The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writer:

Ken Kolb (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

23 December 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Action | Adventure

Tagline:

8th Wonder of the Screen!

Plot:

When a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Island | Magic | Sinbad | Escape

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kerwin Mathews	...	Sinbad
Kathryn Grant	...	Princess Parisa
Richard Eyer	...	Barani - the Genie
Torin Thatcher	...	Sokurah the Magician
Alec Mango	...	Caliph
Danny Green	...	Karim
Harold Kasket	...	Sultan
Alfred Brown	...	Harufa
Nana DeHerrera	...	Sadi (as Nana de Herrera)
Nino Falanga	...	Gaunt Sailor
Luis Guedes	...	Crewman
Virgilio Teixeira	...	Ali

Directed by
Nathan Juran

Writing credits
Ken Kolb		(written by) (as Kenneth Kolb)
Ray Harryhausen		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Ray Harryhausen	....	associate producer
Charles H. Schneer	....	producer

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography by
Wilkie Cooper		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edwin H. Bryant		(as Edwin Bryant)
Jerome Thoms

Art Direction by
Gil Parrondo		(as Gil Parrendo)

Set Decoration by
José Algueró

Production Management
Luis Roberts	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pedro de Juan	....	assistant director
Eugenio Martín	....	assistant director (as Eugenio Martin)

Sound Department
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)

Special Effects by
George Lofgren	....	technical assistant

Visual Effects by
Ray Harryhausen	....	special visual effects creator

Stunts
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	stunt supervisor (as Enzo Musumeci-Greco)

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Birtles	....	electrician

Other crew
Bob Gill	....	title designer: main titles
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	fencing master

Production Companies

• Morningside Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia Pictures (1975) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | UK:U | Australia:G | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Ireland:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:G (1975) | West Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Caves of Arta, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Company:

Morningside Productions

Trivia:

Initially, Ray Harryhausen wanted Miklós Rózsa or Max Steiner to score The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), but Charles H. Schneer persuaded Harryhausen to agree to hire Bernard Herrmann instead. Herrmann's score was so well received, and he worked so well with Schneer and Harryhausen, he ended up scoring three more of their films: The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), Mysterious Island (1961), and Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Harryhausen eventually got his wish, however, when Miklós Rózsa scored The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974).

Goofs:

Continuity: A different man grabs the king cobra. Sokurah reaches into the basket to pick up the cobra during his magic act. A switch to closeup shows a man with different sleeves, and three-to-four closeup frames show a hairy-headed man. Sokurah the magician is completely bald. When Sokura throws the serpent into the jar, it is blue-colored, not brown. (This is not a problem in the correctly framed 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, only the full frame version.)

Quotes:

Sinbad: For another such kiss, I'd invent a whole continent.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jason and the Argonauts: An Interview with Ray Harryhausen (1995) (V)

One of Harryhausen's finest

Most people have movies that they remember watching when they were infants and never forget them. This is one of mine, along with King Kong (1933) and One Million Years BC.

The stars of this movie are of course Ray's stop-motion monsters. We get to see several cyclops, a dragon, a giant roc, a baby roc, a snake woman and, best of all, a skeleton.

The movie's cast includes Kerwin Mathews as Sinbad and Torin Thatcher as the mad magician, Sokurah. These play great parts, as does Richard Eyer as the Genie. The theme music and score by Bernard Herrmann is magnificent. The movie was directed by Nathan Juran (The Deadly Mantis).

This is the best of Harryhausen's Sinbad movies and one of his best movies overall, along with Jason and the Argonauts.

If you haven't seen this, you are missing out. Fantastic.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5.