The Flame and the Arrow
Encyclopedia
The Flame and the Arrow is a 1950 American adventure film
made by Warner Bros.
and starring Burt Lancaster
, Virginia Mayo
and Nick Cravat
. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur
and produced by Harold Hecht
and Frank Ross
from a screenplay by Waldo Salt
. The music score was by Max Steiner
and the cinematography by Ernest Haller
. The film was shot in Technicolor
.
, in the area of Italy
known as Lombardy
, Dardo Bartoli (Burt Lancaster) is walking with his son Rudi (Gordon Gebert) when they encounter Count Ulrich (Frank Allenby), the 'Hawk', his niece Anne (Virginia Mayo), and his lover, Dardo's unfaithful wife Francesca (Lynn Baggett). Dardo shows off his skill as an archer by shooting down Ulrich's expensive hunting hawk
. In revenge, the count takes Dardo's son to his castle. Dardo is struck by an arrow while rescuing Rudi, so the boy allows himself to be recaptured in order to draw the soldiers away.
Back at the palace, young Marchese Alessandro de Granazia (Robert Douglas
) asks for Anne's hand in marriage, but is rejected. Ulrich then arrests him for not paying his taxes. When Dardo and his men rescue the marchese, he joins Dardo's band of rebels.
Dardo make another attempt to free his son. On the advice of his uncle Papa Bartoli (Francis Pierlot
), he obtains the help of Anne's maid (one of Dardo's many lovers) to sneak into Ulrich's castle along with his best friend Piccolo (Nick Cravat), but they are unsuccessful. When they find themselves in Lady Anne's apartment, Piccolo suggests they kidnap her instead. They take her to their secret hideout. She tries several times to escape, but Dardo is too crafty for her.
Dardo sends a message to the count, offering an exchange of prisoners, but Ulrich threatens to execute Papa Bartoli unless Anne is released. Dardo and the others race to the village and rescue Papa. Then, Dardo learns from his aunt, Nonna Bartoli (Aline MacMahon), that five more prisoners have been taken to hang in Papa's place. Dardo gives himself up to save the others and is hanged in front of his son. Ulrich takes the rest of the rebels prisoner, including the marchese.
The marchese informs Ulrich that the rebels are planning an attack the next day and that Dardo is alive (the executioner had been replaced by Dardo's friend). As a reward for this betrayal, Ulrich agrees to the marchese's marriage to Anne. When she finds out their plans, she warns Nonna Bartoli, with Dardo and his men hiding around the corner.
They decide that they must attack at once. Piccolo comes up a plan for getting into the castle by posing as some of the acrobats providing entertainment. The ruse works. When they are ready, they remove their disguises and a battle ensues. During the melee, Anne warns Dardo that Ulrich has gone for his son. When Dardo catches up to Ulrich, he is in the company of the marchese. The count leaves Dardo and the marchese to fight. Though Dardo tries to persuade the marchese to stand aside, the marchese refuses and is killed.
Afterwards, Dardo finds his wife dead, killed by a knife in the back. Then, he finds the count holding Rudi at sword-point. Dardo finds a bow and, aiming carefully, kills Ulrich and frees his son. With the battle won, Dardo embraces Anne.
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
made by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and starring Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
, Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo was an American film actress.After a short career in vaudeville, Mayo progressed to films and during the 1940s established herself as a supporting player in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat .Mayo remained an A-list actress into the mid-'50s, but then went...
and Nick Cravat
Nick Cravat
Nick Cravat was an American film actor. His real name was Nicholas Cuccia . "Cravat" was a stage name based on a character in a play he had seen and rather liked....
. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur was a French-American film director.-Life:Born in Paris, France, he was the son of film director Maurice Tourneur. At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States with his father. He started a career in cinema while still attending high school as an extra and later as a script clerk...
and produced by Harold Hecht
Harold Hecht
Harold Hecht , born in New York City, was an American film producer.Harold Hecht started his involvement with the New York stage at age 16. He appeared in numerous classical stage productions and later danced with the companies of the Metropolitan Opera and Martha Graham...
and Frank Ross
Frank Ross (producer)
Frank Ross was a film producer, writer, and actor.A graduate of Princeton University, Ross began acting in 1929's The Saturday Night Kid, starring Clara Bow and Jean Arthur, whom he married in 1932. He only appeared in two more films...
from a screenplay by Waldo Salt
Waldo Salt
Waldo Miller Salt was an American screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the era of McCarthyism.-Early life and career:...
. The music score was by Max Steiner
Max Steiner
Max Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
and the cinematography by Ernest Haller
Ernest Haller
Ernest Haller, A.S.C. also credited as Ernie B. Haller, , was an American cinematographer.Born in Los Angeles, California, Haller joined Biograph Studios as an actor in 1914, then began to freelance as a cinematographer...
. The film was shot in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
.
