The Scarlet Blade

source: The Crimson Blade

Lionel Jeffries is just not villain enough,unlike Oliver Reed who is just right.Matronly June Thorburn is only 6 years younger than her"father"Jeffries.Hedley is a lackluster swasbuckler.Michael Ripper has a bigger part than usual. Poor fight staging and uninspiring dialoge further hamper this uninspired Hammer film.

When was the last time You stuck your neck out for something you passionately believe in? If you never have, this movie will enlighten you - by example - on just what it takes to achieve this. If you have, then you will identify with the main characters, and appreciate the men and women who do. June Thorburn plays the part of Clare Judd, the daughter of a colonel in Oliver Cromwell's army. Miss Judd's beauty is not merely skin deep, for she has a keen sense of right and wrong. If you yearn to gaze upon a lovely Woman of Mettle, then focus on Miss Judd as the story unfolds....

Swashbuckler from the renowned Hammer studio who are more famous for their classic horror movies. This movie suffers from some poor casting decisions and a general lack of dynamic action to set the pace in a genre that demands excitement. Jack Hedley just doesn't suit as the hero and Oliver Read is much more interesting as the bad guy I think Reed could have done a better job in the lead role (he did go on to play Athos in Richard Lesters production of the Three Musketeers). The script is generally poor and no one comes out to well in the acting stakes but this could have been excused had there been some great set pieces but action is another element somewhat lacking in what is a fairly disappointing movie by any standards 4/10

You can barely gibber the words 'The Scarlet Blade' out of your excitedly twitching mouth without swiftly following them with reverent utterances such as...'Rousing!!!'....'Blood-Stirring!!!'...'Derring-do!!!!...and, without fail, no appreciative recollection of John Gilling's immortally rigorous, unerring piercing 'The Scarlet Blade' is anywhere close to complete without ardently crying out ''Huzzah!!! A veritable swashbuckling classic!!' and never before has an adventure film boisterously buckled its Technicolor swash with quite the uncommonly muscular rigour and gimlet-eyed efficacy of 'The Scarlet Blade'. The estimable Lionel Jeffries is on wicked, barnstorming form as the terrible tyrant Roundhead Colonel Judd, and the mercurial talent of Hammer icon Michael Ripper is put to splendidly avuncular use as he robustly essays one of his more memorable characters in the full-blooded form of knife-wielding gypsy Pablo, with a young and murderously handsome Oliver Reed brooding magnificently as the ambivalent captain Tom Sylvester in this frequently exciting, beautifully shot, blissfully bellicose boy's own yarn of rapscallion Roundheads and the stalwart, desperately bloody travails of pulse-poundingly heroic Edward Beverly (Jack Hedley), righteous infamous outlaw, that most deadly and loyal sword arm of King Charles I as he stoically undertakes his honourable crusade against dastardly Cromwell's murderous hegemony. 'The Scarlet Blade' is demonstratively one of Hammer Films more thrilling historical adventures.

I first saw this film at the cinema not long after it first came out and remember it being a very exciting film, with some stirring music by Gary Hughes, who seemed to specialise in composing music for period action films. Jack Hedley gave as good as the great Errol Flynn would have been able to give. It seemed to be one of those rare films where the baddies actually won, giving a contrast to the quotation: "History is always written by the winners". This time it was written by the losers. As children, myself and my friends who came to the cinema with me, were confused by the ending. However, having seen the film many times as an adult, I can only say that the ending would have been misunderstood by younger cinema goers. There was probably a short message or a moral in there somewhere - the producers did not want to rewrite the history books. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers and those loyal to King Charles the First, the Roundheads were a very well organised, fierce, and strong army. Although, reading about the aftermath of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's Navy struggled to recapture the Colonies. I suppose the idea of this film was to create a more updated and exciting version of Children of the New Forest, as the characters of Edward Beverley, Gypsy Pablo and the servant, Jacob, also appear in Captain Frederick Marryat's Classic novel.

