up for the films shortcomings. In my opinion they could have come up with someone other than Christine Kaufman for the secondary female role.

A 16th-century Spanish overlord hires Thomas Stanswood (Stewart Granger) to protect his, less than eager, fiancee (Sylva Koscina) from rebels. Thomas finds himself drawn to both the fiancee and the rebels side.

Compared to Granger's other fine swashbucklers - Scaramouche and Prisoner of Zenda - Swordsman of Siena, a French-Italian production, is lesser known, which is a shame because it's fast-plotted, full of intrigue, colour, zest and great swordplay, not to forget the thrilling horserace at the end. The location is exquisite, the town and castles come alive, towering over participants- there's atmosphere, and suspense with a nice twist at the end.

Stewart Granger, in his last swashbuckler, executes his role as a British mercenary with much panache, suaveness and wit - his swordplay is very impressive. The scene in the town square where he takes on the bad guys is exciting, as is the scene where he fences in the barn, swinging on ropes, balancing on ladders. That's a well-staged sequence. The only drawback is that there should've been a duel between the main villain and Granger. The beautiful Sylvia Koscina and Christine Kauffman co-star and enact their roles well.

An excellent old- fashioned swashbuckling adventure imbued with positiveness - a tale of good over tyranny.