The Golden Blade
| The Golden Blade | |
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| Directed by | Nathan Juran |
| Produced by |
Leonard Goldstein Richard Wilson |
| Written by | William R. Cox |
| Starring |
Rock Hudson Piper Laurie Gene Evans George Macready Kathleen Hughes Steven Geray Edgar Barrier |
| Music by |
Irving Gertz Herman Stein |
| Edited by | Ted J. Kent |
| Distributed by | Universal International |
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Release date
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Golden Blade is an adventure film from 1953 directed by Nathan Juran and starring Rock Hudson as Harun Al-Rashid and Piper Laurie as Princess Khairuzan. It is set in ancient Bagdad and borrows from the Arabic fairy tales of One Thousand and One Nights as well as the myth of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone.
The movie opens with a raging desert battle between the cities of Basra and Baghdad, during which Harun's (Rock Hudson)father, Basran is fatally wounded. Before he dies, he gives his son a medallion he has pulled from his killer's neck, and urges him to somehow end the senseless killings.
Harun rides to Bagdad, where he meets the beautiful Khairuzan (Piper Laurie), who tries to sell clothes to shopkeeper Barcus (Steven Geray). He bargains with Barcus that for 10 dinars, he can pick any item in the shop. Under a pile of rags, he finds a golden sword that seems to somehow call him. Khairuzan ignites a riot when she defends the citizens of Basra. Barcus watches in awe as Harun cuts solid metal in half with his golden sword. As soon as soldiers appear and spirit Khairuzan away, the fighting stops, and Harun finds a medallion on the ground identical to the one his father gave him.
Barcus discovers that the sword will cut through iron only when Harun wields it. He warns Harun to be careful until they can translate the inscriptions on its blade and discover all its powers.
Meanwhile, in the palace, sinister Vizier Jafar (George Macready) urges Badgad's Caliph to fight Basra, but the Caliph refuses. Khairuzan, who is in fact the princess, is soon brought in by her guard, Jafar's dim-witted son Hadi (Gene Evans). Jafar convinces the Caliph that Khairuzan's headstrong ways may be tamed by marriage to his son, then later plots with Hadi to undermine the Caliph by inciting more battles against Basra. When Khairuzan learns of the arranged marriage, she escapes again and disguises herself as a boy. Harun is waiting outside for an audience with Jafar, and when the guards spot Khairuzan, she steals Harun's horse. She is finally caught by both Hadi and Harun, who begin a fight which Harun wins. He discovers that he is actually invincible while wielding the golden sword.
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Wikipedia