Der Sohn des Scheichs

Largely filmed in Egypt, this Saturday-matinée adventure has an expansive quality not often found in sword-and-sandal movies. Unfortunately, some of this quality will be lost when shrunk onto a TV screen, but an efficient script, replete with sure-fire ingredients, and an enthusiastic cast make up for any visual disappointments. Heading the cast is ex-Tarzan Gordon Scott who takes awhile to enter the scene and who then wears a headdress which often obscures the lower part of his face. By the end of the movie, however, the headdress is gone along with Scott's shirt and finally being able to see his sweaty, sun-bronzed torso is well worth the wait. Along the way he suffers a flogging inside his enemy's dungeon and this may be the only time you'll see Scott writhing under the whip. (The flogging, alas, isn't included in the book: "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies.") Clocking in at little more than a brisk 80 minutes, this minor but worthy effort has the good sense to give the audience what it wants, and then to quit while it's ahead.

This has obviously no relation to Rudolph Valentino's 1926 swan-song nor, for that matter, the 1977 modern-day comedy starring Tomas Milian. The peplum under review marks the momentous (but curiously unexploited) teaming of two genre stalwarts: Gordon Scott as the titular figure (later assuming the Robin Hood-like guise of "The Black Sheik"!) and Gordon Mitchell as a mercenary employed by the villain but who expires after just one brief skirmish! Also on hand is Moira Orfei (who similarly flourished during the form's heyday) as, typically, an evil mistress of the obligatory usurping potentate.

The result is an unassuming film with no outstanding merit…except that it is perhaps the most impersonally-directed such effort I have ever watched: in fact, there is barely any close-up throughout and, what is worse, an awful lot of the running-time is taken up by repetitive footage of riders traveling aimlessly across the desert (and which, for all I know, may have been stock footage anyway)!! Just as amusingly, the chief baddie turns up with his men at the camp of a neighboring tribe (led by Scott's father and currently being entertained by his own daughter's dancing!) – where the initial greeting and any thoughts of an amicable visit are instantly dispelled by the order to assault and decimate the gathering…and himself unceremoniously making off with the hero's sister, unwisely incurring the latter's inevitable wrath in the process (with the two ultimately facing-off in single combat on the sand dunes)!

Emir Omar (who looks like Alan Steel) is a brutal thug of a leader--stealing any young lady he finds attractive, shaking down local tribes and killing anyone who dares resist, etc. We see about ten-fifteen minutes of his barbarism when Gordon Scott--Kerim, son of the ruler of a small tribe threatened by the Emir AND someone whose sister was captured and killed by him--arrives on the scene to take on the evil Emir and unite the various tribes who have been crushed under his iron heel. Gordon Scott might not be the first actor who comes to mind when casting a middle-eastern role, but he does fine (in full beard) in the role. At first, he wears a full costume and head-dress, but he gradually wears less and less until he is bare-chested, and one remembers why this former Tarzan and peplum star was so popular at the time. Scott, who resembles his friend Steve Reeves in this film, was able to work well in a number of genres--jungle, peplum, costume adventure, western, and spy--and he has the charisma to carry a film on his own. There's a lot of attractive second-unit photography from Egypt, although since the Tigris River is mentioned, one presumes this is set in southern Iraq or Syria. The photography is quite colorful and the set design, while low budget, is complements the color scheme of the landscape. Gordon Mitchell is billed, but he's not much in evidence. I'm guessing that he is playing a mercenary leader who is hired by the Emir to get Scott and his followers, but that character's face is mostly hidden under a scarf and not much face is shown...and in any event the character's role is about four minutes long. It could be Mitchell--I'm not sure (I saw this on a small-screen TV, which didn't help). As a devoted fan of Italian sword and sandal cinema, I found this obscure film to be a pleasant surprise and I would recommend it to any fan of the genre. KERIM--SON OF THE SHEIK is certainly "above average," and it's always nice to see Gordon Scott again. Good luck in finding a copy!

From the sword and sandal film to the oriental adventure

After a few years of the Peplum boom, Hercules actors like Gordon SCOTT (1926-2007) were increasingly used in other adventure films. What's special about this film is that it was shot in Egypt.

Kerim's (Gordon SCOTT) family is being harassed by the powerful Emir Omar (Alberto FARNESE). When Kerim's sister (Grazia Maria SPINA) is murdered, the limit is finally full...

Other roles in Mario COSTA's film include Cristina GAIONI (as the good one), Moira ORFEI (as the schemer), Jany CLAIR (as an incarcerated woman) and Nando ANGELINI as Kerim's little brother.

Alberto FARNESE cuts a good figure as the evil antagonist, but Gordon SCOTT has the better fight with his Hercules colleague Gordon MITCHELL (1923-2003), who plays the henchman Yussuf in the film.

Well worth seeing for fans of the genre!

