The Tartars

1961 film by Ferdinando Baldi, Richard Thorpe

The Tartars

Original film poster

Directed by| Richard Thorpe
Written by| Domenico Salvati
Sabatino Ciuffini
Oreste Palella
Gaio Frattini
Ambrogio Molteni
Julian De Kassel
Produced by| Riccardo Gualino
Starring| Victor Mature
Orson Welles
Cinematography| Amerigo Gengarelli
Edited by| Maurizio Lucidi
Music by| Renzo Rossellini

Production
company

Lux Film

Distributed by| MGM

Release date

* 20 June 1962 (1962-06-20)

Running time

| 83 min
Countries| Italy
Yugoslavia
Language| English
Box office| $1.1 million (US/Canada)[1]

The Tartars/I Tartari is a 1961 Italian-Yugoslavian epic historical Technicolor film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Victor Mature and Orson Welles.[2] It is one of the sword-and-sandal genre films made in Italy in the 1950s and early 1960s.

## Plot[edit]

In what is now Russia, a settlement of Vikings lives in peace with both the Tatars and the Slavs. All is well until Togrul (Folco Lulli), a Tatar chief seeks the help of Oleg (Victor Mature), the chief of the Vikings, to war on the Slavs in a surprise attack. Oleg refuses and the group does battle ending with Oleg killing Togrul and abducting Togrul's daughter Samia (Bella Cortez) as a hostage.

Togrul's brother Burundai (Orson Welles) is furious and wishes the Viking settlement burnt to the ground. "I am your Khan", he says to his troops. His high priest, Ciu Lang (Arnoldo Foà), reminds Burundai that Samia is promised to the leader of the Tatars as his wife; her safety and return has a higher priority than Burundai's revenge. Burundai gets his chance to retrieve Samia when a Viking longship is attacked, resulting in the capture of Oleg's wife Helga (Liana Orfei) and her handmaidens. Burundai initially promises to treat Helga well as an exchange for Samia but tortures Helga's handmaidens to discover the strength of the Vikings. He also rapes Helga and gives her to his men for their further pleasure prior to exchanging her for Samia. Meanwhile, Samia has fallen in love with Oleg's brother Eric (Luciano Marin).

When Oleg comes to make the exchange and Ciu Lang leads Helga out to the battlements of the Tatar fortress, she leaps down upon seeing Oleg below and is fatally injured. He takes her and Samia back to the Viking settlement, where Helga asks him to kiss her and dies. The grief-stricken Oleg is ready to kill Samia, but Eric reveals that she is pregnant by him and demands to marry her. Oleg has them tried for their lives by the tribal elders. Meanwhile, Ciu Lang counsels Burundai to get Samia back peacefully, but he has megalomaniac dreams of conquering the whole West, and he kills the priest and goes to lead the Tatars to wipe out the Vikings.

At the trial of Eric and Samia, the elders split their votes evenly between acquittal and death, leaving Oleg to cast the deciding vote. Just as he is about to, word comes that Burundai is attacking. He tells Eric to earn the second chance this gives him, organizes the women and children to flee to the Vikings in the mountains, and he and Eric lead the defense of the settlement by the men. The Tatars outnumber them and overwhelm the defenses; Oleg tells Eric to take Samia and go, and Eric rescues her from Tatar soldiers and gets her to a longship. Oleg fights Burundai, throws him into the water and drowns him; as he is saluting Eric and Samia on board their ship, a Tatar spear strikes him and kills him. The longship moves off as the settlement burns.

## Cast[edit]

* Victor Mature as Oleg
* Orson Welles as Burundai
* Liana Orfei as Helga
* Arnoldo Foà as Ciu Lang
* Luciano Marin as Eric
* Bella Cortez as Samia
* Furio Meniconi as Sigrun
* Folco Lulli as Togrul

## Production[edit]

Filming took place in Rome and Yugoslavia in October 1960.[3] It was filmed using Italian Totalscope anamorphic lenses.[4]

According to Orson Welles, the extended sword fight between Welles and Mature "on which I worked day after day" was shot with no input from Mature.[5]

## Release[edit]

MGM issued the film on a double bill with Ride the High Country with The Tartars on the top of the bill.[6]

## Reception[edit]

### Box office[edit]

Orson Welles told Peter Bogdanovich the film "made a lot of money – it got back its cost in New York alone... a perfectly legible drive in kind of movie."[5]

According to MGM records the film made a profit of $34,000.[7]

### Critical[edit]

Variety called it an "unsatisfactory exploitation meller".[8]

Orson Welles' enunciation has been praised while Victor Mature has been considered a miscast for not having the looks of an archetypal Viking.[9] Critic Leonard Maltin calls the film "a routine spectacle", giving it 2 stars out of four.[10]

## Biography[edit]

* Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano – The Complete Guide From Classics To Cult. London – New York: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-608-0.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1962". Variety. 9 Jan 1963. p. 13. Please note these are rentals and not gross figures
2. ^ Jeff Stafford, "The Tartars", Turner Classic Monthly accessed 6 November 2012
3. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (Oct 18, 1960). "Diane Baker Will Co-star With Egan: Wyler's 'Not for Children', Players and Writers Assigned". Los Angeles Times. p. C9.
4. ^ Film credits.
5. ^ a b Welles, Orson (1993). This is Orson Welles. p. 266.
6. ^ Weddle, David (1994). If they move-- kill 'em! : the life and times of Sam Peckinpah. Grove Press. p. 218\. ISBN 9780802115461.
7. ^ The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
8. ^ "The Tartars". Variety. 27 June 1962. p. 6.
9. ^ Hughes, p.34
10. ^ Leonard Maltin (3 September 2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-101-60955-2.

