La flèche d'or

Heroic bandit Hassan (Tab Hunter), the rightful Prince of Damascus, falls in love with the Princess Jamila (Rossana Podestà) and, with the help of three genies, searches for the mysterious 'Golden Arrow' before returning (by magic carpet) to save the city from the evil Prince of Basra (Renato Baldini) and win Jamila's hand in marriage. Directed by Antonio Margheriti (the hand behind the 'Gamma One tetralogy' of colourful low-budget space operas), this moderately-budgeted sword and sorcery demi-epic is an odd mix of excellent and awful. The sets and backgrounds are often impressive (the opening scenes especially), as are the location shots in Egypt, the climactic battle scene (before the genies arrive and inject some slapstick into the fight), and the model city Hassan flies over. Some of the 'practical' effects (such as the burning men or the flying carpet that Jamila steps onto at the end) are quite convincing but the optical effects (mattes, superimpositions etc) are terrible (notably the scenes involving the magic arrow or the three genies). In a triumph of colour-blind casting, Hunter may be the least likely-looking 'Hassan' to ever don curly-toed shoes, but the double-dubbed American teen idol seems to be having fun in the improbable role, athletically avoiding the mostly incompetent palace guards and performing his own horseback scenes. The rest of the cast dutifully discharges what is expected from them in an English dubbed peplum although the 'comic relief' genie antics get tiresome quickly. A colourful silly time-passer for kid's not too spoiled by CGI and for aficionados of this sort of endearingly goofy shtick.

I was looking forward to this one, being a fan of Arabian Nights fantasies and in view of cult director Margheriti's participation (unusually billed under his real name here, instead of the familiar pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson!); distributed internationally by MGM, the film used to crop up from time to time on the TCM U.K. schedule – but it may have been the 1936 Warner Bros. effort bearing the same title, and which I acquired not too long ago via this very channel, all along!

Anyway, the movie is appropriately colourful and intermittently diverting; yet, given the utter lack of originality, the result is mainly dreary – not helped by lifeless treatment, ill-advised star casting (blond Tab Hunter as the proverbial 'prince who was a thief'!) and ropey special effects (the handiwork of the obligatory suppliers of resistible comedy relief, a buffoonish trio of wizards who literally come down to earth to aid the hero regain his throne)!! The current princess (Rossana Podesta', a regular of such costumed fare) is contended by a number of potentates, one of whom is in league with the – what else? – wicked Grand Vizier (for once, though, he does not covet either the girl or the throne himself, apparently content merely to pull the strings at court!). Eventually, she asks them to bring her the most precious gift – but, what they come up with (a crystal ball, a life- restoring potion and a magic carpet), has equal value in her eyes when she is stricken by a 'mysterious' illness and near death!

Hunter naturally has a coterie of bandit pals (who initially turn against him when he allows the kidnapped princess to flee rather than demand a ransom for her) – but their role is downplayed in favour of the afore-mentioned magicians. Incidentally, the script is indiscriminate in its borrowings: the titular weapon is first presented as having Excalibur-type powers i.e. only the right person can handle it; while, halfway through, we get thoroughly pointless sections that would have better served the peplum genre involving a cave guarded by flaming monsters and, subsequently, a Theban community – from what I could gather, under some sorcerer's spell – which the hero saves (by destroying a temple in the desert)! The climax, then, features the protagonist's 'supernatural' sidekicks dumping jars from the air on the assailing forces and Hunter adopting the golden arrow to slice up the villains' own flying rug!

Please ignore the negative reviews. Almost sixty (60) years ago The Golden Arrow film was released and after just watching this adventure film for the first time, I can assure you that I will be watching it again in the future. I have just ordered a Blu Ray copy to add it to my "favourites" film library.

I have always been a big fan of the adventure/fantasy/science fiction genres and when you add some light comedy and romance in as well then the certainly audience gets their moneys worth. Adding even more enjoyment to the film is the beautiful technicolor format and some classic fantasy scenes such as the three (3) genies / wise men, performing Ray Harryhausen type magic interspersed such as a magic carpet ride, massive concrete pillars tumbling and of course The Golden Arrow itself that actor and star Tab Hunter the lowly thief bends when no one else can to win the hand in marriage to the beautiful princess Jamila (Rossana Podestà).

It is a fun film for young and old alike and the film was finished so quickly that I found myself wanting more of the same. I give it a highly rated 8 out of 10 IMDB rating and forget about the negative reviews. This is a fun filled family adventure/fantasy film!

This film has the colors of a cartoon but much less excitement. The three genies are dull, everyone is dull.

The action and costumes and alligator dungeon might have some appeal, but strictly for children.

Even for kids, it is all quite saccharin.

The is much better out there.

It's pollyanna-ish reviewing to give anything over a five to a movie where the English speaking actors are dubbed into English. This movie isn't bad. It's just mediocre. It was a product of its time -- Italian productions sold to English speaking audiences for its T&A tease, both male and female (sword and sandal movies, anyone?).