The Golden Blade (1953)

Calificación de los usuarios:

5.5/10   

Director:

Nathan Juran

Escritores:

William R. Cox (writer)
John Rich (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

12 agosto 1953 (USA)

Género:

Aventura

Frase comercial:

His Blade Of Gold... A Legend In Battle! Her Kiss Of Surrender... The Prize Of Victory!

Plot:

Harum (Rock Hudson) is a fearless man of the people who comes to Bagdad to avenge the murder of his father and meets Krairuzan (Piper Laurie)...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Swashbuckler | Beautiful Woman

Comentarios de los usuarios:

THE GOLDEN BLADE (Nathan Juran, 1953) **1/2

Reparto

Rock Hudson	...	Harun
Piper Laurie	...	Princess Khairuzan
Gene Evans	...	Capt. Hadi
George Macready	...	Jafar
Kathleen Hughes	...	Bakhamra
Steven Geray	...	Barcus
Edgar Barrier	...	Caliph
Alice Kelley	...	Handmaiden
Anita Ekberg	...	Handmaiden
Erika Nordin	...	Handmaiden (as Erika Norden)
Valerie Jackson	...	Handmaiden
Victor Romito	...	Sherkan (as Vic Romito)

También conocida como:

La espada de Damasco (Spain) [es]
La espada invencible (Chile) [es]

Duración:

81 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sonido:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Clasificación:

USA:Approved (PCA #16383) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Locaciones de Filmación:

Castle, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Compañía:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivialidades:

Tony Curtis turned down the lead role.

THE GOLDEN BLADE (Nathan Juran, 1953) **1/2

Arabian Nights adventures were staples on Italian TV in my childhood; this (acquired fairly recently on DVD as part of Universal's "Rock Hudson: Screen Legend" set) was one of them, though I'd practically forgotten all about it in the interim. Not that it's in any way a memorable entry in the genre, and certainly not original – since this is basically the Excalibur legend transposed to ancient Bagdad – but a pleasant diversion nonetheless.

Having watched two of the star's 'oaters' back-to-back (the other was SEA DEVILS [1953]), I can say that he was rather more at ease as an Englishman than an Arab (though he does well enough by the action required here, involving a handful of swordfights and even a jousting[!] contest – which he loses – for the hand of leading lady Piper Laurie). The latter – petite and vivacious – lends some freshness to the mostly familiar proceedings; a similar outing of hers I'd like to revisit someday is THE PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF (1951) featuring Tony Curtis, another then-rising Universal star who dabbled in actioners (read: potboilers) of every kind during this period.

Anyway, the rest of the cast here is equally creditable: George Macready as the (typically conniving) Grand Vizier, who's eventually revealed to have also ordered the decimation of neighboring Basra (from where Hudson emanates); Samuel Fuller regular Gene Evans as Macready's incompetent son(!) – the old man wants him to marry princess Laurie in order to secure the throne for themselves, but he actually loves her subordinate; Steven Geray as the merchant who first comes into possession of The Golden Blade, and subsequently steers Hudson into fulfilling its destiny (that is, apart from supplying the film's comedy relief); and Edgar Barrier as the reigning Caliph (I've watched him recently in two other exotic ventures for the same studio, namely ARABIAN NIGHTS [1942] and COBRA WOMAN [1944]).

The climax of this compact swashbuckler – running a mere 80 minutes – incorporates a bit of magic (and campiness) as the blade becomes entrenched in the walls of the palace; consequently, a host of muscle-men, inventors and sorcerers are recruited so as to try and dislodge it…but only the dashing hero is able to, the direct result of which is to have the column in question crumble and bury the two villains underneath it! By the way, director Juran would later helm two other (and far more notable) mythical adventures – THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958) and JACK THE GIANT KILLER (1962), both of which had the added appeal of stop-motion animated monsters.