Warner (Norma-F.R. Production)
In the 1950s, Burt Lancaster made several swashbuckling adventures, such as “The Flame and the Arrow” and “The Crimson Pirate” (1952), which were entertaining and popular, in the manner of Errol Flynn’s old colorful Warner movies of the 1930s.
In this Jacques Tourneur-directed tale, based on a screenplay by Waldo Salt, Lancaster plays a medieval leader of rebels, sort of an Italian Robin Hood, who aims at overthrowing an evil tyrant while romantically courting Virginia Mayo.
Oscar Nominations: 2
Cinematography (color): Ernest Haller
Scoring (Dramatic or Comedy): Max Steiner
Oscar Awards: None
Oscar Context:
The winner of the Cinematography Oscar was Robert Surtees for the adventure “King Solomon’s Mines” and the Scoring Award went to Franz Waxman for Billy Wilder’s noir Hollywood melodrama, “Sunset Boulevard.”
Members of Hollywood’s most skillful artistic elite, both Ernset Haller and Max Steiner are multiple Oscar winners and nominees.
