The Flame and the Arrow

For years, I knew who Nick Cravat was without really knowing what his name was.  Growing up, I watched Disney's Davy Crockett basically on a repeating loop, especially the finale as Davy fights at the Alamo.  One of the volunteers he brings with him? A Comanche warrior with a streak of bad luck dubbed Busted Luck, played by none other than Cravat. The character in terms of historical accuracy is hogwash, but the Indian communicating via signs was always such a cool character to me.

Since watching 'Davy Crockett' so many times -- still love it by the way -- I started to see Cravat pop up in movies here and there, usually in supporting parts where the diminutive actor still found a way to make himself seen.  Nowhere was that more evident than his roles next to Burt Lancaster in 1952's The Crimson Pirate and 1950's The Flame and the Arrow. They're both similar movies, high adventures with plenty of action and acrobatics, Lancaster and Cravat playing the hero and his loyal sidekick. Similar in a lot of ways to recently reviewed His Majesty O'Keefe, but more entertaining from start to finish.

In the 12th Century in Lombardy in Italy, a peasant hunter named Dardo (Lancaster) has free reign of the woods, living with his young son, Rudy (Gordon Gebert), after the boy's mother left them some years earlier. When Dardo goes against the German ruler in the area, Count 'the Hawk' Ulrich (Frank Allenby), he's forced to take action, retreating to the woods with a band of friends and outlaws. Biding his time, Dardo goes about planning how to get his son back, now living with his estranged mother (Lynn Baggett) who now is married to Ulrich. As he plans though, the outlaw with the growing notoriety meets Anne de Hesse (Virginia Mayo), Ulrich's niece. His plans become a part of something bigger though as the Italian villagers join in the revolt against their German rulers.

So that's kind of convoluted, isn't it?  Much more than I intended it to be, and the movie isn't actually that confusing.  If the story sounds a little familiar, it should. It's called Robin Hood but this Jacques Tourneur-directed action flick jumps from England to Italy with some names changed here and there. The good guys are really good, just fun-loving outlaws rebelling against the oppressive rulers while the bad guys are really bad, enjoying keeping the peasants under their thumbs.  There is plenty of action, some humor thrown in, and a long list of very cool stunt sequences courtesy of Lancaster and Cravat.

I learned from Wikipedia -- what doesn't that site offer? -- that the duo met at the age of nine and worked together for years to come in stage shows and circus performances, even forming an acrobatic team. They would then work together in 'Flame' and 'Crimson' where they got to show off their unique talents in a variety of action scenes. What's cool is that it is almost always them doing these stunts. There's no quick cut so a stunt man can jump in. Lancaster and Cravat are the ones doing it, gymnastics, acrobatics and tumbling that looks incredibly dangerous.  They were freakishly good at what they did though. There is a flow to their stunts that could only come from years of working together and hours upon hours of practice. No computer-generated stunt men either, just two actors (yeah, actual actors, cool factor increased) handling their business.

The same way His Majesty O'Keefe wasn't as good as it could have been, 'Flame' is about as good as it could be for this type of movie. It is a light-hearted popcorn movie that intends to entertain, never really slowing down with its mix of action and romance.  Lancaster is Lancaster at his largest, a BIG movie star who borders on the cartoonishly over the top. Is there any question he's going to rescue his son and get the girl (Virginia Mayo) in the end?  If you have to think about either question, you're thinking too hard. Allenby is a solid villain, as is Robert Douglas as the treacherous Marches Alessandro, a member of Dardo's band willing to go with whoever pays him the most.

Of Dardo's band -- mostly dudes dressed up to look like the Merry Men -- it is Cravat who stands out from the rest with the showiest part.  He is a mute who communicates through sign language, never traveling far from Dardo's side (as is his role as a sidekick). They're always getting in and out of trouble, never in any real danger. It's a tribute to Cravat for bringing this character to life and having some fun with him. Some of Dardo's other Merry Men include Norman Lloyd as Apollo, Marches' troubador, spouting song and rhyme whenever possible, Francis Pierlot as Papa Pietro, the village elder, and Robin Hughes as Skinner, the outlaw with talents galore with hands or feet. Other than Cravat, none of these are major parts, but they're all fun in their limited appearances.

A movie that was a lot of fun to watch, mostly because of Lancaster, Cravat, and their crazy stunts together. Definitely worth checking out.

The Flame and the Arrow <---TCM trailer (1950): ***/****