The Gallant Blade

"The Greatest Swordsman in France! The boldest lover in Paris!"

1948 1h 21m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 4

ActionDramaRomance

Synopsis

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Larry Parks in a Cinecolor swashbuckler.

“The Greatest Swordsman in France! The boldest lover in Paris!”

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Cast

Larry Parks
Lt. David Picard
Marguerite Chapman
Nanon de Lartigues
Victor Jory
Marshal of France Mordore
George Macready
Gen. Cadeau
Edith King
Mme. Chauvignac
Michael Duane
Cpl. Paul Brissac
Onslow Stevens
Gen. de la Garance
Peter Brocco
Sgt. Jacques

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry Levin
Writers: Ted Thomas, Morton Grant, Edward Dein
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

81 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry Levin, shot by Burnett Guffey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Viola Lawrence shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Larry Parks and Marguerite Chapman and Victor Jory carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Greatest Swordsman in France! The boldest lover in Paris!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0040382 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Levin directs. Burnett Guffey behind the camera. Viola Lawrence cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

181 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
278 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Henry Levin, shot by Burnett Guffey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Viola Lawrence shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Larry Parks and Marguerite Chapman and Victor Jory carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The Greatest Swordsman in France! The boldest lover in Paris!".
8IMDB entry: tt0040382 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 4 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Editing: Viola Lawrence
Runtime: 81 min · 1h 21m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Gallant Blade (1948)

Also by

Henry Levin

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-07-16
★ 6/10
What’s probably most remarkable about this standard swashbuckler is that for a change George Macready isn’t actually the baddie! Don’t worry, we find that out almost immediately as his boss (Victor Jory) decides that the best way to defuse a worryingly noisy French population was to give them someone else to hate. To that end, he orders his general “Cadeau” (Macready) to invade Spain. He’s not so keen on following orders, so together with his loyal lieutenant “Picard” (Larry Parks) sets off to change some minds. Along the way, the encounter the glamorous “Nanon” (Marguerite Chapman) who takes a bit of a shine to the young man and who also happens to be the lady love of the war-mongering marshal. Once they arrive in Paris, it’s conspiracies galore and it quickly falls to the young man to try to save the day, the general and get the gal! Sure, it is all old hat that has borrowed plenty from other films, but Parks is an amiable hero who works well with both Chapman and Macready; there is plenty of swordplay and there’s even a special ring. You’ll never remember it, but it’s a lively eighty minutes that I quite enjoyed.

Production companies