The Scarlet Blade

This was the first Oliver Reed film I ever saw and it's still one of my favourites. He gives an impressive early performance in this good Hammer production. The downslide of it is the main character, played by Jack Hedley, who is a bad actor. One to watch for any Oliver Reed fan.

Set during the civil war with the Roundheads portrayed as the baddies and the Royalists the dashing heroes. Some of the scenes are quite well shot and it's in Technicolor as well which is a plus.

Unfortunately, the heroes aren't very interesting and are overshadowed by the much better Oliver Reed and Lionel Jeffries, the heroes aren't even that likeable and June Thorburn's character is just downright nasty and annoying, she doesn't deserve anyone. Reed's character is by far the most well done and complex, he does a fine acting job too. Additionally, for an action film there's a notable lack of action and the fighting that is in is not very well choreographed or entertaining.

3/10: Worth a watch for Oliver Reed but as a swashbuckler is terrible

This Hammer swashbuckler is one of the few films to be set during the English Civil War. Unfortunately, its treatment of the conflict is fairly simplistic ; the Roundheads are the baddies, intent on killing the king, and the Cavaliers are the romantic good guys, led by Jack Hedley, looking slightly too old to play the Robin Hood like hero.

The film suffers from the fact that the "villains" (Lionel Jeffries, Oliver Reed) are much more charismatic than the "heroes" (Hedley and an insipid June Laverick). The downbeat ending is also a surprise. Nevertheless, like most Hammer films, it is well-mounted and richly-photographed by Jack Asher. Watch out for the sequence in which the outlaws, disguised as bushes (!), creep ever-closer to the Roundhead guards. It looks like a scene from Monty Python!

Set during the English Civil War director John Gilling delivers standard historical fare for Hammer Films as we see the Roundheads kidnap King Charles I, led by unscrupulous Lionel Jeffries and side kick Oliver Reed, only to be scuppered by his own daughter, beautifully played by June Thorburn.

These 3 actors are the best thing about the piece, the Scarlet Blade himself played by Jack Hedley is a rather bland swashbuckling hero who comes to save the day but has none of the charisma of a Robin Hood.

Like most Hammer productions it is handsomely photographed with nice sets and costumes to evoke the period whilst making the most of the English countryside but a lot of it is obviously done in a studio on a very low budget which limits it's scope. The pacing is slow and methodical and it requires patience to sit through but for Hammer purists it's well worth a visit to 1648.

This was a good action/adventure film, with a historical background of 17thc England, in the last days of the reign of Charles I. Colonel Judd, (Lionel Jeffries) a former loyalist, has joined the Roundheads, and he and his men are responsible for the imprisonment of the king, much to the chagrin of his daughter, Claire (June Thorburn), a staunch Loyalist. She joins a group planning to free the king, whose leader (Edward Beverly, played by Jack Hedley) is known by the logo "The Crimson Blade". The group includes Edward's brother, Philip and sister, Constance (Clifford Elkin and Suzan Farmer) seeking vengeance for the murder of their father by Colonel Judd's officers.

There's romance in the story too, as well as a rivalry, when Claire and Edward fall in love, and face the anger of Captain Tom Sylvester (Oliver Reed), who wants Claire, and pledges to support her cause, despite being her father's right-hand man, to try and win her over. But his loyalty, like his love, is self-serving.

It's a movie that'll hold your interest, quick paced, not long and drawn out. I recommend checking it out.