Plot
In the time of Frederick BarbarossaFrederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
, in the area of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
known as Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, Dardo Bartoli (Burt Lancaster) is walking with his son Rudi (Gordon Gebert) when they encounter Count Ulrich (Frank Allenby), the 'Hawk', his niece Anne (Virginia Mayo), and his lover, Dardo's unfaithful wife Francesca (Lynn Baggett). Dardo shows off his skill as an archer by shooting down Ulrich's expensive hunting hawk
Medieval hunting
Throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages, men hunted wild animals. While game was at times an important source of food, it was rarely the principal source of nutrition. Hunting was engaged by all classes, but by the High Middle Ages, the necessity of hunting was transformed into a stylized...
. In revenge, the count takes Dardo's son to his castle. Dardo is struck by an arrow while rescuing Rudi, so the boy allows himself to be recaptured in order to draw the soldiers away.
Back at the palace, young Marchese Alessandro de Granazia (Robert Douglas
Robert Douglas (actor)
Robert Douglas was born as Robert Douglas Finlayson in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire. He was a successful stage and film actor, a television director and producer....
) asks for Anne's hand in marriage, but is rejected. Ulrich then arrests him for not paying his taxes. When Dardo and his men rescue the marchese, he joins Dardo's band of rebels.
Dardo make another attempt to free his son. On the advice of his uncle Papa Bartoli (Francis Pierlot
Francis Pierlot
Francis Pierlot was a stage and film actor with over 90 film credits.His first film credit was in 1914, but he didn't begin appearing in films full time until 1940 at the age of 63...
), he obtains the help of Anne's maid (one of Dardo's many lovers) to sneak into Ulrich's castle along with his best friend Piccolo (Nick Cravat), but they are unsuccessful. When they find themselves in Lady Anne's apartment, Piccolo suggests they kidnap her instead. They take her to their secret hideout. She tries several times to escape, but Dardo is too crafty for her.
Dardo sends a message to the count, offering an exchange of prisoners, but Ulrich threatens to execute Papa Bartoli unless Anne is released. Dardo and the others race to the village and rescue Papa. Then, Dardo learns from his aunt, Nonna Bartoli (Aline MacMahon), that five more prisoners have been taken to hang in Papa's place. Dardo gives himself up to save the others and is hanged in front of his son. Ulrich takes the rest of the rebels prisoner, including the marchese.
The marchese informs Ulrich that the rebels are planning an attack the next day and that Dardo is alive (the executioner had been replaced by Dardo's friend). As a reward for this betrayal, Ulrich agrees to the marchese's marriage to Anne. When she finds out their plans, she warns Nonna Bartoli, with Dardo and his men hiding around the corner.
They decide that they must attack at once. Piccolo comes up a plan for getting into the castle by posing as some of the acrobats providing entertainment. The ruse works. When they are ready, they remove their disguises and a battle ensues. During the melee, Anne warns Dardo that Ulrich has gone for his son. When Dardo catches up to Ulrich, he is in the company of the marchese. The count leaves Dardo and the marchese to fight. Though Dardo tries to persuade the marchese to stand aside, the marchese refuses and is killed.
Afterwards, Dardo finds his wife dead, killed by a knife in the back. Then, he finds the count holding Rudi at sword-point. Dardo finds a bow and, aiming carefully, kills Ulrich and frees his son. With the battle won, Dardo embraces Anne.
Cast
- Aline MacMahonAline MacMahonAline MacMahon was an American actress. Her career began on stage in 1921. She worked extensively in film and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dragon Seed .-Early life:Aline Laveen MacMahon was born...
as Nonna Bartoli - Burt LancasterBurt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
as Dardo Bartoli - Francis PierlotFrancis PierlotFrancis Pierlot was a stage and film actor with over 90 film credits.His first film credit was in 1914, but he didn't begin appearing in films full time until 1940 at the age of 63...
as Papa Pietro Bartoli - Frank Allenby as Count Ulrich, 'The Hawk'
- Gordon GebertGordon GebertGordon Alan Gebert was a child actor who is predominantly known for having smaller roles, in such films as Holiday Affair. He later turned away from acting and became a college professor.-Biography:...
as Rudi Bartoli - Lynn Baggett as Francesca
- Nick CravatNick CravatNick Cravat was an American film actor. His real name was Nicholas Cuccia . "Cravat" was a stage name based on a character in a play he had seen and rather liked....
as Piccolo - Norman LloydNorman LloydNorman Lloyd is an American actor, producer, and director with a career in entertainment spanning more than seven decades. Lloyd, who currently resides in Los Angeles, has appeared in over sixty films and television shows....
as Apollo, the troubadour - Robert DouglasRobert Douglas (actor)Robert Douglas was born as Robert Douglas Finlayson in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire. He was a successful stage and film actor, a television director and producer....
as Marchese Alessandro de Granazia - Robin HughesRobin HughesRobin Hughes was a film and television actor-Background:Robin Hughes was born June 7, 1920 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to English parents...
as Skinner - Victor KilianVictor KilianVictor Arthur Kilian was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s....
as Apothecary Mazzoni - Virginia MayoVirginia MayoVirginia Mayo was an American film actress.After a short career in vaudeville, Mayo progressed to films and during the 1940s established herself as a supporting player in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat .Mayo remained an A-list actress into the mid-'50s, but then went...
as Anne de Hesse