I tartari

On the great plains of Russia a thousand years ago, many tribes converge. From the North, the peaceful and honorable Vikings are led by Oleg the Brave (Victor Mature). From the East, the barbaric Tartars are led by the local khan Togrul. He tries to recruit Oleg to join in attacking the Slavs but Oleg refuses due to their hundred years of friendship. Togrul starts a fight and gets killed. The Vikings kidnap Togrul's daughter Samia and escape. Togrul's brother Burundai (Orson Welles) vows revenge.

This comes from another era in Hollywood and the world. The yellow-faced Orson was ignored at the time but it has not aged well in the present day. One thing that wasn't ignored is the Italian-American Mature trying to play a Viking. He sticks out like a sore thumb. Neither him nor Orson fit their roles in the modern sense. If one can ignore that, this is generally a functional B-movie with a lot of westernized history and a Hollywood version of the exotic East. As part of the plot, I would expect Oleg to sent emissaries to the Slavs right away. The movie opens with many tribes and it quickly dwindles down to the two sides. As for the acting, it is old-time Hollywood melodrama and Orson seems to be gleefully playing the villain. All in all, it is a swords and sandals adventure that hasn't aged well.

Very talented and recognized Orson Welles (brilliant in "Citizen Kane", "The Third Man" or "Compulsion") must have been very needed of money in the early 60's to enter this film; there can be no other explanation whatsoever. As a Tartar ruler confronting Viking invaders Welles shows not interest at all in what he is doing and even though his undeniable screen personality is enough for him to steal the show.

Victor Mature plays the enemy Viking chief (yes, I said Viking!) with his usual and inevitable overacting and going around with his little war? axe and his black greasy 1960's hairdo. His casting in this is like putting Mickey Rooney to play Goliath.

As for the rest of it "The Tartars" is just one more of the usual sort of low budget adventure costume movies the Italians gave us after the bad though sort of original "Hercules" (1959) with good old Steve Reeves (he always underacted in the same level Mature overacted). Some average action sequences a less than average plot and an all standard direction complete the picture.

The point is that if Welles (or even Mature) where not in "The Tartars" you would have not much expectations and you would surely judge this film with a more generous concept. But taking the film as it is you can only say it's a terrible piece of cinema. So terrible that if you are a movie's fan you can't miss it because that is precisely its major achievement.

In the 1950s and 60s, Italian filmmakers realized that if they cast American actors in the leads in their films, they'd be more marketable worldwide. As a result, many B-list actors or A-listers in their waning years went there to make films. To do this, they needed to dub the actors in various languages...which is what they did with "The Tartars" ("I tartari"). Like most of the Italian epics of the era, it looks a lot like a Hercules/Maciste film...with large casts, nice costumes and adequeate acting.

In the case of "The Tartars", two Americans lead the cast...Victor Mature plays the leader of the Russian Vikings* and Orson Wells plays the leader of the local Tartars. Of the two, Wells looks the silliest...and SHOULD look like a Mongolian, but doesn't.

The film involves a war between the Tartars and Vikings...and various women are taken prisoner in order to try to convince the other side to capitulate. Of couse, this doesn't work so they spend much of the movie splitting each others' head open and acting macho.

This film turned out to be pretty much what I expected...a lovely looking story but also a relatively dull one. Why? Because the acting seems so incredibly muted and none of the main characters seem to act like real people...more like statues that somehow talk. This makes it all seem quite sterile...and dull. For a MUCH better and more interesting film, try Hollywood's "The Vikings" (1958)...a film that is better in pretty much every way.

*While most folks think the Vikings were only from Scandinavia, some migrated to Russia and instead of sacking the land, stayed and became farmers and traders. Many Russians today can trace their ancestry to these people.

THE TARTARS is a tale of revenge set in the Russian steppes circa 900 A.D. Viking Prince Oleg (at best a weak and unintentionally humorous portrayal by Victor Mature) is asked by a Tartar chieftain to join the Mongol horde and destroy the indigenous Slavic tribes. Oleg refuses to betray his Slavic brethern and all hell breaks loose. The Tartar chieftan is murdered and his brother Ogotai (a "larger" than life Orson Welles) voys to avenge his brother's death which leads to more massacres and malicious deeds. Welles is interesting in the part of the Tartar Khan and his palace is a work of sensational art direction. Costumes in this Italian-made epic are first rate and half of the cast and crew are recognizable names from other Italian epics, sci-fi and horror films. Mature once said, "I'm a lousy actor with 75 motion pictures to prove it." This critic can only say, "Amen to that!" THE TARTARS is certainly worth seeing but is not the most memorable moment in epic filmmaking history.

I had seen this movie a long time ago and saw it as just "another Italian Spectacle" action movie. I recently viewed a great LBX version that wasn't edited. In this new version. They clearly state that Orson Wells rapes Victor Mature's wife and "throws her to his men". A rather magnanimous ending to the beautiful Liana Orfei. This key fact was usually cut out of most TV versions of The Tartars. Liana Orfei starred in many Sword & Sandal flicks in this era. She is also a famous Circus performer. I have added 2 movie stills from my collection to the galley.