The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writer:

Ken Kolb (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

23 December 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Action | Adventure

Tagline:

8th Wonder of the Screen!

Plot:

When a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Magician | Sinbad | Lamp | Baghdad

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kerwin Mathews	...	Sinbad
Kathryn Grant	...	Princess Parisa
Richard Eyer	...	The Genie
Torin Thatcher	...	Sokurah the Magician
Alec Mango	...	Caliph
Danny Green	...	Karim
Harold Kasket	...	Sultan
Alfred Brown	...	Harufa
Nana DeHerrera	...	Sadi (as Nana de Herrera)
Nino Falanga	...	Gaunt Sailor
Luis Guedes	...	Crewman
Virgilio Teixeira	...	Ali

Directed by
Nathan Juran

Writing credits
Ken Kolb		(written by) (as Kenneth Kolb)
Ray Harryhausen		(story) uncredited

Produced by
Charles H. Schneer	....	producer
Ray Harryhausen	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography by
Wilkie Cooper		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edwin H. Bryant		(as Edwin Bryant)
Jerome Thoms

Art Direction by
Gil Parrondo		(as Gil Parrendo)

Set Decoration by
José Algueró		(uncredited)

Production Management
Luis Roberts	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pedro de Juan	....	assistant director
Eugenio Martín	....	assistant director (as Eugenio Martin)

Sound Department
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)

Special Effects by
George Lofgren	....	technical assistant

Visual Effects by
Ray Harryhausen	....	special visual effects creator

Stunts
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	stunt supervisor (as Enzo Musumeci-Greco)

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Birtles	....	electrician (uncredited)
Maurice Gillett	....	chief electrician (uncredited)

Other crew
Bob Gill	....	main titles
Henri Jaffa	....	Technicolor color consultant
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	fencing master (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)
• Morningside Productions (as A Morningside Production)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia International Films (195?) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1975) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• LK-TEL Vídeo ((19??)) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video ((19??)) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2000) (Canada) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | UK:U | Australia:G | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1958) | Finland:K-16 | USA:G (1975) | West Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Caves of Arta, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Alfred Brown is dubbed.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Sinbad fights off the mutineer up on the mast, he acts with his left arm as if he had stabbed him on his side, but he doesn't hold a knife.

Quotes:

Sokurah the Magician:Kill! Kill him!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Recreating the Eighth Wonder: The Making of 'King Kong' (2006) (V)

Age has hardly dimmed the excitement, spectacle and wonder of this fantasy classic

This truly action packed fantasy is as fun nearly 50 on from the time of it's making. Out of the films that were produced by Charles H. Schneer and featured special effects by Ray Harryhausen, Jason And The Argonauts is usually named as the best [certainly that was the film where Harryhausen perfected his techniques],but Sinbad is not far behind. It's far simpler but provides just as much entertainment. Of course some of the dialogue is a little hokey, but who watches films like this for their dialogue? Dialogue here exists simply to help propel the plot forward at as fast a pace as possible.

The amount of action scenes crammed into this less-then-90 min. film is astounding, and despite this the film still retains a delightful sense of wonder, as one wonders what fantastic creation will show up next. Yes, some of the matt work looks a bit poor ,and the creatures are a little jerky, but the design and execution of the snake woman, cyclopes, rocs, dragon etc. is still astounding for the time, and some sequences, such as the battle with the the first cyclops and the duel with the skeleton, are still very exciting.

Criticisms of the acting may be partially justified, but Torin Thatcher is as menacing a villain as one can wish for, and of course there's also Bernard Herrmann's extremely inventive score. Schneer and Harryhausen would later make two further Sinbad films, and there was a semi- remake several years later, Jack The Giant Killer. All three are fun, but none have the simple purity of this classic adventure.