Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Sandokan Against the Leopard of Sarawak (1964)

Original title: Sandokan Contro il Leopardo di Sarawak

Director: Luigi Capuano

Writers: Luigi Capuano, Arpad DeRiso, Emilio Salgari

Composer: Carlo Rustichelli

Starring: Ray Danton, Franca Bettoia, Guy Madison, Mario Petri, Alberto Farnese, Mino Doro, Aldo Bufi Landi, Giulio Marchetti

More info: IMDb

Plot:  Sandokan's main squeeze, Samoa, is kidnapped and held captive hypnotized in caves by her cousin Charles Druk, whose father has been murdered by her future husband Sandokan, lord of Malaya. Assisted by his European friend Iannis, he wants to rescue her.



My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Ah, to be 6 years old and see this in the theaters over 50 years ago must've been grand.  I watched a good enough looking anamorphic widescreen print (nicely dubbed in English) that I could get a sense of how great looking this would've been on a giant movie screen.  Load up a theater filled with eager popcorn-eatin', Coke-drinkin' kids and you've got yourself some good, but not great, entertainment which is I'm sure what the filmmakers were going for.   The costumes, sets, outdoor locations et al all contribute to this looking top notch.  The cinematographer, Bitto Albertini, was barely 40 years old when he switched roles to director with 64 films as DP.  The acting is good, too, and I guess you could say the story is serviceable.  I would've preferred something more complex and adventurous but I reckon I'll have to find some more Sandokan pictures and see if they'll satisfy that itch.  It's a fun movie but try to watch it in optimum conditions if possible.

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