Review of The Desert Hawk

This little remembered exotic period adventure story is well worth a look, being available free at YouTube, filmed in Technicolor. The intriguing title is based upon Richard Greene's central character: Omar, sometimes labeled The Desert Hawk, for his swooping down on rapacious tax collectors, as we see in one example. On the other hand, it might have been titled "The Desert Princess", in recognition of Yvonne De Carlo's also central character: Princess Scheherazade, of Persia(Iran). In fact, the story mostly has to do with the question of who Yvonne will marry, and trying to keep her from being trapped into a marriage she doesn't want.......In the beginning, she is expecting a visit to her desert camp from Prince Murad, to decide if he is to be her husband.(Who would want such a bossy wife?). However, Omar and his retinue get to the princess first, masquerading as Murad. She is so smitten by Omar's looks and manner, that she throws caution to the wind, and marries him that day. But, that night Omar and retinue steal way, taking the Princess's rich dowry with them. The next day, the real Prince Murad shows up, confirming that she married an imposter. Strike one against Omar for making a fool of her. Later, just after Omar had rescued her from a life as a slave, using some of her dowry money, they were riding back to her desert camp, on the same horse. He dumped her on the sand after she utters some critical remarks about him. He made her walk some miles in the sand, behind him, until they came to an oasis. Strike 2 against Omar. But, she tricked him, and took his horse, making him now walk a long distance through the sand. This was one part of her revenge, but there would be others. Whenever she saw him again, she would denigrate his main occupation as a common blacksmith. At the end, being in control of a shackled Omar, she threatened him with great bodily harm, before suddenly changing her outward attitude toward him. After all, he had recently saved her from great bodily harm, in addition to saving her from a life of slavery......Besides Prince Murad, there was Kibar, leader of the local Assassins, also hoping to land the Princess. But there now was the problem of deciding which of the 4 young women was the Princess and which were her 3 handmaidens. They had confused the issue......At the beginning of the film, the narrator claimed that this story took place 2000 years ago in Persia. Well, there are several references(Caliphs, the Koran) that indicate Persia was, at the time of this story, a Moslem state. So, that date can't be true. The Assassins were a Moslem sect , mostly in and around Persia, who existed for only a few centuries, until destroyed by the Mongols. Thus, our total information suggests that 1000 years ago is a much more likely date for the story. As shown, the Assassins typically lived in remote forts or castles, especially at mountain passes. Our word assassin is derived from the impression people had of these marauders. Kobar the Assassin's abode is called 'The palace of 1000 pleasures' There has since been a novel of this title.......Yvonne's 3 handmaidens were all beautiful, but one in particular, perhaps Anne Cramer, looked very much like her. Anne must have been a fascinating person. Later, she attained a PhD in film technology,, and another in literature. She was employed through the years in various aspects of motion picture production, then switched to psychoanalysis in her retirement years......In conclusion, I much enjoyed this film, which packed a lot in 77min run time. Especially, the last about 5 min. , where Yvonne and Omar meet after the big battle in 'The Palace of 1000 Pleasures', with Omar in chains, is interesting. Yvonne holds all the cards at this time, and heaps psychological vengeance on Omar, telling that he may be whipped with 100 lashes, or put on the rack.. Then, she rapidly changes her overt attitude, to bring him some very good news. During this time, Omar makes some general comments about women: "Be she wench or princess, a women is only a woman, and always needs a master". But " A man should never argue with a woman". I would say the second quote is the more true.