The Flame and the Arrow

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I especially love the elfin language about the two flowers and the bees. There is a deeper meaning about love in the elfin language. BELOW – I have cropped the picture a little to see how it would have looked on the screen – although a still photographer is in the foreground – doing a good job I am sure

Burt also gets the opportunity to romance Allenby's niece Virginia Mayo who is being offered to a recently impoverished count Robert Douglas in the hopes of peace and unity. Douglas however is working an agenda all his own in The Flame And The Arrow. Mayo is curiously enough the mirror image of Baggett. She's bored with court life and finds certain attractions among the peasants especially the lusty and charismatic Lancaster.

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". Don't do it, Annika," he taunted. His eyes were no longer bright and charming, but dark and intense, yet they still twinkled. He was tempting, but was he harmful? Narration was wonderful. A slightly British accent, with a not too deep voice. But when he went into different male characters, he pulled off thedeep and gravely just fine. Acceptable female renditions but I will always say that the male/female narration duo is the best. The Flame and the Arrow" is a colorful adventure film with a great closing shot: Lancaster swinging in a series of circular movements on metalwork high above the courtyard of an old castle...

On the other hand, the hero is a douch-bag of epic proportions. He's petulant, spoiled, arrogant, cruel, and loves to brag about all the women he's had. He also enjoys belittling and torturing the woman he claims to love, and constantly lies to her -- when he isn't stomping out in a huff over some slight to his fragile ego. He is the most unlikable hero I've ever read. Allenby and Douglas prove to have the best parts as confirmed villains. But Lancaster along with Mayo as the love interest don't fare as well, as their fate seems wholly improbable (one scene in which Dardo survives hanging on the gallows with a special harness proves to be the most absurd moment in the entire drama). Lancaster is marvellous to watch! Performing all his own stunts his high flying antics are a joy to behold. No other actor, before or since, would prove to be so agile and provide such a spirited performance! His athletic prowess is outstanding and little wonder he was Warner's first choice to play the great native American athlete Jim Thorpe in their biographical "Jim Thorpe-All American" (aka "Man Of Bronz") in 1952. Although he did a kind of follow-up to "The Flame & The Arrow" two years later with the more comical "The Crimson Pirate" it is a shame he then ceased doing this type of movie as we could have tolerated him in quite a few more of them. And Burt has the charisma going full blast in this film. As well he would have to, otherwise why would the peasants be following him. It's an expansive part and no one could be as expansive as Burt Lancaster when the part called for it.

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We keep coming up with these Double Bill promotions – what about this one for two great adventures stories :- Want to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors." The courtship of Annika and Talvi is so sweet. There are so many clues on how Talvi felt about Annika but Annika kept flying into the wrong conclusions about Talvi. Talvi only revealed what Annika needs to know when she is ready to listen. In Annika's defense, she is scared of what would happen when she returned to her own world. Talvi can't follow her there since he doesn't have a job there and has never been to the States. She is scared that she and Talvi might not have a future in the human world.

Annika said that she has met his kind (a womenizer) before and knew how to deter them. Yet she fell for Talvi who is the type she doesn't go for! While visiting a small town, Sofia, Annika noticed a man and three women in their twenties. Intrigued by the way they were dressed, Annika followed them into the bookstore. She only found out that they were from Derbedrossivic, before she escaped when one of the women mistakened her for another person. THE FLAME AND THE ARROW is one (1) of those films that every ten (10) years we see and are pleasantly surprised how well it holds up. It is also amazing how it appears and disappears. In the 60's it was on quite frequently, the 70's not so. American Movie Classics (AMC) showed it often in the 80's and it came out on VHS. Now it is been buried again so a new generation of viewers are going to have to wait till it comes out on DVD. I have just watched my 80's VHS recently so this is based upon it.

I love Talvi for being so smug, confident with a bit of mischief whenever he talked to Annika. He is quite a protective and caring character. There are just so many good qualities about Talvi. From his past of what Annika knew about him, Talvi really grew from the shallow character he was before meeting Annika.

Instead of showing what this kind of crazy thrill ride could be, we just get more scenes of the brats fighting and calling each other names, while they conducted their relationship with all the maturity of a couple of middle schoolers. Burt Lancaster was a much more versatile actor than Errol Flynn; I could not, for example, imagine Flynn in "The Birdman of Alcatraz" or "Lawman" or "The Train". (Or if he had made a version of "The Train", it would have had had Labiche leaping from carriage to carriage across the roof of the train, fighting hand-to-hand duels against the Nazis in a desperate attempt to rescue the priceless artworks). Within his relatively narrow range, however, Flynn ruled supreme, and for all his athleticism Lancaster never quite brings to his role the panache and charisma that Flynn brought to his in "Robin Hood" and similar films. It is though Burt Lancaster that is the central focus of the film. His first 'independent' production he knew if he did not carry it well it would have failed. Every time he is on the screen he is the focus of attention and fortunately he is on very often. Whether exchanging insults, engaging in acrobatics or romance he is hitting the target every time. He is ably supported by Virginia Mayo as his leading lady. A underrated actress with a attractive and strong physical presence. Lets be frank, does anyone believe that DARDO would fall for some skinny twit like Audrey Hepburn (or today Angelina Jolie) no way. We did not believe that when Sean Connery did in ROBIN AND MARIAN!During the 23rd Academy Awards for the films from 1950, it was nominated for Best Cinematography (Color) for Ernest Haller though the award went to Robert Surtees for King Solomon's Mines. A second nomination for the film for Best Musical Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture was received by Max Steiner. Still, the award went to Franz Waxman for Sunset Boulevard. I think it was worth listening to the narrator who I thought was very good! I just found the story to be very long and slow (not a lot of action since it is a fantasy). I believe some parts can be cut out of the book to shorten it. I think it didn't help that I didn't believe in Annika and Talvi's relationship.