weezeralfalfa
This little remembered exotic period adventure story is well worth a look, being available free at YouTube, filmed in Technicolor. The intriguing title is based upon Richard Greene's central character: Omar, sometimes labeled The Desert Hawk, for his swooping down on rapacious tax collectors, as we see in one example. On the other hand, it might have been titled "The Desert Princess", in recognition of Yvonne De Carlo's also central character: Princess Scheherazade, of Persia(Iran). In fact, the story mostly has to do with the question of who Yvonne will marry, and trying to keep her from being trapped into a marriage she doesn't want.......In the beginning, she is expecting a visit to her desert camp from Prince Murad, to decide if he is to be her husband.(Who would want such a bossy wife?). However, Omar and his retinue get to the princess first, masquerading as Murad. She is so smitten by Omar's looks and manner, that she throws caution to the wind, and marries him that day. But, that night Omar and retinue steal way, taking the Princess's rich dowry with them. The next day, the real Prince Murad shows up, confirming that she married an imposter. Strike one against Omar for making a fool of her. Later, just after Omar had rescued her from a life as a slave, using some of her dowry money, they were riding back to her desert camp, on the same horse. He dumped her on the sand after she utters some critical remarks about him. He made her walk some miles in the sand, behind him, until they came to an oasis. Strike 2 against Omar. But, she tricked him, and took his horse, making him now walk a long distance through the sand. This was one part of her revenge, but there would be others. Whenever she saw him again, she would denigrate his main occupation as a common blacksmith. At the end, being in control of a shackled Omar, she threatened him with great bodily harm, before suddenly changing her outward attitude toward him. After all, he had recently saved her from great bodily harm, in addition to saving her from a life of slavery......Besides Prince Murad, there was Kibar, leader of the local Assassins, also hoping to land the Princess. But there now was the problem of deciding which of the 4 young women was the Princess and which were her 3 handmaidens. They had confused the issue......At the beginning of the film, the narrator claimed that this story took place 2000 years ago in Persia. Well, there are several references(Caliphs, the Koran) that indicate Persia was, at the time of this story, a Moslem state. So, that date can't be true. The Assassins were a Moslem sect , mostly in and around Persia, who existed for only a few centuries, until destroyed by the Mongols. Thus, our total information suggests that 1000 years ago is a much more likely date for the story. As shown, the Assassins typically lived in remote forts or castles, especially at mountain passes. Our word assassin is derived from the impression people had of these marauders. Kobar the Assassin's abode is called 'The palace of 1000 pleasures' There has since been a novel of this title.......Yvonne's 3 handmaidens were all beautiful, but one in particular, perhaps Anne Cramer, looked very much like her. Anne must have been a fascinating person. Later, she attained a PhD in film technology,, and another in literature. She was employed through the years in various aspects of motion picture production, then switched to psychoanalysis in her retirement years......In conclusion, I much enjoyed this film, which packed a lot in 77min run time. Especially, the last about 5 min. , where Yvonne and Omar meet after the big battle in 'The Palace of 1000 Pleasures', with Omar in chains, is interesting. Yvonne holds all the cards at this time, and heaps psychological vengeance on Omar, telling that he may be whipped with 100 lashes, or put on the rack.. Then, she rapidly changes her overt attitude, to bring him some very good news. During this time, Omar makes some general comments about women: "Be she wench or princess, a women is only a woman, and always needs a master". But " A man should never argue with a woman". I would say the second quote is the more true.
gridoon2018
With just a little more fire, "The Desert Hawk" could have been a great movie within its genre. As it is, it's still pretty good. It has nearly all the necessary trappings: a noble hero (a Robin Hood of the desert), a beautiful princess (and with Yvonne De Carlo in the role, "beautiful" is an understatement), tyrannical villains, palaces, harems, horses, swordfights, etc., all in the splendor of Technicolor (even though I watched an "unofficial" DVD-R version (apparently the film has never been released "officially"), the print was pretty good). The plot is actually quite elaborate, and although the fight scenes are no great shakes in terms of choreography, they are OK for 1950. I found the last 3 minutes of the film particularly satisfying - a bit of gender politics with a humorous and sensual touch. **1/2 out of 4.
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
'The Desert Hawk' is a bog-standard adventure epic (Arabian Nights subclass), sorely compromised by its extremely low budget but benefiting from an interesting cast. When I saw that Yvonne De Carlo was the female lead (in harem trousers, worse luck), I was worried this might turn out to be a Maria Montez-type campfest: fortunately, this film never sank to that level. Rock Hudson, in a prominent supporting role, is not as embarrassing as one might expect. Richard Greene, in his Robin Hood period, basically plays an Arabian version of Robin Hood here. De Carlo's character is named Scheherazade, but she isn't the famous Scheherazade of the 'Arabian Nights' tales: she's playing a different character with that same name.The best and most interesting performances here are given by Jackie Gleason and Joe Besser as Richard Greene's wily assistants. Confusingly, their characters are named Aladdin and Sinbad. I kept wondering why Aladdin didn't whip out his magic lamp and summon his genie (not to mention Widow Twanky), until I twigged that the 'Aladdin' and 'Sinbad' in this movie aren't the two famous characters: they're two completely different characters with the same names as those two.Jackie Gleason, as 'Aladdin', does well in a semi-serious role: his performance here doesn't resemble any of his well-known television characters. Joe Besser is a 'comedian' whose unfunny performances have almost always annoyed me, and who spent most of his career in supporting roles to comedians much more talented than Besser ... such as Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. In 'The Desert Hawk', Besser gives a genuinely impressive performance, with some dramatic ability. I was especially impressed by one scene in which Besser as Sinbad is put into a torture device (a vertical form of the rack), and stretched unmercifully. Based on Besser's other characterisations, I expected him to scream effeminately and have a tantrum ... instead, he remains stoic and endures his torture manfully. (A trivia note: Joe Besser and the famous caricaturist Al Hirschfeld lived in the same house in St Louis, Missouri during their respective childhoods ... but not at the same time.) Gleason and Besser are the two main points of interest in 'The Desert Hawk', but their screen time is quite brief.Michael Ansara and Nestor Paiva put their facial bone structures to good use in small roles. Ben Welden (an American actor who started his film career in England) is obtrusively American in a small role as an Arab. I'll rate 'The Desert Hawk' 4 out of 10. I'm grateful that this film wasn't very campy ... but I suppose that fans of Yvonne De Carlo and Rock Hudson will be disappointed that this film isn't MORE campy.
