Escape from Zahrain

Plot wise this movie stretches it to keep your attention however the cast is cool. Madalyn Rhue is a natural beauty however she comes off a bit nasty and uptight in the two films I've seen her in, "Escape from Zahrain" and "A Majority of One." Both were on as weekend midday movies so my expectations wernt too great.

Sal Mineo is really hot. He was a spunk for his time. Perfect skin and just enough buff. Unfortunatly the sexual tension between him and madlyns character was never realised. One of the reasons i had kept with this movie, but oh well.

Well half the sets are obviously fake however it isn't that noticeble. They wern't so bad to a cynic like me who now demands location shots or at least computer animation.

Not bad for the time, a tad over dramatic at times but watch it for Sal Mineo!

Here's a movie that few have watched in which you can regale your old-movie- watching friends with the mention of this flick. Lots of action for a 1962 low budget film. A younger Jack Warden does a fine job as does a young Madlyn Rhue. Yul Brynner is...well... Yul Brynner. A nice cameo by James Mason too! One can only imagine if this film had a bigger budget. Unless you're an expert on global dessert terrain the last scene is really the only one where it is apparent this was shot in California and not in the middle east. Definitely worth watching!

I just discovered that there's a new book coming out by Richard Matheson. It's called "Unrealized Dreams: Three Scripts by Richard Matheson." It's being released by Gauntlet Press (you can find them online.) The book features Richard Matheson's original screenplay for "Appointment in Zahrain." This film was originally to star Clarke Gable. Unfortunately, Gable died shortly after filming "The Misfits." Matheson's screenplay was never produced. Eventually, "Escape From Zahrain" was produced from Michael Barret's original novel, "Appointment in Zahrain." Too bad the film is unavailable for viewing on either VHS or DVD. I'd love to see this film.

Released in 1962, "Escape from Zahrain" is a survival-in-the-desert flick that takes place in the fictitious Arabian country of Zahrain. Yul Brynner plays Sheriff, a righteous Arab revolutionary, while Sal Mineo plays his young disciple who sets him free from captivity and certain death. An Arab nurse (Madlyn Rhue), an embezzling oil worker (Jack Warden) and a mad Arab (Anthony Caruso) are also along for the ride. Can they make it to a bordering nation and freedom or will they all perish in the desert?

Although it's Grade B (and cartoony) in comparison to the way more popular and sophisticated desert film "Lawrence of Arabia" (also from '62), "Escape to Zahrain" is actually more compelling, which is different than saying it's better, it's not. It's just more immediately satisfying. Two other survival-in-the-desert films that "Zahrain" brings to mind are "Flight of the Phoenix" and "Sands of the Kalahari", both released in 1965. If you like those two films, you'll definitely like this one. As great as they are "Zahrain" is as good or better.

There's some serious action at the beginning and end of the film, but the heart of the picture is the long trek through the desert and the interplay of the characters. Sheriff (Brynner) and Ahmed (Mineo) have had it with the corrupt officials of Zahrain who rape the land with the technology of the Americans but then greedily keep the cash for their own filthy rich lifestyles; meanwhile the citizenry wallows in poverty and ignorance. The nurse (Madlyn) was educated in Europe and doesn't understand the reckless passion of the revolutionaries. She's against them because she's nursed the wounded & dying followers of Sheriff, mostly youths. The American, Huston (Warden), is viewed as part of the problem by the revolutionaries, but they need him to escape and survive. And then you have the freakin' crazy Arab, Tahar (Caruso), also called "Frankenstein" or "Franky" by Huston. Is he friend or foe, or neither? Also on hand is a pleasant cameo by a major star from that time period, but I don't want to give it away.

The film was shot in the Mojave Desert, California, but you'd hardly know as the filmmakers did a great job of giving the illusion that it's somewhere in the Middle East. My wife, for instance, guessed that it was shot in Egypt.

At 93 minutes the film doesn't overstay its welcome.

FINAL WORD: Despite being a serious Grade B picture, "Escape from Zahrain" is Grade A in heart. The film is bookended by quality action sequences, but its core is character-driven. You get to know these characters as they trek through the sweltering desert. Their strengths and weaknesses are revealed and you can't help but start to care for them, just as they develop a sense of community amongst themselves.

Criminally underrated and unknown, "Escape to Zahrain" ranks with the best desert films, Grade B though it is. It's also one of Yul's best and the other principles. No kidding.

GRADE: A-

There are a few cynical digs at American meddling in oil-producing states in the Middle East. But the appearance early on of Jay Novello rolling his eyes indicate what direction we'll be going in this slick retread of 'The Wages of Fear' in which the stirring footage shot by the second unit fights a losing battle with scenes that look as if they were shot on the same soundstage as 'Star Trek'.

Yul Brynner adds yet another still-life to his gallery of mysterious non-Europeans, while Madlyn Rhue fresh from playing a young jewess in 'A Majority of One' here plays a nice Arab girl. Jack Warden convincingly plays an Ugly American, but Lynn Murray's noisy score feels obliged to keep reminding us this is all taking place in the Middle East.

Most of the bit players (including our old friend Vladimir Sokoloff) are dubbed; except of course the authentic Anglo-Saxon who briefly appears unbilled as 'Johnson'.