This desert adventure is shot in the classic Sword and Sandals style , getting an atmospheric and acceptable direction from Mario Costa. The film begins with a prologue stating the following: "Almost a century ago, a distant province of Egypt was under the cruel rule of the Emir Omar. Any act of disobedience was punished with death, and if the rebel was a Bedouin, his tribe suffered a cruel retaliation¨. In the Middle East, circa 1860s, the evil Omar (Alberto Farnese) in a plot to usurp the throne, seeks to become Khadive by killing off his adversaries and by marrying the reluctant Fawzia (Cristina Gaioni), favorite niece of the current Khadive. After marrying Fawzia, he plans to eliminate her so he can then marry his own choice, the ruthless Zahira (Moira Orfei). Omar's brutal policies, killing and enslaving the citizens of the kingdom, result in the kidnapping and death of a young woman named Laila (Maria Grazia Spina). Laila's brother, Kerim (Gordon Scott), then becomes Omar's sworn enemy. Now known as "the Black Shiek," Kerim becomes a Robin Hood of the desert, rallying various tribes in a revolt against Omar. In the process Kerim meets and falls in love with Fawzia who eventually comes to share his feelings. Kerim sneaks into the city , but is trapped in the process. In disguise, Kerim infiltrates Omar's headquarters but is discovered, he has him thrown in a dungeon imprisoned -- along with Fawzia and her father, Mansur (Nando Tamberlani) -- and flogged. A sympathetic slave girl named Selima (Lulla Selli) rides and informs Prince Ahmed (Luciano Benetti) who comes to Kerim's rescue. Kerim rescues her again , and learns from an army that comes in his help. Eventually, a fierce battle takes place, and Kerim and Omar carry out a duel at the sunny desert.

A colorful and brilliant Arabian adventure and made in Peplum style by Mario Costa. This is one of the many muscle men adventures and Peplum movies who dominated Italian sword-and-sandal epics in the early 60s , including epic battles , struggles , fights, bizarre scenarios , damsels in distress, a breathtaking hand-to-hand duel, and being quite entertaining. The plot is notoriously formulaic with desert battles , freeing slaves , restoring the throne to rightful ruler, fighting evil kings and anything else . The picture was well starred by Gordon Scott as the hero who's pitted against a ruthless desert ruler . In fact this Il figlio dello sceicco(1962) results to be an exciting and moving Gordon Scott vehicle with exotic setting in similar style to others at the time. Well starred by Gordon Scott who made lots of roman-epic-Italian films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨ or ¨Sword and sandals¨. He was a bodybuilder to achieve stardom in the sword and sandal/mythological. As Gordon Scott's luck changed when Italian director Sergio Corbucci persuaded him to go overseas to star ¨Romulo and Remo¨ along with Steve Reeves and later on , he continued to play several others . Scott who played the mythic Maciste in great number of movies was randomly assigned the identity of Hercules , Goliath ,Samson or Aron for U. S. viewing . Gordon was an American hunk who emigrated to Europe where starred several Tarzan movies, subsequently was to Italy and created a true star-system based on pumped-up heroes. Gordon Scott and specially Steve Reeves paved the way for others actors to seek their fame and fortune in Italy playing stocky adventurers . Other stars by the time on this type of movies are Mark Forest, Gordon Mitchell, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris, Richard Harrison, Rock Stevens, Reg Park, Ken Wood, Kirk Morris ; furthermore 'Gordon Scott', who made more important competence to Steve Reeves. Nobody, nevertheless, topped Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott in popularity. All of them performed mythological figures in fantastic plots, usually set in ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome, and here in Egypt and defeating life-threatening monsters , beasts , wildlife , sorcerers, witches and demons. While his hero's name often changed, Kirk's mission was almost always the same to save unfortunate people. Gordon Scott played other epic characters : ¨Gladiator of Rome¨ , ¨Hero of Rome¨ , ¨Hercules and Princess of Troy¨ , ¨Conquest of Micene¨ , though also made some Spaghetti as ¨The tramplers¨ and ¨Buffalo Bill ¨, Spy-genre as ¨Secretissimo¨and ¨Death ray¨ and of course his famous Tarzan movies as ¨Tarzan's greatest adventure¨, ¨Tarzan's Fight for Life¨ , ¨Tarzan and the hunters¨ and ¨Tarzan and the trappers ¨, among others . When Gordon Scott agreed to film Kerim with Italian actors and crew in Egypt, he was also set to appear in an Egyptian version of the same film, directed by Mario Costa himself titled: ¨Karim ibn el sheikh¨re-edited in 1964, the Italian or European cast and part of the crew was replaced with an Egyptian cast such as: Maryam Fakhruddin, Ahmed Louxor, Lola Sedki, Nazim Shaarawy, Nazim Shaarawy, Farid Shawqi , while Gordon remained and re-filmed the same scenes with the Egyptian actors.

Here stand out the marvellous landscapes of the desert in authentic locations in Egypt brilliantly photographed by cameraman Angelo Lotti. As well as the overwhelming musical score by prolific Francesco de Massi, a very common composer of Spaghetti western. This epic of the desert was well and professionally directed by Mario Costa. He was a good artisan who directed Spaghetti Westerns as La Belva, Buffalo Bill hero of the Far West. And especially known for shooting several adventures, Peplum movies as Conqueror of Corinth, Gladiator of Rome, Cavalier in Devil's castle, The son of the Sheikh, The barber of Sevilla, The kings of France, Kan the Sheik's son, The queen of pirates, among others. Rating : 6.5/10. Decent and frankly acceptable Peplum/adventure movie.