Les Mongols

Historical adventure flick, but average epic movie, with known actors and a lot of extras, in fact it packs a cast of hundreds, if not of thousands. Genghis Khan: Roldano Lupi, lustful of territory and power invades Poland along with his encroaching army , sweeping in blood and fire the European countries. Then the Polish prince attempts to make peace but Attila's son, Ogotai : Jack Palance, rejects it , being supported by his lover, the Swedish/Italian model-actress Anita Ekberg who portrays Hulina, an action woman perfectly capable matching him in badness and brutality, both of whom wish wage war. Along the way they try to conquer the Polish stronghold of Cracow. While the Poles, wary of the approaching Mongols send Stefan of Cracow : Franco Silva, to negotiate a peace arrangement with Genghis Khan and his another son Temujin : Gabriele Antonini. By the way Stefan of Cracow enters into a love/hate relationship with a Polish village girl who finishes falsely believing that Stefan klled her would-be betrothed.

This spectacular sword and sandal film shot in Yugoslavia packs noisy action, large frames of men on horseback ready to fight, breathtaking battles , a scorning love story, thrills , hokey historical happenings and a cast of thousands. The picture is partially based on historic events about the Mongol encroachment over North and Central Europe. Weak screenplay by Luciano Martino, Ernesto Gastaldi, Ugo Guerra, blending various facts with no much sense. Overacting by Jack Palance, as usual, as the violent and cruel Ogotai, he is at his menacing here . Palance dominates this historical adventure with his hysterical acting as a relentless warrior with only one thrist : bloody revenge and annihilation. Palance played several exotic/historical roles featuring plenty of treachery and deviousness, such as as The Silver Chalice, Attila, Revak the rebel, Rosmunda and Alboino, The horsemen, Barrabas, among others. He is well accompanied by a good support cast, such as : Antonella Lualdi, Franco Silva, Roldano Lupi, Montaigne, Pierre Cressoy, Gabriella Pallotta, Gabriele Antonini, George Wang and Gianni Garco : Sartana.

It contains colorful cinematography by Aldo Giordani and epic in score, shot on location in habitual Yugoslavia outdoors . And rousing and moving musical score by Mario Nascimbene. This costumer motion picture was regularly directed by Andre De Toth (Carson City, House of wax, Springfield rifle, Passport to Suez, Man in the saddle, Riding shotgun, Pitfall, Tanganika, Hidden fear), Leopoldo Savona (Two little orphans, Apocalypse Joe, Killer kid, Byleth, Fra Diavolo, Texas the Red) and Riccardo Freda (Il vampiri, Teodora, Horrible Dr Hitchcock, Beatriz Cenci, Benbenutto Cellini, Spartaco, Maciste in court of the great Khan), this latter uncredited. Rating 5.5/10. Passable and acceptable but mediocre.

As many other American directors, Andre De Toth finished his career in Europe; this movie seems to be a response to Richard Thorpe's THE TARTARS, produced the same year, and starring Victor Mature and Orson Welles. Rudolph Maté, Hugo Fregonese, Vincent Sherman, Edgar G Ulmer, and many other film makers finished their filmographies in Italy or Spain. This one is a pretty good one, offering splendid settings, good pace, good scenes, a gorgeous Anita Ekberg as a villainess whom you won't forget. I saw it for the first time when I was just thirteen and have never forgotten it. I like this Andre De Toth's movie.

When Jack Palance signed on to do The Mongols an Italian produced epic shot in Yugoslavia he merely took out his former performance of as Attila The Hun ratcheted it up exponentially. When you're in a turkey like this all you can do is gobble gobble at the moon.

The only names we Americans will recognize are that of Palance playing Ogatai son of Genghis Khan and his lovely blond amazon wife played by Anita Ekberg. I will say this the writers did make provision for the fact that she clearly does not look like a Mongol and did mention that she was from a captive people. Perhaps a Viking settlement somewhere in Eastern Europe might explain it. I'll say this with that massive endowment of her's Anita looks good even in that Mongol armor. One fill figured girl she was.

When Palance is on there isn't a stick of furniture left standing. He is having one great old time overacting against the background of these continental cast members who sound stiff as usual with their dubbed voices. The Europeans have decided to sue for peace and have sent the film's nominal hero Franco Silva playing Stephen of Cracow as a peace emissary.

