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First, a little background history and geography relating to Samarkand and the Mongols: At the time of this story, around 1226, Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of the Silk Road, located in present Uzbekistan, to the east of the Caspian Sea, most of it's inhabitants Moslems. It was sacked by a Mongol army, and most of the inhabitants killed or sold into slavery. It would be rebuilt and served as the capital of the Tamerlane Empire of 150 years or so later. The Golden Horde was one of the splinter states derived from the united Mongol Empire, established a few decades after the death of Genghis Khan, and his first son, Juchi, both of whom are featured in this story. Apparently, Tugluk, as leader of the Kalmuk people, is purely fictional. Juchi, along with Genghis, did die around the time of the sack of Samarkand, but not in the way dramatized.The small band of Crusaders lead by Sir Guy, would seem very far afield from the Holy Land. Sir Guy explained that his king was interested in contacting this new power in Asia, to discover their intentions with regard to western Europe. However, it's absurd to suggest that such a small number of soldiers could confront the combined armies of Juchi and Tugluk. On the other hand, we only see a small fraction of their armies which came with the 2 leaders to the palace, presumably to try to negotiate a non-military solution to the Mongol's demands. However, no such purpose to their arrival is articulated. Sir Guy's idea is to attack and drive off these armies. Since the Mongols had already destroyed the army of Samarkand, the Princess, instead, planned to defeat them by guile, namely, she would try to pit the 2 leaders against each other in their competition for the Princess's favors. A combination of these 2 strategies is what ensues. In a fight between the contingents of their armies in the palace, Tuklug spears Juchi, Then, the crusaders show up from their hiding place and slaughter the Kalmuks, with Sir Guy besting Tuklug in a sword fight. However, Genghis Khan's army is now about to descend on them. He finds his son dead, and takes heed of a prophesy that he who tries to destroy Samarkand will himself be destroyed. Thus, this third strategy is what saves them from Genghis.The relationship between Sir Guy, and the Princess starts out chilly and gradually warms up. Initially, she keeps asking the crusaders to leave, as she thinks she knows best how to handle the situation. But, Sir Guy keeps finding excuses to stay. At one point, he even suggests that they set fire to the city to discourage the Mongols from entering the city. The Princess nixes this idea.This is a pretty cheesy production. The Crusaders slaughter the Mongols with hardly any effort. That's not the Mongols I've read about! Ann Blyth, as the Princess, maintains an icy exterior throughout, with only a 'hot' kiss for Sir Guy at the end....While filmed in Technicolor, the copy I saw was not vibrant. Produced by Universal with a run time of 77min., it's clearly meant to be a B movie....Despite the promise of clashing armies, there's precious little footage outside the city gates. Perhaps that is just as well, and it saves having to hire many extras. I can't really recommend this movie, but, if you are interested, it's available at You Tube at present.
... View MoreI was only vaguely familiar with this colorful (albeit low-budgeted) epic from Universal dealing with Samarcand's resistance to the onslaught of the titular army, commandeered by the legendary Genghis Khan. The plot is unusual in that their come-uppance occurs largely through a woman's shrewdness; in fact, while the expected skirmishes are certainly there, the hero is not very flatteringly depicted: he is boorish Crusader David Farrar who arrives upon the scene with his men (chief among them a pre-stardom Richard Egan) presumptuously intent on taking charge of the situation – since the city is ruled by a girl (Ann Blyth, petite but effective nonetheless in portraying her character's iron-willed disposition)! Her plan is to have the Khan's two envoys (one of them his own son) clash when she offers herself to one of them as ransom for the city's deliverance!; while an accompanying Shaman (played by genre regular George Macready, but almost unrecognizable behind the almond-eyed make-up!) tries to calm the waters and make them see the wiliness of her proposal, like Farrar himself, they are too obstinate and proud to act sensibly! Typically, the protagonists themselves start off on the wrong foot (early on, he admonishes Blyth's male subjects for even accepting to be subservient to a member of the opposite sex and, what is more, openly considers her suggestions of what action is to be taken as "half-witted"!) but, before long, predictably (or, if you like, as dictated by Hollywood in those times) they find they cannot live without one another! For good measure, Blyth's castle is fitted with a variety of secret passages which are, subsequently, often resorted to in order to save the battered hide of Farrar's knights (needless to say, though brute force takes the upper hand at first, eventually it has to accede to the hidden powers – and not just the obvious physical attributes – that a female, invariably, is better equipped to supply)! In the end, the Khan decides that Samarcand is not for him (thanks also to a prophecy that forbids him personally physical entrance into the city?) and takes it on the lam. The film looks good (belying its humble pedigree) and, at just 73 minutes, certainly does not overstay its welcome; however, the repetition pertaining to Farrar's pig-headedness and the two deluded romantic contenders' squabbling does tax one's patience somewhat on occasion...
... View MoreI saw this about five years ago and don't remember the specifics, but I thought that Ann Blyth, whom I've always liked a lot, was very interesting in this role, as a very strong and forthright princess. She also looked beautiful in the costumes. I think she was far superior to the generally frazzled and annoyed Maureen O'Hara, and of course a better actress than campy Maria Montez, and should have been in perhaps a couple more costume dramas/exotic fantasies since she showed here that she had the capabilities of bringing such a character to life.
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