The Barbarians

I was at my cousins house when this telecast started. He proclaimed,'Rivak the Barbarian, this should be good'! So, we watched it. According to the IMDb info, I have the title correct, and, if the date is right, I was ten years old. I don't have that many memories of pre-1960 TV, so, this is right on the cusp. It was my first viewing of, (future Oscar winner), Jack Palance. Perfect facial features for a 'barbarian'. I recall an early line of his, something like,'what in the name of creation is that', upon his first sighting of an elephant. That's about where the memories end. Apparently it was on NBC before hardly anybody, (including us), had color TV. It led to a mid 1960s fandom of Hercules type flicks on TV.

Jack Palance was one of the Hollywood stars to work most prolifically in Europe and, since the 1950s and 1960s were the cinema's Epic heyday, he was often asked to appear in this type of fare. The film under review, in fact, was the first of 3 he made in quick succession (and increasing merit) – with the others being SWORD OF THE CONQUEROR (1961; which shortly followed this viewing) and THE MONGOLS, dating from the same year.

Incidentally, since REVAK THE REBEL was better-known as THE BARBARIANS, I decided to watch a triptych of films by that name (one made prior to it, in 1953, and the other much later i.e. 1987, but all emanating from Italy)!; that said, REVAK itself has a fair number of significant credits allotted to Hollywood veterans – apart from director Mate' (who would later make the superior THE 300 SPARTANS [1962]), we have cinematographer Carl Guthrie and even scriptwriters John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin! Unfortunately, the copy I acquired was far from optimal as the color of the print was so washed-out that the visuals came off almost as black-and-white: the only previous time I recall such a drastic deterioration was while watching DESERT LEGION (1953) – curiously enough, another spectacle from this era.

Anyway, as for the film itself, it proved rather a disappointment – a pale (read: low-brow) mix of perhaps the cycle's two most accomplished examples, namely BEN-HUR (1959) and SPARTACUS (1960). In fact, heir to the throne (of the Celts!) Palance is taken hostage by the invading Carthaginians (led by Guy Rolfe) but soon reduced to a mere slave – after his sister had already committed suicide on facing the prospect of being defiled! The rest sees him gaining allies, all similarly disgraced, within the court (a Roman noblewoman and an officer-turned-gladiator-trainer, as well as a Spartan mercenary) in order to turn the tables on his captors; in the meantime, his rebellious spirit also catches the eye of his nemesis' own sister. Still, the film ends up supplying far more talk than action (mainly relegated to the climactic bloodthirsty bout, which also has the leading lady marked for death, spared and ultimately dumped by the hero) and, as I said, basically hinges exclusively upon Palance's trademark intensity for the mild interest the picture elicits from its intended audience.

Epic film about the impressive feats of a brave Celtic in the Carthaginian Empire with a lot of historical incorrectness . Revak (Jack Palance) is an Iberian prince from Penda , a small island where the Carthagian fleet enslaved the surviving native people , including to him . Revak is imprisoned and subsequently occurs an eventful passage aboard a galley commanded by the cruel Kainus (Guy Rolfe) in which his sister is mistreated and humiliated . Then , avenger Revak seeks vendetta , at whatever cost , against the nasty enemy who ransacked and killed his family and country . While the anger grows within him , Revak taking the law into his own hands , executes a relentless avenge , acting as judge , jury and executioner against those responsible of the deaths his beloved beings . So the rebellious Revak makes common cause with the attacking Romans led by Varro (Austin Willis) and the mercenary Lycursus (Richard Wyler) . Meanwhile , there takes place a romance between Revak and the Kainus'sister , Cherata (Milly Vitale).

