CAPTAIN SINDBAD

Guy Williams as Sindbad

CAPTAIN SINDBAD (1963). Director: Byron Haskins. 

Captain Sindbad (Guy Williams) returns to Baristan from a long ocean voyage and discovers that the kingdom has been taken over by the vile dictator, El Kerim (Pedro Armendariz). El Kerim is invulnerable to death and injury because his heart is hidden away in a high tower inside a swamp filled with deadly creatures. As El Kerim prepares to put Sindbad's beloved Princess Jana (Heidi Bruhl) to death for refusing to marry him, Sindbad and his men attempt to get through the swamp and destroy his large beating heart. But with the unwilling aid of magician Gagol (Abraham Sofaer), El Kerim is not going to make it easy for him ... 

Amendariz and Bruhl

This highly entertaining, fast-paced fantasy film lacks only one thing, some wonderful Ray Harryhausen effects. But you almost don't miss them because this picture has the usual MGM gloss complete with gorgeous technicolor. The production makes the most of that with some stunning art direction and beautiful costuming that is borderline garish but effective. Besides that the film is well-directed by Byron Haskin, who also helmed The War of the Worlds. You do miss the Harryhausen effects when a many-headed hydra shows up late in the picture. Although it is well-designed, it simply can't compare to the stop-motion hydra crafted by Harryhausen in the same year's Jason and the Argonauts. Almost as fake are a bunch of gators who sort of glide over the ground instead of actually walking.

dueling swords

One of the movie's best scenes takes place in an arena, when Sindbad must face a gigantic but invisible creature that leaves huge footprints in the ground -- this has real suspense and excitement. The dangerous trek through the swamp when Sindbad and his men face a dozen perils is also notable, as is the climax in the tower and a climactic sword fight between Sindbad and El Kerim. Williams is heroic enough as Sindbad, Amendariz makes an excellent villain, Bruhl is an attractive and competent heroine, and we also have Abraham Sofaer as the riotous Gagol, Henry Brandon as El Kerim's good right hand, Bernie Hamilton as a mute sailor, and others. The best one can say of Michel Michelet's musical score -- Bernard Herrmann is sorely missed -- is that it is highly derivative. For a kid's film, the movie is pretty intense at times.

Verdict: MGM presents a colorful and even glamorous fantasy picture. ***.