Der Kurier des Zaren

It is hard to believe that this French,German/Italian/Yugoslavian coproduction became such a hit in France. Today, such mix of nationalities is nothing uncommon, but in those days it was often a sign of compromise, since one company could not finance an expensive shoot like this. Therefore, we have a German star in the lead, and otherwise mostly french character actors, with a few italians as well, and the majority of Yugoslavian extras. Curd Jürgens looks like the classic arian the nazis have dreamed about but never ever convince me to be Russian.

But this is only one of many weaknesses in this film. Shot in Yugoslavia, the scenery never really looks convincingly siberian. The fighting scenes took much to long and have been badly staged, most action is filmed from far away, you were left to guess what was going on. And there are enormous plot holes. I assume the films first cut was much longer and has been drastically shortened. These cuts made it difficult to understand the narrative. On the other hand we have to watch unnecessary long battle scenes that bring the story nowhere. The film is a very annoying experience.

Although Verne's famous novel has been filmed many many times,this one made number one at the 1956 French box office ;it was so commercially successful that a sequel was made afterward.

Okay ,Curd Jurgends (41) is too old for the part of the dashing young officer but he is efficient and handsome and he and Genevieve Page make a nice pair.You can notice other lovely actresses in supporting parts:Sylva Koscina ,the sword and sandal queen ,and Françoise Fabian ,who would turn into a rather intellectual thespian as the years went passing by .Sylvie ,a seasoned actress ,appears as Marfa Strogoff.

The screenplay is faithful to the novel,including the famous scene of torture with the red-hot iron .

Gallone's effort thoroughly deserved its success ;it was made for the whole family and can,from that point of view,be considered good Entertainment.

The first version of Michel Strogonoff was a short made in 190 by J. Searle Dawley for Edison (not known to survive, possibly lost). A 40-minute version which does survive was made in 1914 a co-rpoduction by Popular Players and Lubin and starred the famous Yiddish actor Jacob P. Adler as Strogonoff. It is not very good. The classic version (if that word "classic" is to man anything at all) was made in 1926 by Victor Tourjansky with Ivan Mozzhukhin as Strogoff and is one of the major films of what might be called the French (or in this case Franco-Rusian) school of "montage". This fifties version is a typically efficient of the period but not very remarkable.

I was curious about this Italian version of Jules Verne's most dramatic novel to see how much they would have butchered it. Surprisedly they had kept the main plot rather untouched with just a few additions and simplifications: all the major dramatic moments of the novel have been whisked away of course, but Curd Jurgens is not unconvincing as the imperial courier although perhaps a little overdone: the role would have suited Cornel Wilde better. The main addition is the love story with Genevieve Page as Nadia, and the important role of Nikolay as the driver is completely done away with. The main assets of the film are the great mass scenes, especially those with the cavalry, this was actually Jules Verne's only war novel, and the war element has been well taken care of in this film. Jules Verne would not have been displeased but not very pleased either.

I saw Michel Strogoff when I was just a little boy in fifties, at cinema Elhamra in Izmir. Its Turkish name was "Volga Mahkumlari" (The Prisoners of Volga). Later, I read the Turkish translation of the Jules Verne book which was published with the same title of the original book the film was based on. I remember the run and chase plot of the book better than the film's plot. The only things I remember of the film are its sad (maybe gloomy)atmosphere and Curd Jurgens who was captured by spies of the villain and was blinded with a red-hot iron stick. The sequence made such a strong impression on me that although I have forgotten almost all the other aspects of the film ("the events happen in Russia") I have never forgotten it.

I must have noticed the existence of Sylva Koscina who has been one of my boyhood idols, for the first time in Michel Strogoff. I have completely forgotten Koscina's image in Michel Strogoff but still remember her Playboy photographs shoving her naked in water.

It would just be a wonderful nostalgic pleasure if I could have a DVD of Michel Strogoff! COSKUN BUKTEL