First, a little background history and geography relating to Samarkand and the Mongols: At the time of this story, around 1226, Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of the Silk Road, located in present Uzbekistan, to the east of the Caspian Sea, most of it's inhabitants Moslems. It was sacked by a Mongol army, and most of the inhabitants killed or sold into slavery. It would be rebuilt and served as the capital of the Tamerlane Empire of 150 years or so later. The Golden Horde was one of the splinter states derived from the united Mongol Empire, established a few decades after the death of Genghis Khan, and his first son, Juchi, both of whom are featured in this story. Apparently, Tugluk, as leader of the Kalmuk people, is purely fictional. Juchi, along with Genghis, did die around the time of the sack of Samarkand, but not in the way dramatized.
The small band of Crusaders lead by Sir Guy, would seem very far afield from the Holy Land. Sir Guy explained that his king was interested in contacting this new power in Asia, to discover their intentions with regard to western Europe. However, it's absurd to suggest that such a small number of soldiers could confront the combined armies of Juchi and Tugluk. On the other hand, we only see a small fraction of their armies which came with the 2 leaders to the palace, presumably to try to negotiate a non-military solution to the Mongol's demands. However, no such purpose to their arrival is articulated.
Sir Guy's idea is to attack and drive off these armies. Since the Mongols had already destroyed the army of Samarkand, the Princess, instead, planned to defeat them by guile, namely, she would try to pit the 2 leaders against each other in their competition for the Princess's favors. A combination of these 2 strategies is what ensues. In a fight between the contingents of their armies in the palace, Tuklug spears Juchi, Then, the crusaders show up from their hiding place and slaughter the Kalmuks, with Sir Guy besting Tuklug in a sword fight. However, Genghis Khan's army is now about to descend on them. He finds his son dead, and takes heed of a prophesy that he who tries to destroy Samarkand will himself be destroyed. Thus, this third strategy is what saves them from Genghis.
The relationship between Sir Guy, and the Princess starts out chilly and gradually warms up. Initially, she keeps asking the crusaders to leave, as she thinks she knows best how to handle the situation. But, Sir Guy keeps finding excuses to stay. At one point, he even suggests that they set fire to the city to discourage the Mongols from entering the city. The Princess nixes this idea.
This is a pretty cheesy production. The Crusaders slaughter the Mongols with hardly any effort. That's not the Mongols I've read about! Ann Blyth, as the Princess, maintains an icy exterior throughout, with only a 'hot' kiss for Sir Guy at the end....While filmed in Technicolor, the copy I saw was not vibrant. Produced by Universal with a run time of 77min., it's clearly meant to be a B movie....Despite the promise of clashing armies, there's precious little footage outside the city gates. Perhaps that is just as well, and it saves having to hire many extras. I can't really recommend this movie, but, if you are interested, it's available at You Tube at present.
The small band of Crusaders lead by Sir Guy, would seem very far afield from the Holy Land. Sir Guy explained that his king was interested in contacting this new power in Asia, to discover their intentions with regard to western Europe. However, it's absurd to suggest that such a small number of soldiers could confront the combined armies of Juchi and Tugluk. On the other hand, we only see a small fraction of their armies which came with the 2 leaders to the palace, presumably to try to negotiate a non-military solution to the Mongol's demands. However, no such purpose to their arrival is articulated.
Sir Guy's idea is to attack and drive off these armies. Since the Mongols had already destroyed the army of Samarkand, the Princess, instead, planned to defeat them by guile, namely, she would try to pit the 2 leaders against each other in their competition for the Princess's favors. A combination of these 2 strategies is what ensues. In a fight between the contingents of their armies in the palace, Tuklug spears Juchi, Then, the crusaders show up from their hiding place and slaughter the Kalmuks, with Sir Guy besting Tuklug in a sword fight. However, Genghis Khan's army is now about to descend on them. He finds his son dead, and takes heed of a prophesy that he who tries to destroy Samarkand will himself be destroyed. Thus, this third strategy is what saves them from Genghis.
The relationship between Sir Guy, and the Princess starts out chilly and gradually warms up. Initially, she keeps asking the crusaders to leave, as she thinks she knows best how to handle the situation. But, Sir Guy keeps finding excuses to stay. At one point, he even suggests that they set fire to the city to discourage the Mongols from entering the city. The Princess nixes this idea.
This is a pretty cheesy production. The Crusaders slaughter the Mongols with hardly any effort. That's not the Mongols I've read about! Ann Blyth, as the Princess, maintains an icy exterior throughout, with only a 'hot' kiss for Sir Guy at the end....While filmed in Technicolor, the copy I saw was not vibrant. Produced by Universal with a run time of 77min., it's clearly meant to be a B movie....Despite the promise of clashing armies, there's precious little footage outside the city gates. Perhaps that is just as well, and it saves having to hire many extras. I can't really recommend this movie, but, if you are interested, it's available at You Tube at present.