With his career in free-fall after aging out of Teen Idol status, then seeing his eponymous tv sit-com canceled after a year, Tab Hunter, still plenty dreamy looking*, took on this Italian Sword & Sandal pic (Arabian Nights - blond division - rather than Roman Empire), a lighthearted mock epic from Titanus films. Trying for that Douglas Fairbanks mojo, though lacking in grace & athletic ease, Tab’s pretending to be a foreign Prince when he accidentally wins the hand of the Princess of Damascus in a shooting contest. But upon losing the magical Golden Arrow that made it all happen, he now must search the world to recover it! Helped by three ‘comical’ genies, he’d best hurry since a trio of certified Eastern Princes are also out for the lady’s hand. (And while searching, maybe Tab could find his own speaking voice, since like everyone else, he’s dubbed by some anonymous studio pro.) Ridiculous when it means to be fanciful, the plot makes little sense. Even so, the film has a couple of things going for it in its bright, airy, colorful art design and in an amusingly amoral tone that keeps Hunter moving in on all the beautiful Queens of the Deep, Sorceresses of the Mountains & other female potentates as he looks far & wide for that damn arrow. (The film elides over actual screwing, but you can't edit out the glint in Hunter’s eye.) If only a bit more care had gone into the story & script.
DOUBLE-BILL: After this, it was all guest appearances on tv and A.I.P. Beach Party pics for Tab before finding a niche in smaller supporting roles and campy comedy. OPERATION BIKINI/’63 (not seen here) usually considered his nadir.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Yes, still dreamy looking, but with beefcake opportunities limited by a costume that only threatens to come off in torture scenes.
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