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The Golden Arrow (Italian: L'Arciere delle Mille e Una Notte, lit. 'The Archer of the Thousand and One Nights') is a 1962 Italian peplum film directed by Antonio Margheriti.[3]

The Golden Arrow
American theatrical poster
Directed by	Antonio Margheriti
Screenplay by	Giorgio Arlorio Augusto Frassinetti Giorgio Prosperi Filippo Sanjust Bruno Vailati[1]
Produced by	Goffredo Lombardo[1]
Starring	Tab Hunter Rossana Podesta Umberto Melnati Mario Feliciani
Cinematography	Gábor Pogány[1]
Edited by	Mario Serandrei[1]
Music by	Mario Nascimbene[2]
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Titanus
Distributed by	Titantis
Release date	7 September 1962 (1962-09-07) (Italy)
Running time	91 mins
Country	Italy
Languages	English Italian

Synopsis

Damascus is governed by the fierce tyrant Baktiar, who will be forced to give up his throne once his daughter Jamila is married. As Jamila falls in love with the mysterious Hassan, Baktiar will try in every way to prevent their marriage.

Cast

• Tab Hunter as Hassan
• Rossana Podestà as Jamila
• Mario Feliciani as the tyrant Baktiar
• Umberto Melnati as Thin Genie
• Giustino Durano as Absent-Minded Genie
• José Jaspe as Sabrath
• Renato Baldini as Prince of Basra
• Dominique Boschero as Queen of Rocky Valley
• Gloria Milland as Queen in the cave
• Franco Scandurra as Bearded Genie

Production

Hunter later recalled in his memoirs:

Not being able to speak Italian wasn't a drawback. The script of La Freccia d'Oro - my copy was the only one in English - featured page after page of truly horrendous dialogue... All I could think of was Tony Curtis in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951): "Yonda lies da castle of my fadda." I spend every night in my hotel, rewriting my lines so I'd at least have fun delivering them. I camped it up shamelessly. Not that it mattered - all my dialogue was eventually dubbed by a stiff-as-a-board Italian baritone with no sense of humor. I ended up sounding like Rossano Brazzi. Disappointment over being stuck in a stinker was eased considerably by weekly infusions of cash, delivered personally by the production manager. I'd sign a voucher and he'd hand over a bundle of lire, some of the old notes as big as place mats.[4]

Release

The Golden Arrow was released in Italy on September 7, 1962.[5] It was released in the United States in May 1964.[5] The film was not a box office hit and cost so much money it almost bankrupted Titanus, the production company.[4]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, an anonymous reviewer in the Monthly Film Bulletin noted that the special effects and trick photography were "of unusually variable quality-distinctly poor in the Egyptian city episode, though spectacular enough in the fiery cavern with the flaming men." and that "the film suffers further from a lack of dash, and from Tab Hunter's weak playing of the hero."[6]

From retrospective reviews, the author of the book Il grande cinema fantasy described the film as "a typical adventure B-movie, especially interesting for its fantasy elements, which is damaged by the presence of comic elements that do not bind enough with the rest."[7]^{[page needed]} The film still gained recognition for sporting particularly elaborate sets and costumes.[8]^{[page needed]}

See also

• List of Italian films of 1962

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

• The Golden Arrow at IMDb
• The Golden Arrow at the TCM Movie Database
• The Golden Arrow at AllMovie

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