I've been on a bit of a Sinbad binge lately, I mean who hasn't right?, and I had half remembered memories of this one from my youth, in my head it was a mixture of this with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad where the hero goes to an island to kill the beating heart of an evil dictator who has separated it from his physical body to make himself invulnerable. After some research online, I found the film I was looking for was the lesser known Sinbad film Captain Sindbad (1963) and so stepped up to watch it.
The story was similar to what I remembered but quite different in many ways: Sindbad (with an extra 'd' for some reason) returns from a voyage and heads home to his beloved Princess Jana. However, in his absence, her kingdom has been taken over by an evil warlord who cannot be killed as his heart has been stored away in a far off tower. What follows is a treacherous voyage through a swamp to recover the heart, kill the fiend and return the kingdom to its rightful rulers.
The story is pretty basic but it's Sinbad so we are expecting swashbuckling and 'browning up' of people to be 'swarthy' and of uncertain Middle Eastern heritage. However, it is a product of its time so should be understood and appreciated as such. I don't bear it any ill will.
The cast are all uniformly matinee players, with the broad acting style that entails, Guy Williams makes a likeable but pretty bland Captain Sindbad, Heidi Brühl is a beautiful but deadpan Princess Jana, Pedro Armendáriz chews the scenery as El Kerim, all 'Kill him', 'Take him to the dungeons' and 'Raise the taxes, no double the taxes' kind of acting whilst Abraham Sofaer plays magician Galgo as a weak, simpering coward with no self-motivation or drive beyond simply surviving for the next few minutes. However, the matt paintings, costume design and set pieces are pretty sumptuous here considering the small budget this film undoubtably had.
The special effects are definitely of their time, featuring the evil El Kerim spinning court magician Galgo's head around and the invisible creature (show by stencilled footsteps, some sparkler effects and a green hue). The magician later does a spell to grow and stretch objects and, I'm not proud of this, my thoughts went straight to the gutter, but he uses it to gain access to El Kerim's ring which takes away the villain's power. What this is definitely missing is the wonder of Harryhausen’s creatures as they became the draw that stayed long in the memory after the often forgotten stories. There is a hydra type monster but that looks like a flimsy rubber model which has red led lights for eyes and fake looking smoke machine smoke. The fight isn't fluid but rather the protagonist flailing his sword around windmill style with no flair or skill. The fact the creature is taken out by a conveniently placed square boulder dropped by his crew from a nearby cliff edge makes the fight seem pointless. There is no kinetic drama in this fight compared to Harryhausen’s work but what is to be done (except three better Sinbad films). Later on, when Sindbad fights the glove in the tower, again, it lacks drama. The use of the swanee whistle when Galgo uses magic to get El Kerim to the tower is poorly conceived as it gives a everything a comedic tone. I'm not saying everything needs to be grim dark but a bit more consistency in tone would be much appreciated.
Overall, the film is a lesser Sinbad film as it lacks the drama and magical effects that really propel the story along. It is an okay diversion but not really one I can recommend unless you have fond memories of it from your youth.
LINK- The Golden Voyage of Sinbad- Cult Movie Review
LINK- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad- Cult Movie Review
LINK- Into the Unknown Exhibition Shines Bright at the Barbican
LINK- Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema Virtual Exhibition Experience- Review
LINK- Children of the Stones: Cult TV Series Review
LINK- Tom’s Midnight Garden: Cult TV Review