La princesse de Samarcande

In 1220, Sir Guy of Devon (David Farrar) and a small band of English crusaders arrive at Samarkand in Central Asia. The city and its ruling princess Shalimar (Ann Blyth) are threatened by Genghis Khan (Marvin Miller) and his hordes. Shalimar hopes to defeat the conqueror by guile, whilst Sir Guy prefers to put up a brave (if ultimately futile) fight. Despite the mutual attraction between Shalimar and Sir Guy, their differing methods threaten any hope either may have of victory.

The Golden Horde is a sort of film that Jon Hall and Maria Montez - Universal contract players of exotic adventure yarns - would star in, but here, David Farrar and the beautiful Ann Blyth who plays a shrewd Queen with a strong plan are in the lead. And they are great in their roles, though George Macready as a shaman in the Tartars' side steals the scene. It's a lively enough slice of escapism with amusing moments, lavish settings, glossy costumes, grand scenery, secret doorways and some decent action. Liked the bit where the arrows were fired through the hole in the slats.

It's a good story but a bad script. This material could have been used better. An English ambassador with crusaders arrive at Samarkand to assize the armies and threats of the Mongols under Djenghis Khan in 1220 and succeed blatantly in disturbing the peace at court and upsetting all plans of the ruling Queen (Ann Blyth) and the Mongols. The characters are made more as types than characters, the intrigues peter out into small fry business, and in the fights and battles everyone is killed except the right ones. The script gives a very casual and superficial impression, although the Queen's character (Ann Blyth) is fascinating enough but should have been made so much more of. David Farrar is not up to his ordinary standard here but feels rather degraded in such a Hollywood cliché character as this. James Macready on the other hand is just the type for his scheming shaman in his weezy voice, and Djenghis Khan himself (Marvin Miller) is also good and convincing. In brief, this is no more than a casual spectacular entertainment providing a good story with many possibilities but giving the actors, in spite of their excellence, very little chance of proving their worth by a poor shorthand manuscript.

Ann Blyth makes a lovely and fetching princess of Samarkand. But in The Golden Horde her main concern is saving her city from all kinds of tribes who want conquer it and her.

Into her life comes a knight who is an emissary of the Christian kings of the west offering aid. Today David Farrar would be a military adviser.

A lot of double and triple dealing is involved before a climatic battle which is staged quite well. The cast also does well with the hokey dialog they have to spout.

Universal turned out these medieval Mideast epics the better to take advantage of the sets built for Maria Montez This is far from the best of them.

The marauding Mongol hordes set their sights on the ancient city of Samarkand. The son of Genghis Khan (Harry Brandon) and Howard Petrie as "Tugluk" are despatched in the advance guard to wrest the city from the beautiful Princess - Ann Blyth. They don't reckon on a troop of passing Crusaders led by the gallant "Sir Guy of Devon" (David Farrar) and so a bit of a tussle ensues. It's a melodrama with sand and costumes; Blyth looks great - though she, and Farrar are as wooden as usual. The best character is that of the "Shaman" - an over-the-top George Macready - causing mischief as he whispers poison into the ears of the Khan. It's hampered by the sound stage setting - some of the fight scenes are a little too rigid, and the dialogue is pretty stilted, but it is still a decent enough watch.

I was at first surprised not to see Maria Montez in this Universal Studios production, an adventure costume film usually starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. But the cast, even without those two, is absolutely flawless, the photography excellent and the action sequences terrific, tense, no matter the lack of historical accuracy. It is a superb movie for movie buffs in search of old fashioned films of this period. Production design, settings, score, nothing to complain about. You can't get tired of this kind of production, which is pure magic and nostalgia, no matter the naive story nor the expected ending.