Flickering Star
Having been fighting in the war in India for 5 years Pierre St. Laurent (Cornel Wilde) returns to his home in France the conquering hero. Except when gets to his home he discovers Governor Narbonne (Herbert Lom) took possession of it over unpaid taxes and then sold it on to Katrina (Jean Wallace) a Dutch Countess. Katrina is representing the Dutch government who want the "Star on India" a sapphire so they can hand it back to India except Narbonne has it and King Louis IV (Basil Sydney) is keen on having it to gift to his lover. Katrina promises Pierre that if he helps her get the sapphire he can have his home back but with the sapphire set in the hilt of Narbonne's sword he is going to have to be smart to get it.
"Star of India" is a stereotypical 1950s swashbuckler with Cornel Wilde playing a sword wielding hero, Wilde's wife Jean Wallace stars alongside him, Herbert Lom plays yet another bad guy and of course there is sword action, chases, romance and so on. Technically there is nothing wrong with it as whilst far fetched the storyline with the gallant Pierre trying to obtain the jewel for Katrina is enough as a vehicle for the action and romance but it is ordinary and in truth forgettable.
Forgettable is the same when it comes to the characters and acting as whilst Wilde and his co-stars account for themselves in a solid manner there is nothing amazing about their performances or memorable about their characters. The closest thing to being memorable is the close cut hair which Lom is wearing but that is really it as beyond that it is a case that characters laugh in the face of danger when you expect, act sinister when you expect and when it comes to Katrina act all hysterical when you expect.
And sadly the word forgettable extends to the action as all the climbing and sword fighting ends up coming across as very staged rather than natural. It is a shame as the movie has some good ideas including one swordfight in a room which is on fire but instead of being exciting it only ends up feeling orchestrated.
What this all boils down to is that "Star of India" is just a routine swashbuckler from the 1950s which whilst moderately entertaining is ultimately forgettable with not a single thing about it which is above average.
