An entertaining swashbuckler with Burt Lancaster as a sort of Continental Robin Hood, who with his band of not always merry men (and women) rails against the strictures of the rich evil count who controls the district with an iron fist. In one of a number of unusual plot strands, Burt's son by the Count's daughter becomes the focus of a kidnapping which sets up the climactic finale when the castle is stormed and as you'd expect, almost every wrong, (bar the fate of the boy's mother) is righted.
Perhaps too many similarities from the legend of Robin Hood are employed for the story's own good, but familiarity breeds content as Dardo escapes death at the gallows, falls in love with the beautiful Virginia Mayo, engages in a do-or-die sword fight near the end and generally runs, jumps and swings about everywhere like the trained acrobat he was. At his side is his faithful, mute sidekick Piccolo, played by Nick Cravat, although quite how Burt makes sense of the latter's bowdlerised sign language is a mystery to me.
What I liked about the film was that Dardo isn't the gold-plated hero you'd expect. He's at times stubborn, misguided and in his early scenes with the tit-for-tat capture of Mayo as a pawn to get back his son, occasionally cruel. He's also insensitive to the claims of his son's mother on the boy and also has a kiss for every woman with whom he has even a passing acquaintance, but in the end this lovable rogue, played with great verve by a tousle-haired Lancaster, wins the day and I suppose the audience's affections.
The action is colourful if occasionally underpowered, the sets are fine, especially the castle interiors. Lancaster claimed to do all his own stunts but that seems very unlikely given the evidence and editing seen here, nevertheless it's his drive and energy which keeps the action moving. Mayo is fetching in her elaborate robes although her character seems too feisty to suddenly capitulate to Dardo's less than magnetic charms. Robert Douglas as the dashing but double-dealing Marquese and Frank Allenby as the tyrannical count are both very good in support.
I'm still scratching my head a little as to the relevance of its title to the film itself other than to advertise its action-packed credentials, but as swashbuckling entertainment, this lively movie was a fun, undemanding watch.
Perhaps too many similarities from the legend of Robin Hood are employed for the story's own good, but familiarity breeds content as Dardo escapes death at the gallows, falls in love with the beautiful Virginia Mayo, engages in a do-or-die sword fight near the end and generally runs, jumps and swings about everywhere like the trained acrobat he was. At his side is his faithful, mute sidekick Piccolo, played by Nick Cravat, although quite how Burt makes sense of the latter's bowdlerised sign language is a mystery to me.
What I liked about the film was that Dardo isn't the gold-plated hero you'd expect. He's at times stubborn, misguided and in his early scenes with the tit-for-tat capture of Mayo as a pawn to get back his son, occasionally cruel. He's also insensitive to the claims of his son's mother on the boy and also has a kiss for every woman with whom he has even a passing acquaintance, but in the end this lovable rogue, played with great verve by a tousle-haired Lancaster, wins the day and I suppose the audience's affections.
The action is colourful if occasionally underpowered, the sets are fine, especially the castle interiors. Lancaster claimed to do all his own stunts but that seems very unlikely given the evidence and editing seen here, nevertheless it's his drive and energy which keeps the action moving. Mayo is fetching in her elaborate robes although her character seems too feisty to suddenly capitulate to Dardo's less than magnetic charms. Robert Douglas as the dashing but double-dealing Marquese and Frank Allenby as the tyrannical count are both very good in support.
I'm still scratching my head a little as to the relevance of its title to the film itself other than to advertise its action-packed credentials, but as swashbuckling entertainment, this lively movie was a fun, undemanding watch.