FLAG OF DEATH

1963
Italy/Yugoslavia
aka The Saracens, I Pirata del diavolo (I), Zarak, der Rebell (WG)
Walmar Cinematografica
Director : Roberto Mauri
Script : Roberto Mauri, Mario Colucci
Music : Aldo Piga
Cinematography : Angelo Baistrocchi
Cast : Richard Harrison (Marco Trevisan), Walter Brandi (Ranieri), Anna Maria Ubaldi (Alina), John Turner (Count Trevisan), Paolo Solvay [Luigi Batzella] (Mahmud), Lorenzo Artale (Giovanni), Anita Todesco (Zoraide), Liana Dori (Velia), Lilly Landers (Caterina), Demeter Bitench (Rabaneck), Maretta Procaccini (the child)

Roberto Mauri is a second rate director whose films, despite a general lack of budget and originality, often manage to be rather enjoyable. His many films include gothics (Slaughter of the Vampires (La Strage dei vampiri, 62)), peplums (The Invincible Brothers Maciste (Gli invincibli fratelli Maciste, 64)) and several hokey westerns such as Sartana in the Valley of Death (Sartana nella valle degli avvoltoi, 70)). This is his stab at the pirate genre - briefly in vogue during the late fifties and early sixties (see also Masked Man Against the Pirates (Il Corsaro nero nell'isola del tesoro, 65)) - and it is remarkably engaging.

Based in the thirteenth century, Southern Europe finds itself under regular attack from Muslim pirates (in the military rather than "yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" sense). Marco (Richard Harrison), a young soldier, leaves to try and find reinforcements who will help protect his kingdom. When he returns he is carrying rather a nasty cargo, namely Rabaneck (Walter Brandi) and his gang of Saracens. Soon these swarthy gents have completely taken over and have managed to murder Marco's father, the king.

Amidst all the overstated raping and pillaging, however, our hero finds help in the most unexpected places. His old friend, Count Ranieri, conducts an undercover espionage operation and Alina, one of his lovestruck young captors, is soon persuaded to release him. Joining forces with his comrades he vows to have his revenge.

Flag of Death is a reasonably well paced movie despite seeming to drag a little at it's later stages. Direction is sturdy if unexceptional and all buckles are suitably swashed. It boasts an effective soundtrack (by Aldo Piga, interestingly credited also as co-producer) and it is nice to see lots of spaghetti western scenery in an earlier incarnation.

There are several interesting names involved. Co-Scripter is Mario Colucci, director of the notoriously bad Something Creeping in the Dark (Qualcosa striscia nel buio, 70). Another appalling filmmaker, Luigi Batzella, here uses one of his regular pseudonyms - Paolo Solvay - in a secondary acting role. Surprisingly, the man who gave us such intolerable crap as The Beast in Heat (La Bestia in calore, 77) appears to be a perfectly capable thespian. Richard Harrison gives a characteristically athletic performance and I would be interested to know whether the John Turner who appears here was the same one who regularly crops up in British television series as well as The Black Torment (64) (answer: no, he isn't. It's a pseudonym for Giulio Turini)

Matt Blake