The Mongols (1961)
"I mongoli" (original title)

Genghis Khan and his Mongol army invade Poland and lay siege to the city of Cracow. The Polish king tries to make peace in order to save his city, and Genghis Khan seems amenable to that. ... See full summary »

Directors:

André De Toth, Leopoldo Savona

Writers:

Ottavio Alessi, Alessandro Ferraù,

Stars:

Jack Palance, Anita Ekberg, Antonella Lualdi

Cast

Credited cast:
Jack Palance	...	Ogatai
Anita Ekberg	...	Hulina
Antonella Lualdi	...	Amina
Franco Silva	...	Stepen of Crakow
Gianni Garko	...	Henry de Valois
Roldano Lupi	...	Genghis Khan
Gabriella Pallotta	...	Lutezia
Gabriele Antonini	...	Temugin
Pierre Cressoy	...	Igor
Mario Colli	...	Boris
Lawrence Montaigne	...	Prince Stefan's ally
George Wang	...	Subodai
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrej Gardenin	...	Fencer
Vittorio Sanipoli

Storyline

Genghis Khan and his Mongol army invade Poland and lay siege to the city of Cracow. The Polish king tries to make peace in order to save his city, and Genghis Khan seems amenable to that. However, his son Ogotai is itching for war, and his mistress eggs him on to defy his father and take the city.

---

Plot Keywords:

mongol | army | whipping | independent film

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

---

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

31 August 1961 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Mongols

Filming Locations:

Centralni Filmski Studio Kosutnjak, Belgrade, Serbia

Company Credits

Production Co:

France Cinéma Productions, Royal Film (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During an invasion of the Mongols a character is seen dressed in a sleeveless jacket defending another nailed to a wheel. Ogotai (Jack Palance) drags him down with his whip, only this time the character has lost his sleeveless leather jacked, and is wearing only a wide shirt.

---

Connections

Referenced in Matinee (1993)

User Reviews

Historically Incorrect

I've wanted to watch this movie for a long time based on the performance of Jack Palance in a previous role as Atilla in "Sign of the Pagan". I wasn't disappointed in Palance's performance as Ogatai but as a whole this film was very inconsistent and horribly incorrect historically. To say the writers of this movie took liberties with history is an understatement. The great battle between the Mongols and the combined armies of Europe did take place, but not with the results described in the movie. In fact, the Mongols did have the opportunity to move much further westward into Europe, except by chance were diverted back home due to the death of the emperor and than later resumed their campaign toward the south/west and the Middle East, considered more attractive at this time in history. The movie does have some lavish costumes and epic battles, but it also often repeats the same footage over and over again. This movie actually had some potential with the amount of money it seemed to have in its production, but somebody dropped the ball in terms of editing, music and story. Blond haired Anita Ekberg as Ogatai's lover at first glance seems absurd, but plausible when you consider that the Mongols conquered all of Asia and most of Eastern Europe. Her acting is actually fairly good. The movie is worth seeing if your a fan of Jack Palance, his character of Ogatai is a unique one.