Strogoff (1970)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Eriprando Visconti

Writers:

Giampiero Bona (writer)
Ladislas Fodor (writer)

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

A captain in the Czar's army encounters danger and romance while carrying a secret message across 19th-century Russia. |

Plot Keywords:

Tied To Chair | Shirtless Male Bondage | Foreign Language Adaptation | Chest Whipping | Whipping

Cast

John Phillip Law	...	Michele Strogoff
Mimsy Farmer	...	Nadja
Hiram Keller	...	Ivan Ogareff
Delia Boccardo	...	Sangarre
Kurt Meisel	...	Emir Feofar
Elisabeth Bergner	...	The Mother
Donato Castellaneta	...	Jolivet
Claudio Gora	...	The General
Herbert Fux	...	Pope
Christian Marin	...	Blount

Also Known As:

Der Kurier des Zaren (West Germany)
Michel Strogoff (France)
Michel Strogoff, corriere dello zar (Italy)
Michel Strogoff, le courier du tsar (France)

Runtime:

Germany:94 min

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany | Bulgaria

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Movie Connections:

Version of Michel Strogoff (1956)

New version about Jules Vernes novel ,Michael Strogoff,the courier of the Czar, well played by John Philip Law

It's a rendition about Jules Vernes book that was exhibited with the same title of the original novel,based on the famed novella titled Mikhail Strogoff,courier of the Czar.The film actually close to the story,that is one the best works of Vernes.It concerns about the Tartars have overrun the Russian empire's Eastern Siberian territories and constitute a serious threat. Our handsome hero, a highly respected official named Michael Strogoff(John Phip Law) is assigned a dangerous mission,carrying a secret message across frozen landscapes .CZar ask him to go and hand over an important letter his brother,the great Duke,located in Irkursk.Meanwhile an official named Ogareff(Hiram Keller)who was originally in the Czar's service but is now on the side of Tartars.Strogoff journeys across old Russia along with a pair journalists and exiled of Tartars invasion.Meantime he falls in love a beautiful woman named Nadja(Mimsy Farmer) who heads to Siberia for reunion with her husband. The traitor Ogarek is now the employee of the Khan and his mission turn out to be the chasing the courier of the Czar.Strogoff is captured by Ogarek and spies(Delia Boccardo)of the Khan .He's whip-tortured with his naked torso in front of his mummy(Elisabeth Bergner) and blinded with a red hot iron blade in a sequences make a strong impression.Later his punishment for not cooperation ,he's released and Nadja helps successfully Strogoff from having to lose his eyesight.

The film contains agreeable performances with curious characters,spectacular locations and wonderful costumes wearing woolly suits and hats.Besides displays spectacular battles,charge horses with greatness scenarios and impressive final confrontation between Czar and Khan troops.In the movie appear known actors with wide and successful careers: John Philip Law makes a good role as Strogoff,he was during his splendor time,but was realised in his best epoch(Hawaiians,Barbarella,Diabolik,Red Baron,Golden voyage of Simbad,Love machine);Mimsy Farmer as the enticing Nadja,she played several Italian terror films(4 flies on grey velvet,Autopsy,Black cat);Delia Boccardo as the treacherous Sanganre,she played films of all genres continuing until today(Secret of Sahara,Assisi underground,tentacles,Aphrodite);Hiran Keller as the villainous Ogareff,he died by cancer at 53 years old,and starred various films( Fellini-Satiricon,Lifespan and Orlando Furioso) and Elisabeth Bergner as the suffering mother expressing sensible human emotion,she's a classic player from the mute cinema and starred many success(especially Catherina the Great).Another version about this known tale are the first in 1936 and 1937 starred by Anton Wallbrook and directed by Richard Echber and George Nichols,the classic version 1956 with Curd Jurgens and Sylva Koscina and his sequel with Jurgens and Capucine. Plus the television adaptations,German miniseries 1975 with Raimund Harmstorf,1999 by Fabricio Costa with Paolo Seganti and Lea Bosco and 2004 a French version with Anthony Delon.