## External links[edit]

* The Tartars at IMDb
* The Tartars at AllMovie
* The Tartars at the TCM Movie Database

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Richard Thorpe

Films|

* Fast and Fearless (1924)
* Battling Buddy (1924)
* Bringin' Home the Bacon (1924)
* Thundering Romance (1924)
* Rough Ridin' (1924)
* Double Action Daniels (1925)
* Full Speed (1925)
* Gold and Grit (1925)
* Galloping On (1925)
* The Desert Demon (1925)
* A Streak of Luck (1925)
* The Saddle Cyclone (1925)
* Fast Fightin' (1925)
* On the Go (1925)
* Double Daring (1926)
* The Bonanza Buckaroo (1926)
* Deuce High (1926)
* The Twin Triggers (1926)
* College Days (1926)
* The Bandit Buster (1926)
* The Dangerous Dub (1926)
* Rawhide (1926)
* Twisted Triggers (1926)
* Josselyn's Wife (1926)
* The Meddlin' Stranger (1927)
* The First Night (1927)
* The Obligin' Buckaroo (1927)
* Ride 'em High (1927)
* The Galloping Gobs (1927)
* The Desert of the Lost (1927)
* Tearin' Into Trouble (1927)
* The Ridin' Rowdy (1927)
* Roarin' Broncs (1927)
* White Pebbles (1927)
* Skedaddle Gold (1927)
* The Cyclone Cowboy (1927)
* Pals in Peril (1927)
* The Soda Water Cowboy (1927)
* The Ballyhoo Buster (1928)
* The Flyin' Buckaroo (1928)
* The Cowboy Cavalier (1928)
* The Valley of Hunted Men (1928)
* Saddle Mates (1928)
* Desperate Courage (1928)
* Border Romance (1929)
* The Utah Kid (1930)
* The Dude Wrangler (1930)
* Wings of Adventure (1930)
* Under Montana Skies (1930)
* The Thoroughbred (1930)
* Grief Street (1931)
* The Lawless Woman (1931)
* Murder at Dawn (1931)
* Forgotten Women (1931)
* The Devil Plays (1931)
* Neck and Neck (1931)
* Forgotten (1931)
* Beauty Parlor (1932)
* Escapade (1932)
* Forbidden Company (1932)
* Cross-Examination (1932)
* The King Murder (1932)
* The Midnight Lady (1932)
* Probation (1932)
* Slightly Married (1932)
* The Secrets of Wu Sin (1932)
* Thrill of Youth (1932)
* Women Won't Tell (1932)
* A Man of Sentiment (1933)
* Murder on the Campus (1933)
* Rainbow Over Broadway (1933)
* Love Is Dangerous (1933)
* City Park (1934)
* Stolen Sweets (1934)
* Green Eyes (1934)
* Cheating Cheaters (1934)
* Secret of the Chateau (1934)
* The Quitter (1934)
* Strange Wives (1934)
* Last of the Pagans (1935)
* The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936)
* Tarzan Escapes (1936)
* Dangerous Number (1937)
* Night Must Fall (1937)
* Double Wedding (1937)
* Man-Proof (1938)
* Love Is a Headache (1938)
* The First Hundred Years (1938)
* The Toy Wife (1938)
* The Crowd Roars (1938)
* Three Loves Has Nancy (1939)
* The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
* Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
* The Earl of Chicago (1940)
* 20 Mule Team (1940)
* Wyoming (1940)
* The Bad Man (1941)
* Barnacle Bill (1941)
* Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
* Apache Trail (1942)
* Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)
* White Cargo (1942)
* Three Hearts for Julia (1943)
* Above Suspicion (1943)
* Cry 'Havoc' (1943)
* Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
* The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
* Thrill of a Romance (1945)
* What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945)
* Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945)
* Fiesta (1947)
* This Time for Keeps (1947)
* On an Island with You (1948)
* A Date with Judy (1948)
* The Sun Comes Up (1949)
* Big Jack (1949)
* Challenge to Lassie (1949)
* Malaya (1949)
* Black Hand (1950)
* Three Little Words (1950)
* Vengeance Valley (1951)
* The Great Caruso (1951)
* The Unknown Man (1951)
* It's a Big Country (1952)
* Carbine Williams (1952)
* Ivanhoe (1952)
* The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
* The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
* All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)
* Knights of the Round Table (1954)
* The Student Prince (1954)
* Athena (1954)
* The Prodigal (1955)
* The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955)
* Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957)
* Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957)
* Jailhouse Rock (1957)
* The House of the Seven Hawks (1959)
* Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959)
* The Tartars (1961)
* The Honeymoon Machine (1961)
* The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962)
* Follow the Boys (1963)
* Fun in Acapulco (1963)
* The Golden Head (1964)
* The Truth About Spring (1965)
* That Funny Feeling (1965)
* The Last Challenge (1967)
* The Scorpio Letters (1967)

Serials|

* Vultures of the Sea (1928)
* The Vanishing West (1928)
* The Fatal Warning (1929)
* The King of the Kongo (1929)
* The Lone Defender (1930)
* King of the Wild (1931)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template