The Black Arrow (1948)

★ 5.2 1h 16m IMDb

Action Romance Adventure History

A young British nobleman comes back from fighting in the War of the Roses to discover that his father has been murdered by an old family friend who is now an outlaw. However, he becomes suspicious about the exact circumstances of his father's death and determines to find out exactly what happened.

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Cast

Louis Hayward as Sir Richard Shelton Died 1985 · Johannesburg, South Africa Louis Hayward (1909–1985) was a British actor born in South Africa..

Janet Blair as Joanna Sedley Died 2007 · Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA Janet Blair (April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was an American film and television actress. Description above from the Wikipedia article Janet Blair, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contribu...

George Macready as Sir Daniel Brackley Died 1973 · Providence, Rhode Island, USA George Peabody Macready, Jr. (August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains. Description above from the Wikipedia article...

Edgar Buchanan as Lawless Died 1979 · Humansville, Missouri, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Edgar Buchanan (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson fr...

Rhys Williams as Bennet Hatch Died 1969 · Clydach, Swansea, Wales, UK Rhys Williams (31 December 1897 – 28 May 1969) was a Welsh character actor in films and television, whose career spanned several decades..

Walter Kingsford as Sir Oliver Oates Died 1958 · Redhill, Surrey, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Walter Kingsford (born Walter Pearce, 20 September 1882 – 7 February 1958) was a British stage, film and television actor. Kingsford began his acting career on...

Director Gordon Douglas

Cast Louis Hayward, Janet Blair, George Macready, Edgar Buchanan, Rhys Williams, Walter Kingsford, Lowell Gilmore, Halliwell Hobbes, Paul Cavanagh, Ray Teal

John Chard 6/10 Jul 27, 2014

Black Arrows for Black Hearts.

The Black Arrow is directed by Gordon Douglas and adapted to screenplay by Richard Schayer, David P. Sheppard and Thomas Sellar from the novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It stars Louis Hayward, George Macready and Janet Blair. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr.

A little known swashbuckler, the Black Arrow has all the requisite touches for fans of such dashing fare. Story is set just after The War of the Roses has ended and pitches the returning Sir Richard Shelton (Hayward) into a hunt for the truth behind his father’s murder. Political intrigue, fights, brutal jousting and romance does follow. It doesn’t give the Flynn or Power swashbucklers a run for their money, but it’s good honest family entertainment with medieval literacy at the core and red-blooded machismo bulging at the seams. 6/10

CinemaSerf 6/10 Jan 05, 2023

This film is really all about the last ten minutes. When Louis Hayward ("Sir Richard") returns from fighting in the Wars of the Roses, he discovers all at home is not so rosey. His father has, allegedly, been slain by a neighbour and his uncle "Sir Daniel" (George Macready) has taken over his estate. Soon, though, our young knight starts to smell a rat. When the daughter of his father's purported murderer (Janet Blair) arrives at their castle, the plot positively thickens as lifelong friends start to look more and more untrustworthy, and it transpires that there is more to a marauding rebel hiding in the forest than first might have been expected. Of course it's a "Robin Hood" spin off and it's quite a talkie film, but there are some enjoyable action scenes and there's a certain chemistry between Hayward and Blair until the arrival of the the King's brother, the Duke of Gloucester (Lowell Gilmore) who facilitates the exciting denouement. It's got some good supporting efforts from Edgar Buchanan and the ever reliable Rhys Williams to keep it diverting enough, too. Not the best swashbuckler Hayward did, but it's still well worth 1¼ hours of anyone's time.