There are two types of Sinbad adventures: those with monsters and filled with special effects or those played pretty much straight, just adventure films with a hero surrounded by beautiful girls. The most popular ones were, of course, the Ray Harryhausen fx filled films but I enjoy seeing Sinbad just in your typical Arabian setting too.
Here's a quick round-up of most of the actors (I didn't include all of them):
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in SINBAD THE SAILOR
Dale Robertson in SON OF SINBAD
Kerwin Mathews in THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD; the first of 3 Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films. This hit would change the concept of Sinbad as a feisty hero struggling against monsters and magic.
Bruno Piergentili (aka Dan Harrison) in ALI BABA & THE SEVEN SARACENS
Originally, this was a SINBAD film under its Italian title but was changed to Ali Baba.
Guy Williams was CAPTAIN SINBAD
John Phillip Law was Sinbad in the second Harryhausen fx production, THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD
Sinbad was played by Patrick Wayne in the third and last Harryhausen Sinbad fx films, SINBAD & THE EYE OF THE TIGER.
Lou Ferrigno is the beefiest Sinbad ever in SINBAD OF THE SEVEN SEAS
Zen Gesner starred in the TV series THE ADVENTURES OF SINBAD
Manu Bennett in SINBAD & THE MINOTAUR
5 comments:
Wow, there sure were a lot of Sinbad's.
And don't forget the Oscar nominated, "Popeye the Sailor meets Sindbad the Sailor" (1936). Even though they spelled Sinbad with an extra "d". lol
Supposedly, Ray Harryhausen considered this Popeye film a great inspiration for his own Sinbad's.
The new Arabian Nights movie they claim will be a special effects bananza, but I hope they don't overdue it and stick with the storyline.
IIRC, the Guy Williams movie also spelled it Sindbad.
The 1952 Russian fantasy movie Sadko was dubbed into English and re-released in the US in the early 1960s as The Magic Voyage of Sinbad. From the opening narration, it must have been marketed as a sequel to Harryhausen's 7th Voyage of Sinbad. The lead actor did look a little like Kerwin Matthews.
The Great Bandit (aka Samurai Pirate) (1963), starring Toshiro Mifune, Mie Hama, and Akiko Wakabayashi, was dubbed into English and shown in the US as The Lost World of Sinbad.
The Bond movies were a series, produced by the same studio and using the same cast (although sometimes an actor who quit or died would have to be replaced).
The same with Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan, Matt Helm, Dirty Harry, Indiana Jones, and other series characters.
Sinbad was never really a movie series. Different studios made movies about the character, each with their own cast. Even the three Harryhausen films were not really a series; each was a stand-alone, with no continuity with the other two.
Similarly, various production companies have made unrelated movies based on heroes from myth and legend, or from actual history. So a lot of different stars have played Hercules, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Davy Crockett, Wyatt Earp,and Wild Bill Hickok.
The 2012 series has some great effects and monsters. Beautiful filming. I loved it and was sorry it didn't continue.
Post a Comment