Dschingis Khan

I have to admit I didn't think this film was half as bad as I have been led to believe through negative reviews here on IMdB and elsewhere. So, if it isn't all bad ... I agree it isn't historically accurate but neither was Elizabeth and 100s of other 'historical' films. It is a bit leaden in places, true. Francoise Dorleac gets a bit tiresome although even she has her moments. The script may be a bit dodgy in places but looking at what we get in recent years ... I don't have a problem with Sharif in the title role at all - I thought he was fine. The 'Chinese' being Mason and Morley was distracting but even at their worst these two were always entertaining. Eli Wallach and Michael Hordern make interesting appearances. Even done on the cheap the film doesn't look bad and I enjoyed it better than, say, Demetrius and the Gladiators. And then there was cute Stephen Boyd if all else failed, always a pleasure to watch. Genghis Khan a turkey? Let's just say 'I've seen worse'.

I haven't seen this in years, but I remember it has some exciting battles, some good acting by Omar Sharif, Michael Hordern and Stephen Boyd, some great acting by James Mason and Robert Morley. I guessing that none of the actors were Mongolian or Chinese. Historically inaccurate, but kind of fun, sort of like some of Erroll Flynn's movies, like "The Charge of the Light Brigade". In recorded history, Genghis Khan was a murderous, merciless tyrant, not the idealist he's seen as in this picture, just wanting to unite all the tribes and live their lives out riding around on their horses not being bothered by the meddling Chinese. Even with all that said, it has some spectacular action and some interesting scenes that do have some historical veracity.

It stars Omar Shariff as Mongol Temujin who becomes the fearless leader Genghis Khan and unites all Mongol tribes and conquers most of Asia . This Genghis Khan¨ (1965) professional though regularly directed by Henry Levin boasts a good cast as Stephen Boyd , Françoise Dorléac , Telly Savalas , James Mason , Robert Morley , Eli Wallach , Yvonne Mitchell , Michael Hordern , Woody Strode , among others . In this film , there is epic , mammoth spectacle , hokey historical events , a love story , camp dialog to spare , wonderful landscapes and results to be a failed as well a little boring film , at times . Set during the 13th century in which the brutal warrior Mongol chief Temujin conquers most of Asia , Europe and the Middle-East . Temujin was taken prisoner by the rival warlord , the ruthless leader Jamuga and as punishment was forced to wear a large round wooden stock that severely restricted his movements , but with the help of Bortei he manages to getaway . As the fearless Temujin (recently deceased Omar Shariff) battles armies led by Jamuga (Stephen Boyd) and for the love of a princess Bortei (Francoise Dorleac , though Claire Bloom was attached to this project at one point) . He overcomes all of his hardships to become one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known and now starts his quest to unify all of the Mongol tribes . Genghis gets big hits , but his old nemesis keeps appearing at various times in his life leader to a final fight between the two . As Genghis Khan, ruthless leader of the Mongols and sovereign over the vastest empire ever ruled by a single man, was both god and devil , not just in the Middle Ages , but for centuries to come . Temujin with the help of his underlings (Telly Savalas along with his brother George Savalas , Michael Hordern , Yvonne Mitchell , Woody Strode) becomes the emperor of Mongols , the great Gengis Khan . Temujin conquers the Chinese empire and overthrows the Emperor of China (Robert Morley). He subsequently takes on the Shah of Khwarezm (Eli Wallach) who is backed by his eternal enemy , the brutal and revenger Jamuga . Finally , Temujin conquers Khawrezn , India , Persia , Bokara and Samarkanda . Only once in the furied history of adventure and conquest...did one man rule so vast an empire .

This expensive epic film in familiar drawling fashion contains clichéd barbarian dialogue , noisy action , great production design , monumental battles and a cast of thousands . It results to be a little embarrassing film with some unintentionally hilarious images about Chinese scenarios and failed at box office . Colorful cinematography in 70mm blow-up version by the British , Geoffrey Unsworth , being mostly shot in marvelous exteriors ; although the movie takes place in Asia, the film was shot in Yugoslavia . Rousing as well as evocative musical score by Dusan Radic who also composed another historical film : ¨The long ships¨. This sweeping oriental drama was backed by the great producer Irving Allen , being lavishly financed , in fact , at the time , 1965 , surpassed anything ever filmed before .

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Henry Levin . Ex-actor , director Henry Levin was a previous stage player who had a prolific and long career as filmmaker entering the directing in 1943 about every genre over the next 36 years . His heyday was in the 1960s , when he turned out several bright and frothy sex comedies, notably ¨Belles on their toes , Come fly with me , Honeymoon hotel¨ , his greatest films were on the adventure genre as ¨¨ The wonderful world of Brothers Grimm¨ , ¨The bandit of Sherwood Forest¨ , ¨The return of Monte Cristo¨ and ¨Journey to the center of the earth¨ . Although Levin's forte was light comedies, one of his most interesting films was a dark, brooding western ¨Lonely man¨ (1957) and ¨Desperados¨ , both of them with Jack Palance . He finished his career piloting made-for-television movies, and died on the final day of shooting ¨Scout's Honor¨ (1980) (TV) . Other films dealing with this historical figure , ¨Genghis Khan¨ , are the followings : 1956 version titled ¨The conqueror¨ directed by former movie star Dick Powell and financially supported by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and lousily directed by Dick Powell starred by John Wayne , Susan Hayward , Pedro Armendáriz , Agnes Moorehead , John Hoyt , Ted De Corsia ; ¨Gengis Khan¨ (2005) by Edward Bazalgette and the best : ¨Mongol¨(2007) by Sergey Bodrov .

Irving Allen went all the way to Yugoslavia to make this foolish attempt in Technicolor and Panavision to capitalise on Omar Sharif's new-found celebrity which actually carried a disclaimer from Talking Pictures for the myriad racial caricatures on display.

The international cast represents every conceivable ethnicity except for a bona fide Mongolian. Familiar Asian types include Stephen Boyd, James Mason, Robert Morley, Michael Hordern, Telly Savalas, Eli Wallach, Woody Strode, Yvonne Mitchell, Kenneth Cope and Jacqueline Pearce (the latter pair playing Francois Dorleac's brother and Wallach's daughter; the craziest line being Miss Dorleac's description of herself as "ugly-looking").

As an user has pointed out ,this is the last of the spectaculars of the late fifties/early sixties which began with De Mille's "Ten Commandments" and included such works as "Ben Hur" ,"Spartacus " (which was more Kirk Douglas' work than Kubrik's ),the highly underrated "Cleopatra"(when will we see the uncut version?),Mann 's "El Cid" and "Fall of the Roman Empire" .

This is the last hurrah,but it's a bad film.James Mason and Robert Morley do not seem to take their roles seriously (as Chinese characters!!)and their playing is deliciously tongue-in-cheek.But all the others seem to believe in this far-fetched tale ,very dubious historically ,with Egyptian Omar Sharif as the lead who abducts pretty princess (French Françoise Dorléac) who is raped by Irish Villain (even

nastier than Ben Hur's Messala) Boyd.There's also American Wallach who offers him his two daughters.Both Sharif and Boyd seem to enjoy bondage (collar ,cage,etc).When he speaks to common women ,Genghis is feminist (it's up to them to choose) ,but when he is with his wife ,he's a more credible macho.

Incidentally,Sharif,Mason and Dorléac's sister (Catherine Deneuve) would team up three years later in Terence Young's "Mayerling".This time,Mason was Sharif's father .

If you want to see a good Sharif movie,do choose "Dr Zhivago" instead.