But Palance really gets his jollies with all the blood and guts and he doesn't want to stop the fighting. In this he's aided and abetted by Anita. So nice when husband and wife have a mutual interest. He and Anita do what they can to sabotage a cease fire.

In the end it's pulled out and western civilization itself is saved by a seasoned soldier taking home town advantage of the elements.

Jack Palance fans should get a real charge out of this film watching their guy dine on the scenery. The Mongols will give you quite a few unintentional laughs.

This is a highly entertaining Italian epic -- provided that you watch it for fun and not as a history lesson. The real Genghis Khan, historians tell us, was responsible for the deaths of some 20 million people, roughly a tenth of the known world, but in this version Roldano Lupi, bewhiskered and benign, comes across as a sort of Mongolian Father Christmas. As his evil son, Ogotai, Jack Palance has the time of his life dispensing cruelties and whippings with his usual leering relish, but he also imbues his role with a certain depth of character. Palance, carrying on where his maniac charioteer in Barabbas left off, is easily the best actor on show and more than anyone else holds the film together. By contrast, his leading lady is simply hilarious. "We Mongols..." says Anita Ekberg, looking exactly like Anita Ekberg and soon to go for a nude swim in the local river – shamelessly cashing in on her popular performance in La Dolce Vita where she waded into the Trevi Fountain. Her incongruous appearance is explained away by the fact that the Mongols abducted her from her homeland, but one wonders whether they acquired her from modern-day Sweden. Star Trek fans will be pleased to see Lawrence Montaigne, alias Spock's love rival Stonn, in an early role as an ally of Prince Stefan. (Italian references wrongly credit him as the King of Poland, but he's actually the one who changes clothes with Stefan to fool the Mongols). The remarkable score – not too well transferred in the American prints – is by film music legend Mario Nascimbene who has evidently tried to repeat the barbaric qualities of The Vikings. In his autobiography Nascimbene explains that the harsh percussion for The Mongols was achieved using ordinary household utensils. He even toured the Rome shops asking if they had a casserole dish in F-sharp or a frying pan in D-flat, and he was perhaps lucky to get out before they rang for the white coats. Back at the recording studio, conductor and friend Franco Ferrara was well accustomed to these musical eccentricities and asked if the RAI Sinfonica was always going to have a kitchens department? However, one must admit that the final score is both magnificent and ingenious. Dino Solari's choreography for the Mongol court is surprisingly erotic for its day, but disappointingly the US version has some clumsy cuts to exclude the bit where one of the male dancers gets astride and rolls round the floor with a scantily clad girl dancer. Adult ballet fans can see the uncut version on the French video release from Film Office Peplum. The battle scenes, where the Mongols are outwitted into entering a swamp where they all drown, were obviously filmed in two places. We begin in Yugoslavia where the location scenes were shot, then minutes later cut to the studio tank in Rome. Only the Italian epics can get away with this, of course, and all in all, this is a movie full of rich pickings. As long as you aren't expecting to see Henry V, it's a diverting way to spend a couple of hours.

During the Mongol invasion of Poland, a conflict between Mongol Emperor Genghis Khan and his oldest son Ogotai ensues when the former aims for peace and the latter itches for war and conquest.

Plenty of whipping, men hogtied to a wheel, great landscapes, arrows flying and more whipping can be found in this solid spectacle that has an engaging plot and some good action scenes (the battle scene at the end is well-staged and is quite violent with arrows piercing necks, face stabbings), but it's Jack Palance who steals the thunder as he lives up to his reputation as a scene chewing extraordinaire- he plays the battle-crazed son of Genghis Khan who has megalomaniac designs and wants to rage war. Palance plays him as a battle loving psycho with an apoplectic fit. Not slouching in the villain stakes is Anita Ekberg, who is beautiful yet deadly. She's a Lady Macbeth-like character, whispering sweet nothings consisting of causing mayhem into Palance's ear, not that he needs any more encouragement on that score! Interesting bit is that Palance had her family slain and she's obviously was a captive ... now his paramour. A devious and treacherous one to boot. Franco Silvo does well as the hero and so does Antonella Lualdi, who is quite a looker. The Mongols isn't a history film but a fun spectacle.