This was a good action/adventure film, with a historical background of 17thc England, in the last days of the reign of Charles I. Colonel Judd, (Lionel Jeffries) a former loyalist, has joined the Roundheads, and he and his men are responsible for the imprisonment of the king, much to the chagrin of his daughter, Claire (June Thorburn), a staunch Loyalist. She joins a group planning to free the king, whose leader (Edward Beverly, played by Jack Hedley) is known by the logo "The Crimson Blade". The group includes Edward's brother, Philip and sister, Constance (Clifford Elkin and Suzan Farmer) seeking vengeance for the murder of their father by Colonel Judd's officers. There's romance in the story too, as well as a rivalry, when Claire and Edward fall in love, and face the anger of Captain Tom Sylvester (Oliver Reed), who wants Claire, and pledges to support her cause, despite being her father's right-hand man, to try and win her over. But his loyalty, like his love, is self-serving. It's a movie that'll hold your interest, quick paced, not long and drawn out. I recommend checking it out.

One of my fondest TV memories from my childhood in the '80s was a spoof adventure serial called THE FLASHING BLADE which they used to show on Saturday morning telly - Going Live, I believe. In it, a rebel hero won the hearts of women around him and valiantly fought off oppressors, and altogether it was a witty and affectionate spoof. Finally, fifteen years on, I catch up with the film which inspired that spoof. THE SCARLET BLADE is an entertaining Hammer swashbuckler, a colourful and lively romp with direction from the stalwart John Gilling, who can usually be relied upon to deliver a dependable movie. The period setting is as good as ever in a Hammer movie, horror or otherwise, and the various action sequences are very well staged and always exciting. On a technical level, the movie is above average in almost every respect. The plot, on the other hand, is basic stuff which happily focuses more on complex characters than other adventures of the period (a lot of Italian movies, for instance). However, it's the acting which stops this film from being an outright classic. Taking the lead of the swashbuckling hero is Jack Hedley (who he?), unfortunately not one of Hammer's most charismatic leads. Sure, he's fine with the physical stuff but otherwise he's quickly forgotten. The same with female lead and love interest June Thorburn, and despite being a traitor her performance is quite uninteresting and the romance between her and Hedley slows the pacing of the film down somewhat. Thankfully two British dependables are on hand to raise the interest a little. First up is Lionel Jeffries, putting in another nice pompously villainous turn, although the film has a slight twist at the end to redeem his character somewhat. By far the most interesting actor in the film is Oliver Reed. Although he's only supporting, he takes on the complex part of one of Jeffries' men, also a traitor, who secretly loves Thorburn and is pushed out into the cold when she falls in love with Hedley. Reed gives a quiet turn as the role calls for, but is also very intense and brooding in the part and his performance excellent as usual. Definitely an undervalued actor. Apart from Reed, this is lightweight and simplistic stuff, old-fashioned escapism which is fun to watch on a rainy afternoon.

Set during the English Civil War director John Gilling delivers standard historical fare for Hammer Films as we see the Roundheads kidnap King Charles I, led by unscrupulous Lionel Jeffries and side kick Oliver Reed, only to be scuppered by his own daughter, beautifully played by June Thorburn. These 3 actors are the best thing about the piece, the Scarlet Blade himself played by Jack Hedley is a rather bland swashbuckling hero who comes to save the day but has none of the charisma of a Robin Hood. Like most Hammer productions it is handsomely photographed with nice sets and costumes to evoke the period whilst making the most of the English countryside but a lot of it is obviously done in a studio on a very low budget which limits it's scope. The pacing is slow and methodical and it requires patience to sit through but for Hammer purists it's well worth a visit to 1648.

When Hammer's production schedule was cleared in 1956 to make way for more horror films, the plug was pulled on the long-in-preparation 'King Charles and the Roundheads'. Having in the intervening seven years made another Robin Hood adventure and a pirate yarn, Hammer finally made their Cavaliers v. Roundheads picture with a suitably gory title and Lionel Jeffries, of course, as a roundhead (with Oliver Reed as his saturnine young henchman ironically sporting a fake scar on his face in an entirely different place from the real one he acquired on his left cheek in a nightclub brawl a year later). Jack Hedley makes a rather gentle leading man, and although improbably cast as Jeffries' daughter, the late June Thorburn (who gets to wear a magnificent hat) plays a far greater role in the plot than the leading lady usually does in such nonsense. Plenty of people get killed - and Hedley is flogged at one point - but compared to Tigon's harrowing Civil War subject 'Witchfinder-General' a few years later it's a pretty placid affair, with a jaunty score by Gary Hughes.