The original story for this was apparently based on a true story about a bandit who started out fighting against the British but sended up fighting for them during World War Two, eventually losing his life. Errol Flynn was wanted for the lead role – it was made by Warwick Films, who specialised in British adventure tales with Hollywood stars and English co-stars. Flynn’s casting didn’t eventuate – a shame, since this is of better quality than many movies the old chap made around this time. His place was taken by Victor Mature, who made several other films for Warwick. The action was also relocated to the nineteenth century – maybe they felt more comfortable with the Victorian era setting.
Interesting cast – Michael Wilding is the British co-star who clashes with the American (another Warwick staple); Anita Ekberg has rarely looked sexier as a woman who’s married to Mature’s dad but loves Mature (she does a fantastic belly dance – it’s awesome); Bonar Colleo, an American who played Stanley Kowalski in the West End and specialised in American roles in British films prior to his death in the car accident; a young Patrick McGoohan; Bernard Miles and Eunice Grayson (as Wilding’s wife) from the Bond films (of course many Warwick behind the scenes personnel made Bond movies); Finlay Currie (as a tribesman).
Mature is believable enough to play a 50s tribesman (by the standards of the time) – I love Errol Flynn, but to be honest Mature’s a lot more virile to do all this action than Flynn would have been. There’s a lot of action – sword fights, horse racing, ambushes, escapes, collapsing bridges – and it fairly spanks along under the sure hand of director Terence Young. Maybe Flynn would have made Zarak’s last act more believable – he gives up his life to save Wilding, which just doesn’t make sense. They try to have him do it as an act of redemption for saving a holy man… but it still doesn’t work. It doesn’t help either that Mature and Wilding don’t have much rapport or screen time together. I get what they’re trying to convey (i.e. adversaries who respect each other – Britain love to admire their enemies) but it doesn’t quite work.
The story isn’t bad, though – while it’s not incredibly deep and is a bit repetitive (Zarak attacks something and escapes) it has pace and life. And the film looks superb, with glorious technicolour and wonderful production design: redcoats against the mountains, colourful mountain men, Ekberg’s costumes, etc.
Michael Wilding isn’t the strongest co-star – he was more comfortable as a light comic than an action man; Patrick McGoohan would have been better in his role. Ekberg’s performance is such that you wish she’d played a Bond girl (she did appear in From Russia With Love – but only on a movie poster for Call Me Bwana). (There’s a camp moment where Mature slaps her after he finds out she’s become an exotic dancer. Why, when she’s so hot?)
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