An English swordsman for hire is employed by a Spanish Governor ruling an insurgent Italian province. He becomes the bodyguard of the future duchess and is soon embroiled in court intrigue and the growing rebellion.
This film marked the beginning of Stewart Grangers career expatriation to Europe after his estrangement with the powers that be in Hollywood. In this context, it's not a bad costumer and recalls shades of his former success with Scaramouche. In fact, the film has some surprisingly energetic action scenes - most notably - some well staged sword fights where Granger aptly shows his swordplay skills and a grueling horse race at the end of the film.
The story and plot are standard fair for this type of movie but are handled well and given a lift by Grangers charming delivery. The pace is brisk, the widescreen photography is nice and the Italian cast comes off pretty well led by Sylva Koscino as the fiery duchess. In fact, the film succeeds on many levels emulating a good Hollywood costumer with one exception, the music. It's atrocious. The movie screams for the fiery score of a Korngold or a Max Steiner but is instead left with fluff. It doesn't kill the movie but it hurts.
This film marked the beginning of Stewart Grangers career expatriation to Europe after his estrangement with the powers that be in Hollywood. In this context, it's not a bad costumer and recalls shades of his former success with Scaramouche. In fact, the film has some surprisingly energetic action scenes - most notably - some well staged sword fights where Granger aptly shows his swordplay skills and a grueling horse race at the end of the film.
The story and plot are standard fair for this type of movie but are handled well and given a lift by Grangers charming delivery. The pace is brisk, the widescreen photography is nice and the Italian cast comes off pretty well led by Sylva Koscino as the fiery duchess. In fact, the film succeeds on many levels emulating a good Hollywood costumer with one exception, the music. It's atrocious. The movie screams for the fiery score of a Korngold or a Max Steiner but is instead left with fluff. It doesn't kill the movie but it hurts.