El diablo blanco

It is a fact, no country puts a better "Sandal & Peplums" movies ever than the Italian producers, since the fifties until the sixties also in "Epics" too, this one belongs those "sword and sandal" genre whereby Steve Reeves fitted very well in all them due his well-shaped muscled body, weather like it or not overcame the talentless Reeves.

A tale was based and adapted from Lev Tolstoy's novel White Warrior, the picture tells an allegedly accurate story about the Chechen Agi Murad referred to as Diavolo Bianco by the Russians in the 19th century where the Czar Nicholas I (Zivanovic) ruled with heavy hands over the adjoining small and weak countries, due many rebellions drained deeply the Russian's financial to the extent the Czar asking for the Princess Maria arguing to Agi Murad a peace treaty.

Indeed Agi Murad was esteemed for his enemies to be utterly lenient at war time, he usually spared lives of his vanquished foes, meanwhile Agi Murad getting stronger as Chechnyan leader he raises some jealous from Ahemed Khan(Renato Baldini) who intents to stealing Agi Murad's bride the gorgeous Sultanet Aslan Bey (Giorgia Moll), due Agi be opposite to killing hostages of the battle he left their fellow-countrymen, sadly Agi Murad is catch during his marriage by the wicked Prince Sergei (Gérard Herter) and coerced to sign a shady peace treaty with the Czar.

Average Italian production shot external scenes at ancient Yugoslavia, flamboyant landscapes, few actions sequences, when it had is too much overdone, dull dancing scenes, bad dubbed, another vehicle to Steve Reeves, anyhow not that bad it needs a utmost restoration due the DVD available may was from VHS's transfer.

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First watch: 2010 / Source: DVD / How many: 2 / Rating: 5.5.

Agi Murad (Steve Reeves), a Chechen chieftain, leads his people in the fight against the Russian Empire. The czar Nicholas I, tired of the endless fight that is costing him money and armies, gives a letter to Princess Maria (Scilla Gabel) to be handed to her husband Prince Sergei (Gerard Herter), containing instructions to negotiate a peace treaty with the rebels. She leaves St. Petersbourg on a coach destined for the fortress in which the Prince Sergei, her husband, leads the fight against the rebels.

Agi Murad is loved by the daughter of Haslem Bey (one of the chieftains engaged in the rebellion) - Sultanet (Giorgia Moll) is her name, and Agi Murad naturally loves her too. But Sultanet has another suitor, the cruel and mischievous Ahmed Khan (Renato Baldini), also engaged in the league against the Russians.

Here we have the basic outline of the plot. This film, like many Italian epics (much more a horse & lance than a sword and sandal film) is very colorful, with a good cinematography, dancing numbers and battle scenes. The actresses Giorgia Moll and Scilla Gabel are gorgeous - Sultanet loves Agi Murad, and Princess Maria will love him too. Both actresses provide charm and sensuality to the film.

Already in the beginning of the film, when the all-powerful Czar Nicholas I is talking to Princess Maria about her mission, it's all too clear that he's under her spell and Princess Maria charmingly takes advantage of his infatuation for her own means (after this scene I was hooked). And the lovely Sultanet commands the heart of two men - something that will have its consequences in the story.

There's good chemistry between Giorgia Moll and Steve Reeves. Both of them would work together again in the enchanting "The Thief of Bagdad".

This film is entertainment guaranteed. The production values are not as high as those of the American epic films, but this film is more creative and more fun. Don't expect much of the story, it's has been told many times before. See the film for its colors and spontaneity. "The White Warrior" is not so deadly serious like its American counterparts - the hero may fight for freedom and justice, and the villains can do very bad things, but there's always time for delight.

This film is set during the mid-19th century when Russia flexed its empire-building muscles. The mountain tribes of the Caucusus rebelled against the Russian domination. The region is on the border of the southern most part of Russia today. The princess, who takes a trip to deliver the Czar's new orders to her husband, had to travel more than about 1,500 miles from St. Petersburg.

Steve Reeves play the lead role of Hadji Murad. The movie is based on a novel by that name written by Leo Tolstoy. Some of its account of the years of struggle in the Caucusus is fiction. But, many of the specific incidents did occur. In reality, a reading of a short bio or encyclopedia article on Hadji Murad would convince one that his escapades in this film were quite tame by comparison.

