THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD

Kerwin Mathews as Sinbad

THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958). Director: Nathan Juran.

Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) is betrothed to the princess Parisa (Kathyrn Grant) and takes her back to his homeland of Baghdad. Along the way he lands on the island of Colossa, where he encounters the magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher). Chased by an angry cyclops, Sokorah sails off with Sinbad and crew, but he covets the magic lantern that he had to leave behind. He therefore contrives a way to force Sinbad to sail back to Colossa, using his magic to shrink Parisa to the size of a doll, and insisting that they must have the eggshell of a giant roc in order to grow the princess back to normal. Naturally, Colossa is the home of the rocs ...

Mathews and Torin Thatcher

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a simply wonderful fantasy film that is fast-paced, exciting, and suspenseful. Mathews, who was at his best in material of this nature, and Grant play their leading roles with just the right touch, and Torin Thatcher makes a marvelously sinister villain. While Nathan Juran [Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman] was the director of record, most of the FX scenes were handled by stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen, with this process being coined "dynamation" for this film. The film is further enriched by Bernard Herrmann's score, which complements and embellishes virtually every sequence.

Grant, Mathews and the dragon

Harrryhausen's work on this film is superlative, and the picture boasts many memorable sequences: the cyclops lifting the sailors out of his treasure room and trying to roast one poor fellow on a spit; the battle between another cyclops and Sokurah's fire-breathing dragon; the fight between Sinbad and a skeleton that Sokurah brings to life (forecasting a famous sequence in Jason and the Argonauts), the scene when Sokurah turns the lady-in-waiting into a dancing snake woman, and the sailors' fight against the gigantic, two-headed roc. The action never flags.

Sinbad vs the living skeleton

The supporting roles in the film are all well cast, with Richard Eyer playing the genie who becomes a cabin boy, and Danny Green a stand-out as the nasty Karim, who tries to lead a mutiny on board ship but comes a cropper of some wailing demons. Juran and Mathews reteamed for the disappointing The Boy Who Cried Werewolf fifteen years later as well as the imitative Jack the Giant Killer in 1962. Juran and Harryhausen worked together again on The First Men in the Moon after doing 20 Million Miles to Earth the year before.

Verdict: Delightful, FX-filled fantasy film. ***1/2.