In the 1950s and 60s, the buxom Swedish actress Anita Ekberg was a hot commodity. She made quite a few films and was very popular. Why then did someone decide that "Zarak" was a good film for her...playing one of the wives of an Afghan king?! Smudged with brown paint, you can STILL tell it's Ekberg and her blonde hair certainly stands out in a movie set in Afghanistan! Who thought this would be a good idea? Certainly no one with a functioning brain!
While not nearly as bad, the film also features a lot of non-Afghans playing roles for which they aren't suited, such as Victor Mature in the lead. He looked more at place as an Afghan but still was wrong for the part...as were all the many blonde dancing girls who were painted darker in order to make them look...well, like blondes whose skin has been painted! And, if you look, you can sometimes see the line between their actual skin color and the paint...making it funny (and a bit sad).
"Zarak" is a fictional story about an Afghan outlaw during the time when Britain controlled...or tried to control the country. It begins with Zarak (Mature) caught kissing his step-mommy (Ekberg) and daddy sure is angry! He first orders his son killed, but then is convinced just to make him an outlaw and expel him. Soon, Zarak is a very successful bandit with followers...and he's driving the British overlords crazy trying to stop him.
So, am I saying that this is a terrible film? No. But it certainly could have been a lot better. A few other problems are that for a murderous bandit, Zarak never really kills anyone! And, there are several dance sequences that simply make little sense. It an an interesting film...but a flawed one that could have easily been better.
