Zarak

Future James Bond directing icon Terence Young made the Arabic Adventure ZARAK so full of bright 1950's technicolor, it's only when the matte paintings of lush background sunsets and deserts are too obvious is it apparent this is basically yet another low-budget British potboiler... but those matte paintings are painted beautifully...

And with the kind of setup for what would seem a pre LAWRENCE OF ARABIA epic, where a powerful Arab leader father banishes his son Cain-style into the endless sandy wilderness for having an affair with his prettiest of many wives, Anita Ekberg, American import Victor Mature's title character is really a charming anti-heroic bandit straight from any American-shot b-Western...

He's pitted against gentleman major Michael Wilding (with resiliently violent sidekick Patrick McGoohan)... but their scenes are separated into two story-lines: Mature and younger brothers Eddie Byrne and Bonar Colleano raid British posts Robin Hood-style as Wilding, basically the newly appointed "Sheriff in town," has a lovely wife to fully embrace and, in that, one of the first Bond Girl Villains, brunette Eunice Gayson, is far more important than Mature's belly-dancing blonde moll Ekberg...

Gayson's one pivotal scene being attacked and then protected by the avenging Mature has potential for a charming-scoundrel love story that's unfortunately never delved into... a shame since these two have the best chemistry herein but, despite the flaws, there's enough adventurous suspense to make ZARAK a terrific-looking programmer worth the Cinemascope experience, at least once.

In 1956 I was a twelve year old girl, going to the Saturday Matinée with my friends. The things I remember best about Zarak were the marvelous colors of the costumes, the romantic plot line and the desert fighting. It was both a Swash and a Buckle, and made even more exciting by its exotic location. Victor Mature was a bit long in the tooth, and probably could have played the father instead of the son, but he was still in good enough shape for my twelve year old heart to side with the errant lovers. Anita Ekburg didn't actually act much, but she was spectacular---in living color and almost in the costumes. In comparison to Victor Matures' be-robed macho, Michael Wilding seemed a bit of a stuffed shirt, leading most twelve year old girls to decide that Arabs were much sexier than Englishmen!

Zarak Khan is the son of a chief who is caught embracing one of his father's wives, Salma. Zarak's father sentences both to torture and death but they are saved by an imam. The exiled Zarak becomes a bandit chief and an enemy of the British Empire.

It's a watchable orientalist romp, despite the muddled script, sometimes plodding pace, especially in the first half, and it has some good action sequences such as the bridge scene. Far from a great film, however it's diverting enough, especially with Anita Ekberg and her outfits or lack of it, and a good performance by Michael Wilding as the British officer looking to capture Zarak Khan (the great Victor Mature). There's a 007 connection here - Terence Young is the director, screenplay by Richard Maibaum, co-produced by Albert broccoli and actress Eunice Grayson feature.

saw this movie at ganesha talkies in mysore,india(1957). was a big fan of victor mature those days.i think it was a big hit in india.in my opinion this movie was much better than the spielberg creations like(the raiders series).

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.