"The White Warrior" is an interesting film about a time and place for which American's have only occasionally shown interest. Still, it has historical value, and is based on a famous author's book of fiction.

An almost unrecognisable Steve Reeves takes on the mantle of Tolstoy's rebellious freedom fighter "Agi Murad" in this quickly paced but poorly produced action adventure. His character is determined to ensure that his Chechen population remains free from the tyranny of the troops of Czar Nicholas (Milivoje Zivanovic). The plot follows predictable lines as the small but determined band refuse to bow down in the face of overwhelming odds, scheming plotters and duplicitous allies that they can't trust. There has been some vision here from director Riccardo Freda and his set piece action scenes, costumes and Roberto Nicolosi's lively score all give this a certain style, but the editing is shocking and the acting, led from the top by an out-of-sorts Reeves but also featuring a lacklustre group of supporters who might have done better in silent films, really slows the thing down to the level of an overly verbose and episodic soap. Georgia Moll and Scilla Gabel do their limited best to bring some sultry glamour, but no amount of silk gauze can infuse them with much substance and the whole film rather fades away before us. Pity, it's a solid story that had they bothered to provide a decent script and some post production effort for, could have been good.

This is another of those films that I was introduced to as a kid via a still in my Dad's scrapbook of movie posters which he collected during his own childhood; curiously enough, as far as I know, it was never broadcast on any of the basic Italian TV channels. In fact, I only came across a copy of it a few years ago by way of an Italian satellite TV screening that dates back from 2005; unfortunately, the channel's cumbersome announcement for the film we are presently watching goes on for its first 5 minutes and the print itself bore intermittent instances of jerkiness in the picture! At any rate, for being the only movie on which "Peplum" icon Steve Reeves was directed by the great Riccardo Freda, the end result was something of a letdown – frankly, it was one of the perennial "Euro-Cult" items of this year's Easter marathon I was looking forward to the most! In hindsight, the involvement of "directorial collaborator" Leopoldo Savona (a journeyman helmer of similar efforts) might have had something to do with that; for the record, Freda also helped out on the superior THE MONGOLS (1961), on which Savona handled the Italian side of a production that was officially credited to Hollywood director Andre' De Toth!

But let us get to the good stuff first: there are a couple of sequences or shots which do attest to Freda's directorial hand – the vividly depicted opening village raid by the Tsarist militia; the following sequence in which a steaming Tsar Nicholas I strips his generals of their medals for not having yet tamed a revolting band of Caucasian subjects (led by "The White Devil", Agi Murad), a cathartic ritual that is interrupted by his visiting future daughter-in-law (Scilla Gabel) to whom he professes and displays affections which go well beyond the paternal!; the Tsar's son (Gerard Herter) is memorably introduced via a low-angle shot while he is instructing his pet pooch in etiquette. The entire film also bears the unmistakable mark of its legendary cinematographer Mario Bava (still a year away from officially graduating to the director's chair) who bathes the proceedings in colourfully atmospheric hues. Roberto Nicolosi's musical accompaniment, then, is a decently rousing one as well.

This Italo-Yugoslavian co-production is marred by a clichéd script and an exceedingly low budget: Reeves is a widower in love with his son's governess (Giorgia Moll) who is also coveted by fellow rebel ring-leader Renato Baldini; this romantic rivalry augurs nothing but disaster for the Caucasian forces with Reeves' subsequent desertion (after the obligatory but totally gratuitous wrestling bout, of course) and apprehension by the enemy, Moll having to promise herself to Baldini in return for the life of Reeves' son; the death of their feeble and ineffectual figurehead; Reeves is tortured by Herter's men but a besotted Gabel intervenes, thus freeing him (Reeves rides a galloping horse all over the Tsarist palatial retreat) to reclaim his true love and pursue his real foe (the latter's death is particularly lame). For the record, Leonard Maltin's guide gives this a measly *1/2 rating and, while definitely not all that bad, I guess it should have alerted me not to raise my expectations too highly. Incidentally, I have also acquired a much earlier 1930 German film adaptation of the same Leo Tolstoy story co-starring Peter Lorre and I might get to give it a whirl presently, in the hope that it will be a more worthwhile rendition.