Lo sparviero del Nilo

Although the action takes place in Egypt ,this is an Italian movie,with an all-Italian cast;people might want to see this mawkish story because Vittorio Gasmann is in it ,and he plays a treacherous delightful Arabian villain;Silvanna Pampanini is a beautiful actress whose best part (in color) is probably Abel Gance’s “La Tour De Nesles”.What can one write when confronted with such a naive puerile story,worthy of romance magazines?let’s try to accentuate the positive :OK the wealthy heroine wants to help her compatriots by digging artesian wells in the desert.But finer feelings do not walk hand in hand with valid drama;besides the wicked cousin -helped by perfidious Gassman – is more interested in sapphires than in water and he wants to drive the Bedouins away from their territory (which actually belongs to the clueless heiress,educated in France,oh my!)To make the matters worse,she falls in love with the young sheik .The second part seems taken by force from Robin Hood,an Egyptian Robin who would call himself ….(check the title),with bits of Jules Verne’s” Michel Strogoff” for good measure (the dashing hero’s mother).Its obsolete charm may be entertaining ,nay funny ,it you are not too demanding.