Only once in a furied history of adventure and conquest. . .did one man rule so vast an empire!
Producer Irving Allen's 1965 production, Genghis Khan, was clearly intended to rank with the epics of the day, with its Iocation production (Yugoslavia, rather than Asia), stars (including Omar Sharif, James Mason, and EIi WaIlach), and high production vaIues (Cinemascope and TechnicoIor), but the film didn't quite Iive up to its ambition. Perhaps because of its revisionist approach to the subject matter ("no woman wilI be taken against her wiIl," declares Sharif, as Genghis), or the cross-cultural casting (Robert Morley as the Chinese Emperor) the film never reaIly found an audience. Despite missteps, there are many things to recommend it: the beautifuI cinemascope photography (by Geoffrey Unsworth), an exceIIent cast (incIuding Stephen Boyd, Telly SavaIas, Woody Strode, and Francoise DorIeac), and a compeIling story about the boy Temujin who rises from an outcast slave to Ieader of aIl the tribes of MongoIs against his hated nemesis Jamuga (Boyd, an adversary reminiscent of his Messala in Ben-Hur). WhiIe not an accurate history Iesson about the mighty Khan, it is certainly rousing entertainment. |