Col Ferro e Col Fuoco (1961)

An international cast wanders in and out of the lavish sets in Daggers of Blood. Set in 18th-century Eastern Europe, the film concerns the star-crossed romance between a Polish military officer and a gorgeous Slavic princess. The princess' vengeful lover cuts a path of death and destruction throughout the land. The showdown finds the villain holding the princess captive as the hero and the thousands under his command race to the rescue. Jeanne Crain, then pushing 40, is as lovely and fragile as ever as the Princess; less attractive is John Drew Barrymore (son of the Great Profile, father of Drew Barrymore) as the heavy. France's Pierre Brice is the hero, while veteran scene-stealer Akim Tamiroff growls and glowers as a bibulous baron. Based on a novel by Henry (Quo Vadis) Sienkewicz, the French-Italian-Yugoslavian Daggers of Blood was originally titled Col Ferro e Col Fuccio. It has also been released as With Fire and Blood and Invasion 1700. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi