The Golden Blade is an interesting entry in the long line of Arabian Nights-esque adventures of the 1940s and 1950s. I admit a weakness for the genre, and so I wanted to like it. The story breaks no new ground, although it's a little more involved than most in the genre, and there is something about the characters that makes them likeable, particularly in the case of a devious shopkeeper who throws in with the hero. But, my goodness, when this movie is bad, it's bad. Entertainingly so, at least: The Golden Blade cheerily alternates between adventure that sort of works and outrageous unintentional laughs. Is there anything more strangely goofy than when a eunuch on duty, shouting wildly for the guards, spins around like a top when our heroine throws a tantrum inside the harem?

I can't recommend this movie to most moviegoers, but for those few like myself who enjoy swashbucklers of this sort, as much when they are bad as when they are good, this is worth a look.