The Black Rose
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Movie Reviews of The Black Rose
Movie Review: An Old Time Adventure Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is an old favorite. It's about Norman/Saxon England, and a young rebel who with his friend Jack Hawkins and his trusty longbow, takes off for Cathay and adventure. He meets up with Orson Wells as a Mongol general and manages to survive and carry back to England various Chinese secrets (an English version of Marco Polo). The female star was poorly cast...but this is a movie that pushes through its problems with epic scenes of the Mongol army, and takes you back to old-time adventure stories, before the likes of Indiana Jones etc.
Regardless of problems with editing and the plot, this movie is an enjoyable ride on the backs of Tyrone Power, Jack Hawkins, and Orson Welles. This is not his best film, but so what. It is still a good Tyrone Power entertainment ride. An average Tyrone power movie is still a reality-morphing experience in my view. I am awaiting the DVD of the Bengal Lancers, another favorite.
Movie Review: YOU TWO COULD MAKE ONE
Summary: 3 Stars
Henry Hathaway's THE BLACK ROSE is based on the novel The Black Rose written by Thomas B. Costain. Walter of Gurnie, played by Tyrone Power, is 21 years old in the film while Tyrone was 36 but looked more, and Cecile Aubry, who was 22 years old in 1950, looked 14 as Maryam. It's no big deal but I still felt uncomfortable during the love scenes between the two characters. However, Orson Welles is brilliant as Bayan and steals the show each time he's on the screen.
I didn't read Costain's book but I can imagine that the author's main idea was to describe how the feeling to belong to a same nation could grow between people as different as Saxons and Normans. This antagonism is well symbolized by the character of Maryam who is clearly described as dual, remember how she must always disguise or apply heavy make-up over her body in order to look as an English girl. This duality is also present in the couple Walter of Gurnie/Tristram Griffin, the rational student and the poet with a bow.
The problem is that these ideas, that are certainly very interesting in a book, are not handled in a very cinematographic manner. I always had the feeling to read a book when I watched THE BLACK ROSE, with its chapters well marked: the scene in the castle, the scene in the family home, the scene in the desert, the scene in the Empress of China's palace and so on. THE BLACK ROSE is meant to be a swashbuckler but there is hardly a fight at the end of the film. With bows and arrows and without Tyrone Power. We see, in numerous occasions, thousands of extras walking in the desert but not a single battle against the Chinese army ! All these considerations explain why I don't consider THE BLACK ROSE as a major achievement in neither Henry Hathaway's nor Tyrone Power's careers.
A DVD zone Marco Polo and friends.
Movie Review: Ty & Orson: Take Two
Summary: 3 Stars
Welles and Power reunite for a follow-up to Prince of Foxes, though amiable, that's not nearly as good. The plot meanders around and never really gets a good footing in it's globe-trotting storyline. The very talky early scenes set in England are the most interesting and are the best acted portions. Unfortunately, Ty is saddled with a role that seems ill suited to his age - he's almost a juvenile here. (Plus, what is with the positively infantile female lead!) Orson shows up for the later scenes set in the Middle East and these are curious, but marred by some dubious stereotypes, poorly over-dubbed.Movie Review: Black Rose
Summary: 3 Stars
Read the book and saw the movie years ago. Disappointed in this DVD, as it appears too much has been cut from the original!
Movie Review: More buckle than swash
Summary: 2 Stars
Sometimes love of a genre can make you overlook some films' problems that seem overwhelming to unbiased observers, so it's worth noting my bias for epic adventures when I say that The Black Rose is still pretty dreadful by anyone's standards. A big-budget misfire with a distinct lack of swash to its buckle and a miscast Tyrone Power playing a part he's a good twenty years too old to get away with, there's a promising enough plot - Power's disinherited Saxon `youth' leaves England rather than serve a Norman king to find his fortune in the Far East, where he's drawn into Kublai Khan's plans to conquer China - but it's quickly smothered. Desperately uninteresting characters, no battles, virtually no action but a lot of sulking and a surfeit of silly names - the hero is called Walter of Gurney and that's just for starters - ensure that it's the kind of film your body actively rebels against while watching, urging you to do something more useful like going to sleep instead.
A decent supporting cast of British movie regulars (James Robertson Justice, Finlay Currie, Herbert Lom) try their best, though some, like Michael Rennie, barely hide their boredom at it all. Despite getting off to a truly terrible start, Jack Hawkins' sidekick at least improves as the film goes on, which is more than can be said for leading lady Cecile Aubrey, who looks like the kind of annoyingly precious schoolgirl that makes vasectomy seem like a good idea. The less said about a horrendously badly dubbed Alfonso Bedoya the better.
It's not a total loss - Orson Welles' genial turn as Kublai Khan's ruthless general Bayan `of the Hundred Eyes' sees to that even though he has nothing to do but act genial and bemused by his English recruits. If anything, the presence of the director of Citizen Kane in the cast only acts to remind you of how shoddily made the film is. Some of the editing is surprisingly crude and awkward, with many shots matching so badly you could almost be forgiven for thinking they were shot for different films, and it's hard to tell whether the surprisingly dreary Technicolor photography in the English scenes is by design or simply down to color fading. Even Richard Addinsell can't summon up any enthusiasm in his score. It's hard not to agree when Power says "I wish I had something more to tell you. It all ought to add up to something." Dire stuff.
Extras on the Region 1 NTSC DVD include a featurette reuniting Power's children, stills galleries and trailer.