Italian director Antonio Margheriti is better known these days for the schlock he directed in the 1970s and 1980s, but with this early effort of his, he was working on a higher class project. Clearly having a lavish budget (at least by European standards of the time), Margheriti does manage to make this particular movie look quite good. The sets, props, desert backdrops, and some of the special effects are pretty decent. However, this pretty look does not hide the fact that the movie for the most part is pretty boring. There's nowhere near enough action or suspense to captivate viewers, and as a result the movie plods along very slowly. The little action and suspense there is isn't particularly engaging. The only interest comes from wondering about questionable decisions from Margheriti and his screenwriters, from plot turns that don't make much sense to the fact that the three magical helpers that assist Tab Hunter along his journey were clearly ripped off from the animated Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty", which came out a few years earlier.
Review of The Golden Arrow
