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There's plenty of swords, sandals and, of course, sand in The Desert Hawk, and that pretty much tells you everything that you need to know about what kind of a picture it is. Hawk is not really any better or any worse than most films in this strange little exotic subgenre. The plot could have been cribbed from any number of sources, so don't start watching if you insist upon originality in your plots. On the other hand, Hawk puts its well-worn pieces together in a reasonably efficient manner -- which under the circumstances is saying rather a lot. Aside from a very annoying tendency to name minor characters after Aladdin and Sinbad (and thereby raise expectations in audience members that these characters will behave like their namesakes), there's little in the writing to either irritate or entice. Frederick de Cordova's direction is bland but it gets the job done. Where Hawk does deserve some notice is in its casting. Yvonne De Carlo is fairly interchangeable with most sultry women who play these parts, just as Richard Greene is fairly undistinguishable from your run-of-the-mill hero. But the supporting cast includes not only a young Rock Hudson in a decent turn, but a serious Jackie Gleason and Joe Besser, both of whom are pretty good.