LobotomousMonk Like other films in this era of Katzman-Castle production, The Saracen Blade puts an emphasis on tableau (symmetrical composition of mise-en-scene within the framing of a static camera positioned with frontality as the dominant). Castle outdoes himself this time as he adds a new element to his beleaguered stylistic system - suture! The shot-reverse-shot editing system is not only naively constructed and overt, but poorly employed with relation to the plot progression. As a result, there is a stagnant pace. I pity that a talented director such as William Castle found himself compulsively alternating between two stylistic systems for different films. The Saracen Blade is a 1954 release - and one of eight Castle films released that year! If the authorial voice seems mute perhaps it was a result of the man being overworked. The script doesn't help as the narrative is relayed with tweenish 'dear-diary' precision and crossing-guard intuition. If only this film wore a bright reflective 'X' it might become self-aware and develop a set of compensatory unique qualities. As it stands, the film hunches and then limps. Despite each sequence taken individually having the flavor of a bad porno, there is no passion infused into character relationships. All the characters seem sickeningly smug about the conflicts that befall them. But fear not, for Castle would soon break free from a bunk system of mechanical and mass reproduction in the guise of historical action-drama storytelling in order to forge the better parts of a stylistic system that he had been struggling to express for most of his career (When Stranger Marry had established most of the elements).

moshn2002 I loved this movie very much mainly thanks to RICARDO MONTALBAN who plays the role of Pietro the hero. Young RICARDO MONTALBAN is just fascinating: Handsome , charming ,viril , strong brave every talent we expect from a real Man and real Gentelman. He is just the type for this role. He is a tender lover and a brave fighter he seeks justice and is ready to pay the consequences( He offers himself to get the Punishment instead of a woman slave and is lashed on his muscled bare sweating back courageously . no surprise that women fall in love with him , but remains devoted to his true love. I highly recommend this movie to everyone who loves adventure and romance

dinky-4 Frank Yerby's novel could easily have been turned into one of those sweeping, sprawling, big-budget epics -- such as Tyrone Power's "The Black Rose." Instead it emerged as a 76-minute bottom-half-of-the-double-bill feature starring Ricardo Montalban. The results are disappointingly thin but, on the other hand, there's a modest, unpretentious quality at work here which makes the movie easy to watch.Here's an example of the Grade-B dialog. Carolyn Jones says to Ricardo Montalban: "My cousin, Iolanthe, has probably given you her lips." To which he replies: "So? They are her lips." Montalban serves as an easy-to-like hero. At one point, he's stripped to the waist and forced to hug a palm tree as he's flogged across the back. (This scene ranks 94th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies.") Meanwhile, in "Queen of Babylon," he's stripped to the waist and bound to a wall so that he can be flogged across the chest. Does this make Montalban, along with Steve Reeves, the only leading man in the movies to get both a back whipping and a chest whipping?

Marta Ricardo Montalban was the perfect choice for the role of Pietro. Passionate and handsome, he can show anger and righteous zeal one minute and his tender feelings for Iolanthe, his true love, the next, despite the formidable odds against them. He needed all the anger he could muster, since his own father was beheaded by his true love's father, the cruel overlord of the region where Pietro was born, in medieval Italy. He spends most of the film trying to wreak vengeance on Iolanthe's family while trying to rescue her from their evil clutches.Frank Yerby's novel of the same name is one of my favorites, and if you find it it's worth the read. Much more detailed than the film.William Castle seems an odd choice for directing this kind of film, but this was one of the last normal films he did before he embarked on his famous horror film streak. Don't miss Combat!'s Rick Jason in the role of one of Iolanthe's evil brothers.