Caravans (1978)

Director:

James Fargo

Writers:

James Michener (novel), Nancy Voyles Crawford (screenplay),

Stars:

Anthony Quinn, Michael Sarrazin, Christopher Lee

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Quinn	...	Zulffiqar
Michael Sarrazin	...	Mark Miller
Christopher Lee	...	Sardar Khan
Jennifer O'Neill	...	Ellen Jasper
Joseph Cotten	...	Crandall
Behrouz Vossoughi	...	Nazrullah
Barry Sullivan	...	Richardson
Jeremy Kemp	...	Dr. Smythe
Duncan Quinn	...	Moheb
Behrouz Gramian	...	Peasant Boy (as Behrooz Gueramian)
Mohamad Ali Keshavarz	...	Shakkur
Parviz Gharib-Afshar	...	Nur Mohammad
Fahimeh Amouzandeh	...	Mira
Mohammad Kahnemout	...	Maftoon (as Mohammad Taghi Kahnemout)
Khosrow Tabatabai	...	Dancing Boy

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

remake | based on novel

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Taglines:

The Power, the Sweep, the Spectacle of James Michener's Epic Desert Adventure!

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Genres:

Adventure

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA Iran

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caravanas

Filming Locations:

Baluchistan, Iran

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

FIDCI, Ibex Films, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was theatrically released in the same year as another James Michener adaptation. That was the TV mini-series of Centennial which was first aired in 1978.

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Connections

Referenced in Lionpower from MGM (1967)

User Reviews

Worth it for the shots of Iran

So, OK, Citizen Kane this isn't. I re-read the original Michener book a few years ago and went looking for the movie. Only the largest video store in town had it, and you had to ask, because it was waaaay in the back stacks.

They simplified and Hollywood-ized the book's plot and removed much of Michener's trademark exposition on the good things, bad things, history and cultural foibles of Afghanistan. For that matter, they scrubbed out the word "Afghanistan" and made it a generic "country in the mid-East".

But it does have a lot of wonderful photography of Iran and a genuine bedouin people, who provided the extras for Anthony Quinn's "tribe". Iran had its revolution and became mostly closed to the West just a year after shooting, and it is almost heartbreaking to see all the magnificent countryside and archaeological sites that provide the backdrop, along with the knowledge that it is still so difficult, dangerous, and expensive to visit.