This spectacular movie contains noisy action , breathtaking battles , a scorning love story , thrills , hokey historical events and the crowed scenes are regularly made . The picture is partially based on historical events about Carthage , and its historical enemy and rival for Mediterranean hegemony : Rome ; as there happened really a slave rebellion and being heard the overwhelming exploits of the conqueror Annibal and his successful battles : Trebia , Lagoon Trasimeno , Cannas . There also takes place a fictitious battle of wits and wills between Revak/Jack Palance and Kainus/Guy Rolfe . Weak screenplay by two notorious writers/producers from Hollywood as John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin , being based on a novel by Francis Van Wyck Mason . The movie has not mythological accuracy neither expecting historical . Middling production design , medium budget film, washed-out cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie , as a perfect remastering being necessary , and atmospheric soundtrack by Franco Ferrara . Overacting by Jack Palance as a rebel Celt who becomes an elephant driver in Carthage city, and being the favorite of mighty women . Jack dominates this historical adventure with his hysterical performance as a merciless avenger with only one thirst : bloody revenge . Palance played several exotic/historical characters in ¨The Silver Chalice¨, ¨Attila¨ , ¨Rosmunda and Alboino¨, ¨The horsemen¨ , ¨Barrabas¨, ¨The Mongols¨ , among others . Very average support cast provide some decent secondary interpretations such as Guy Rolfe , Milly Vitale , Austin Willis , Deirdre Sullivan John Alderson and Richard Wyler .

The motion picture produced by John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin was middlingly directed by Rudolph Maté , though it has several flaws , gaps and historical mistakes . Polish-born (Cracovia) and passed away Beverly Hills (1964) . Mate was an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund , director Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer . Dreyer was so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on The Passion of Joan of Arc . Mate is considered to be one of the best cameramen of cinema story . Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films , cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947 . Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive ,especially his sci-fi ¨When the worlds collide¨ (1951) , his labour as cameraman was excellent . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres as Adventures : ¨The Black Shield of Falworth¨ , ¨Seven Seas to Calais¨ , Western about themes of card players on riverboat as ¨The Mississipi gambler¨(1963) and ¨The rawhide years¨(1956) and about conflicts between Indians and cavalry as ¨In the siege at Red River¨(1954) and Noir films : ¨Union Station¨ , ¨Second chance¨ . He also directed Epic films as ¨The Barbarians¨ and ¨The 300 Spartans¨ . The films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic ¨DOA¨ (1950). ¨Revak¨ rating : Passable , acceptable , but mediocre , 4.5/10 .

The main attraction of 'Revak the Rebel' is Jack Palance. Despite not all his films being great and he was no stranger to overacting in some of his oeuvre, he was on the whole an eminently watchable actor who also had some great performances under his belt and other films of his are very good to great.

'Revak the Rebel' is not one of those very good to great films. Palance has certainly done worse, like the 'Gor' films, 'Che' and 'God's Gun' for examples. This said, as well as being the main attraction into seeing it in the first place Palance is also the best thing about 'Revak the Rebel'. He dominates the whole proceedings with such a charismatic presence and on top of having a suitable intensity he is fun to watch too.

It's a well made film too visually, handsomely mounted and costumed and sweepingly shot. The music score is suitably rousing and atmospheric. Some of the action is compellingly choreographed, especially the bloodthirsty climax, with parts that have a more violent than usual at the time nature that was quite daring back then and doesn't feel too tame now.

However, despite these merits, 'Revak the Rebel' still isn't a particularly good film. Its biggest weak links are a weak script that is cardboard thin, constantly sounds awkward and goes well overboard on the silliness that keeping a straight face is impossible (huge problems for a film so heavy in talk), and a story that has very little to it which makes things drag badly and while the silliness and loopiness had an amusing element at first it quickly grew tiresome.

Direction is often too staid, likewise with some action-oriented scenes that lack tension and seem stiff. The dance sequence goes on for too long and feels like extraneous padding. The characters are not particularly interesting, and other than Palance the acting is a bad mix of bland and overdone.

On the whole, watchable as a one-time watch but not an easy film to rate and not a particularly good one. 5/10 Bethany Cox