FANTASIA OBSCURA: Before Misplaced Islamophobia, There Was Sinbad
There are some fantasy, science fiction, and horror films that not every fan has caught. Not every film ever made has been seen by the audience that lives for such fare. Some of these deserve another look, because sometimes not every film should remain obscure.
Sometimes, it can be hard to look back and believe what was considered good and evil back in the day.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
(Dist.: Columbia Pictures; Dir.: Gordon Hessler)
Hey, does anyone else remember when we were cool with Muslims?
It’s hard to recall here and now, but for a good portion of the 20th Century, the West had no problem whatsoever with those following the teachings of Muhammad.
Being Muslim in film didn’t automatically make you the bad guy; a quote from the Koran even appeared in Frank Capra’s Why We Fight: Prelude to War to buttress the argument that the free world included many voices to stand up to fascism, which the United States was actively fighting at the time:
During this period, an interest in Sinbad the Sailor thrived. A character introduced in A Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales and stories from the Middle East first put down during the Golden Age of Islamic Culture (during which time the West interacted with these lands through the Crusades), Sinbad is an adventurer who plies the seas from Jakarta to Africa. He finds treasures and troubles along with various monsters and peoples, whom he deals with through his wits and the occasional mercy of Allah.
Sinbad dominates volume seven of Richard Burton’s compilation of the stories. And as that edition’s most popular character, Sinbad had numerous screen treatments during the last century, including portrayals by the likes of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Gene Kelly, and Guy Williams.
In all but one of these, the animated classic Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor, Sinbad’s the hero of the piece, a swashbuckling do-gooder who takes on all comers as the guy the audience roots for as he strives for a happy ending.
Which is a pretty concise description of this film:
The second of three Sinbad tales with effects provided by Ray Harryhausen, the film opens with Sinbad (John Philip Law) and his crew making good time as they trim the sails of their dhow, just as a shiny object overhead comes into view. The object drops to the deck, a shiny gold arrangement that Sinbad decides to wear around his neck like an amulet, after which the dhow is beset by storms and Sinbad by visions.
When the storm and Sinbad’s fever breaks, they find themselves off the coast of Marabia, where the visions Sinbad faced have names: the evil prince Koura (Tom Baker), who’s looking to take Marabia from its current ruler; the Grand Vizier (Douglas Wilmer), who, thanks to Koura’s magical assaults, lost most of his face to a fireball spell; and the slave Margiana (Caroline Munro), who Sinbad gets a chance to liberate in exchange for her master’s son Haroun (Kurt Christian) enlisting as part of Sinbad’s crew to get his lazy butt out of the house.
When Sinbad and the Grand Vizier get a chance to compare notes, they find they have a common enemy in Koura, and that the gold piece Sinbad received on his ship is part of the key to a glorious treasure. The one who completes the quest for it will have riches and power enough to claim Marabia for him- or herself and/or be set for as long as it takes a sailor to have a few really good liberties ashore.
So Sinbad joins with the Vizier in a race against Koura for the treasure, taking them to Lemuria where Sinbad and Koura go head-to-head a few times, or as close to head-to-head as the cheating villainous Koura allows before some magical chicanery takes place:
Speaking of bringing the magic, for a Harryhausen “Dynarama” film, this feels very light on the stop-mo that most of productions he contributed to contain. Discounting any conscious budget choices made by the producers, the culprit may be the gleeful energy Baker brings to his Koura. His drive and intensity just draws the viewer’s attention; the maniacal energy Baker always brought to his villains on screen gets a major showcase here.
The rest of the crew do well as they try to keep up with Baker’s Koura. Law’s Sinbad provides good balance opposite the villain with a hero that makes you root for him, and Christian’s Haroun as a muff-up showing he’s quite capable when tested drives the quest both sides take towards the Fountain of Destiny. And both heroes and villains in the story get decent material to work with in Brian Clemens’ script, which supports both teams with decent scenes spotlighting characters on both sides.
As happens, though, new light got cast on old subjects, and how we thought of things did not stay constant. Baker’s career as the premiere portrayer of villains went away a year after the film came out when he became the fourth actor to portray the Doctor on Doctor Who (and one of the more iconic ones at that).
Meanwhile, after the “War on Terror” started, Sinbad properties dried up in the West, along with most sympathetic portrayals of peoples from the Middle East.
It may be too soon to discuss what will happen when these times change, as is inevitable, but if we need quick ideas for stories to tell in the next era, there’s a swashbuckling sailor at hand to turn to…
NEXT TIME: Relationship troubles? There’s a doctor I know — but maybe you don’t want this guy turning up…
