Tonight's Movie: The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) - A Universal Blu-ray Review

The swashbuckling classic THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH (1954) has just been released on Blu-ray by Universal Pictures.

I don't use the word "classic" lightly; like Curtis's earlier SON OF ALI BABA (1952), this film is a joy start to finish, '50s era studio entertainment at its best.

The movie played on local television often when I was young -- I seem to recall it was KHJ Channel 9 which showed it -- and the wonderful cast and combination of action, humor, and romance helped draw me into the world of classic-era movies.

It's a tired cliche to make fun of the casting of Tony Curtis as a knight, given that he was born Bernard Schwartz in New York, but we'll have none of that here. Proper accent or not, the handsome young actor is absolutely perfect as Myles of Crisbey-Dale, a peasant farmer with a mysterious past.

Myles has a run-in with the Earl of Alban (David Farrar, THE GOLDEN HORDE) after one of the Earl's men attacks Myles' sister Meg (Barbara Rush), after which Myles and Meg's guardian Diccon (Rhys Williams) sends them to Mackworth Castle.

Mackworth Castle is the seat of the Earl of Mackworth (Herbert Marshall), who unbeknownst to Myles and Meg was a close friend of their late father's. It is the Earl who holds the key to their unknown past.

Myles is trained to become a knight by the Earl's friend Sir James (Torin Thatcher, who's especially great), while Meg becomes a companion to the Earl's daughter Anne (Janet Leigh). Myles and Anne fall in love, but will she be forced to marry the Earl of Alban?

This film's 99 minutes speed by; it may not be a classic in terms of being high art, but it's highly entertaining, and that's classic enough for me.

Watch Curtis carefully, as it's clear he does many of his own stunts, including hopping on a horse without using the stirrups. He has a physicality which was well suited for the role.

Production on this film began roughly two and a half years after Curtis and Leigh married in real life, and they have a lovely chemistry here. Leigh's exquisite beauty as spunky Anne is shown off to perfection in Technicolor, filmed by Irving Glassberg.

Also lovely is Rush as Myles' sweet sister, who is courted by Myles' friend Francis (Craig Hill). The entire cast is top-notch, also including Ian Keith, Dan O'Herlihy, Doris Lloyd, and Charles Fitz Simons, the brother of Maureen O'Hara.

Deep in the cast are actors who, if not household names, would have solid careers as working actors, including Nicolas Coster, Brett Halsey, and Lance Fuller.

The movie was directed by former cinematographer Rudolph Mate. The screenplay by Oscar Brodney was based on the novel MEN OF IRON by Howard Pyle.

This movie previously had a 2010 DVD-R release in the Universal Vault Series.

The widescreen Blu-ray print of this CinemaScope film is of fine quality, with an excellent soundtrack.

There are no extras on this disc, but it does include optional English-language captions.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Universal for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. It may be purchased from Movie Zyng and other online retailers.

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