I have fond memories of watching 'Caravans' as a youngster. I remember the soundtrack and still enjoy it today. The soundtrack makes the movie. Mike Batt composed one of cinema's most recognizable and most beautiful scores ever!
Michael Sarrazin stars as Mark Miller, who is sent to Kashkhan (fictional) in the Middle East to find Ellen Jasper, a Senator's daughter who was last seen 10 months ago. She is an American who married Nazrullah, and now has to live according to his and his country's rules.
Mark soon finds Ellen travelling with a caravan. When she refuses to leave, Mark travels with the caravan, as he needs proof that Ellen is alive and well. But when the leader, Zulffiqar (Anthony Quinn) decides to transport guns in the caravan, things get a bit more complicated. To make matters worse, Nazrullah is also desperate to find Ellen and he, too, is in pursuit of the caravan.
The film is set in 1948 and mostly takes place in a desert. I enjoyed the adventure element, and I always love watching movies about other cultures. Unfortunately, 'Caravans' was met with negative response. As for me, I really enjoyed it. Maybe because I never read the book and therefore didn't have anything to compare it with. Or maybe it wasn't well received because of the film's ending. I agree, I wasn't happy with the ending either, and I believe the film might have done better with a different ending. At least the soundtrack was a hit.
Despite the ending - which ruined some of the film's magic - I enjoyed it and still regard it as one of my most enjoyable adventure movies. Off course the stunning score helped a great deal.
