Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

bawdybill I can't believe I'm the only one who has read the book!. And, boy, was it different. Read before the movie was made, too.But, as to the movie and considering how the film industry takes all kinds of liberties when transferring story to film it was a pretty good spectacle. Older folks will recall the "spectacles" with their "casts of thousands" etc. Okay. Jack was an alright Tristam, but in the book he became outlawed in England and died as such (from starvation, as I recall); the girl was oriental and followed Walter back to England separately. As I recall, all she could say was "Walter" and "London", but it got her back to Walter and the folks at Gurnie who had all turned merchants and were producing linen paper, etc. from tricks Walter learned in the far east.The book was so much better than the movie, especially since your can cast your own stars (if you want) and the author usually gives you pretty good descriptions of his characters. Sadly, no one in the movie comes close to my idea of what the characters looked like.

thebb1951 The Black Rose is an extremely uninvolving film, due both to its unfocused script and the miscasting of Tyrone Power and Cecile Aubrey. Power is far too old to play an Oxford student who has dropped out of college. A 20 year old in the part might have made the hot-headedness of the character acceptable, but Power was 36 when he made this, and watching him behave this way simply made me think he was immature or nasty and vindictive. Cecile Aubrey is truly awful. She comes across as a child, and has no sex appeal or chemistry with Power. It's doubly curious that she's called "The Black Rose" but has blonde hair and a light complexion. Orson Welles has some enjoyable moments as the warlord, and Jack Hawkins is solid as the best friend. There is some nice production value, but there are no battle scenes that actually take place on screen. This is a movie in which things just happen, but not because the characters are driven to make them happen. All in all, it's rather dull and definitely not recommended.

djbasta-1 This movie should be listed as an all time classic. For all its pageantry and adventure this film puts today's productions to shame. I first viewed this movie when I was a young lad and it sparked a sense of adventure as I was truly taken back in time. As I lived the excitement, danger and thrills in a time when men truly had the freedom of choices to stand tall for their beliefs it made me understand how great it is to be an American.Watching it again now that I'm almost 60, I can relate then to now and see how our American principals can be lost if good Americans stand by and let bad Americans take control.We all have much to learn about our freedom and how precious it is. The lesson here is that all free men must take a stand in order to keep our freedom regardless of the cost.A must see especially for our children.

silverscreen888 This is a feature film about which viewers cannot even begin to agree. Some believe it to be a major production with award-winning costumes, good actors, a vivacious leading lady, a clever story-line and colorful thirteenth-century adventures. Others deny all these judgments and assertions. The only thing that all its fans agree upon is that the movie was unusual, worth-making and worth discussing. The novel by Thomas B. Costain is clever and perhaps not-entirely-historical. It is a fictionalized biography and a recreation of an era that sets two Saxons against their Norman overlords at a time when this may have been an old-fashioned attitude; but this gives Walter of Gurnie an excuse to leave his homeland and his studies, with a companion, Tristram Griffin, master of the English longbow, to take service with Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, General to the Great Khan of China.. The other elements in the plot line are thus Bayan's inscrutable personality--he and Walter play chess and debate; Griffin's prowess with a weapon that astonishes the Easterners who see him employ it; and the two men's love for a disguised girl who is forced to flee and joins their caravan, she who is the titular "Black Rose" of the piece. The screenplay by adventure writer Talbot Jennings (developed from Costain's logical but slightly creaky novel) is perhaps a very good one; it is my assertion that with a bit more money and a better leading lady, the film might be more famous and even more appreciated. It deserves an updated remake, in my view. The director of the piece was veteran Henry Hathaway; he makes the events seem both realistic and important, never stooping to trickery to try to inject excitement at the points where none is indicated by the script. Richard Addinsell composed the music for the film, and William C. Andrews provided the art direction. The costume designs by Michael Whittaker I find to be quite serviceable and good for the period, but not extremely exciting. The cinematography by Jack Cardiff is as beautiful as it always is; the film looks as good as budgetary constraints permit in either B/W or color, which is quite a feat. it is played as an adventure; I believe it could be refashioned as a dramatic work; but what we have here is an engaging and rewarding script and production. Tyrone Power is a bit too-old for a student, but he is attractive and vivid in the lead. Jack Hawkins steals the film due to his charisma, energy and award-level interpretation of Tristram. Orson Welles is interesting and enigmatic as the general. As the Black Rose, Cecile Aubrey is adequate, often charming and able to get the basics of her very youthful part across but not much more. Michael Rennie, Finlay Currie. Herbert Lom, Mary Clare, Henry Oscar as Roger Bacon and Laurence Harvey are also featured. I like the film, and have good memories of reading the novel and seeing it years ago. It holds up well, due to its solid construction; but I yearn to remake it as a drama worthy of the very-interesting story-line even moreso. Watch for the great archery contest--surely the visual highlight of this adventure production.