Flucht aus Zahrain

This not a review per se. I saw it a long time ago when it first came out, at our local drive-in theater. I have been looking for it from time to time ever since because I liked it. It was exciting, had a great chase scene and held my interest throughout.

Time has dimmed my memory - that, and the fact that I was partially distracted at the time (I was at a drive-in, recall), and so I have lost the main thread of the plot.

And so, I just wonder, why has it not been released in any format? Many, many worse have been available in many forms. I am always shocked when I stop by this site and see the dismal grade this picture has been awarded. I would like to see it again to find out if I really liked it or if the extracurricular activities attendant to drive-in going affected or enhanced my viewing pleasure.

With an obligatory bow for a few political polemics regarding the Middle East, Escape From Zahrain is essentially an action adventure film about the leader of a rebel faction being broken out of custody and escaping from a Middle Eastern principality. Zahrain is a mythical country along the lines of Muscat-Oman, Yemen, or Qatar or better still the more well known Kuwait. With the ruling class living fabulously wealthy lives due to oil, most of the people are barely scratching out a living. In the next century a place like Zahrain would be a breeding ground for terrorists.

Yul Brynner is the rebel leader and Sal Mineo is an idealistic student who leads a group that springs Brynner and a few others who are along for the ride. They include some common criminal types Anthony Caruso and Jay Novello and one unusual one in Jack Warden, formerly employed by the big oil cartel, but now in prison for embezzlement. Can't be too pleasant for him in a third world jail.

Losing the truck they escaped in, they hijack due to Warden an ambulance belonging to the oil company and get driver Leonard Strong and nurse Madelyn Rhue as well. This then is the crew trying to Escape From Zahrain.

The rulers want Brynner real bad and they're out in force for him. Probably the biggest manhunt in the history of the country.

In a recent biography of Sal Mineo, Mineo was pleased to be reunited with Brynner whom he had played on Broadway with in The King And I. Mineo took over the part of the crown prince during the run and Brynner was like a father to him in real life. Brynner was not an easy guy to know or get along with, but apparently he and Mineo hit it off, very few did with this man who kept an air of mystery about him his entire life.

Warden and Caruso are a pair of interesting characters. In contrast to the idealistic Brynner and Mineo, these two are a pair of realists. Caruso is a real low life, but he does prove useful, but only when one keeps an eye on him. Warden is a cynic in the Bogart tradition, but kind of comes around in the end even though all he wants to do is get out the whole middle east.

Escape From Zahrain moves at a pretty good clip. It doesn't let the political polemics get too much in the way of the action.

Plot wise this movie stretches it to keep your attention however the cast is cool. Madalyn Rhue is a natural beauty however she comes off a bit nasty and uptight in the two films I've seen her in, "Escape from Zahrain" and "A Majority of One." Both were on as weekend midday movies so my expectations wernt too great.

Sal Mineo is really hot. He was a spunk for his time. Perfect skin and just enough buff. Unfortunatly the sexual tension between him and madlyns character was never realised. One of the reasons i had kept with this movie, but oh well.

Well half the sets are obviously fake however it isn't that noticeble. They wern't so bad to a cynic like me who now demands location shots or at least computer animation.

Not bad for the time, a tad over dramatic at times but watch it for Sal Mineo!

Not at all a bad film, reminiscent of "Ice Cold in Alex", in that an ambulance and its occupants have to make a perilous journey across inhospitable terrain. At first the colour seemed a bit garish, but I was interested to see that outdoor filming was in the Mojave Desert, which was a very convincing substitute for the Middle Eastern country of "Zahrein". Madlyn Rhue seemed a bit insipid as the nurse, and James Mason stole the short scene he was in (which contributed nothing to the plot, save to allow Jack Warden to steal his whisky, the consumption of which did add something later on).

Quite why the treacherous Anthony Caruso ("Tarah") was tolerated by his fellow fugitives was a bit puzzling. The final action sequence was not convincing, in fact it was contrived.

But overall an enjoyable film to watch.

Here's a movie that few have watched in which you can regale your old-movie- watching friends with the mention of this flick. Lots of action for a 1962 low budget film. A younger Jack Warden does a fine job as does a young Madlyn Rhue. Yul Brynner is...well... Yul Brynner. A nice cameo by James Mason too! One can only imagine if this film had a bigger budget. Unless you're an expert on global dessert terrain the last scene is really the only one where it is apparent this was shot in California and not in the middle east. Definitely worth watching!