Taras Bulba (1962)

Note Générale:

6,3/10   

Réalisateur:

J. Lee Thompson

Scénaristes:

Nikolai Gogol (novel)
Waldo Salt (writer)
(suite)

Date de sortie:

19 décembre 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Aventure | Drame | Romance | Guerre

Accroche:

A Love Story of Flesh And Fire!

Intrigue:

A "Romeo and Juliet" story that takes place in the late 16c. Ukraine. Taras has settled into comfortable...

Plot Keywords:

Cossack | Battle | Ukraine | The Turks | Poland

Récompenses:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

Entertaining (but not in the "pampas")

Ensemble

Tony Curtis	...	Andrei Bulba
Yul Brynner	...	Taras Bulba
Sam Wanamaker	...	Filipenko
Brad Dexter	...	Shilo
Guy Rolfe	...	Prince Grigory
Perry Lopez	...	Ostap Bulba
George Macready	...	Governor
Ilka Windish	...	Sofia Bulba
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Old Stepan
Vladimir Irman	...	Grisha Kubenko
Daniel Ocko	...	Ivan Mykola
Abraham Sofaer	...	Abbot
Mickey Finn	...	Korzh
Richard Rust	...	Capt. Alex
Ron Weyand	...	Tymoshevsky
Vitina Marcus	...	Gypsy princess
Christine Kaufmann	...	Natalia Dubrov
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Ellen Davalos	...	Zina (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Marvin Goux	...	Brother Bartholomew (uncredited)
Joe Gray	...	(uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	Dolotov (uncredited)
Syl Lamont	...	Kimon Kandor (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	(uncredited)
Martine Milner	...	Redheaded girl (uncredited)
Jack Raine	...	Mayor (uncredited)

Réalisé par
J. Lee Thompson

Scénaristes (dans l'ordre alphabétique)
Nikolai Gogol		novel
Waldo Salt		writer
Karl Tunberg		writer

Produit par
Harold Hecht	....	producer
Sandy Whitelaw	....	associate producer (as Alexander Whitelaw)

Musique originale
Franz Waxman

Image
Joseph MacDonald

Montage
Folmar Blangsted		(as Folmar Blanksted)
Gene Milford
William Reynolds
Eda Warren

Direction artistique
Edward Carrere

Décorateur de plateau
William F. Calvert		(as William Calvert)

Création des costumes
Norma Koch

Maquillage
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist (as Emile Lavigne)
Frank McCoy	....	makeup artist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup artist (as Daniel Striepeke)

Directeur de production
Gilbert Kurland	....	executive production manager

Assistant réalisateur
Cliff Lyons	....	second unit director
Tom Shaw	....	assistant director
David Silver	....	assistant director: second unit (as Dave Silver)
Lynn Guthrie	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Terry Morse Jr.	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Technicien du son
Stanley Cooley	....	sound mixer (as Stan Cooley)
Don Hall	....	sound effects editor (as Don Hall Jr.)
James Richard	....	sound effects editor

Effets spéciaux
Howard A. Anderson	....	special photographic effects
Butler-Glouner	....	additional photographic effects
Russell Lawson	....	additional photographic effects (as Russ Lawson)
Barney Wolff	....	special effects (uncredited)
Fred Wolff	....	special effects (uncredited)

Cascadeur
Joe Gray	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Danny Liska	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill M. Ryusaki	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)

Caméra et Département Electrique
Duke Callaghan	....	camera operator (as Duke Callahan)
Ernst Haas	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Marv Newton	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Département Costume et garde-Robe
Eric Seelig	....	costume supervisor
Robert Fuca	....	assistant set costumer (uncredited)

Département Musique
Leon Birnbaum	....	music editor
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator

Divers
John Franco	....	script supervisor
Andrei Tolstoy	....	technical advisor (as Andrey Tolstoy)

Companies de production

• Avala Film
• Harold Hecht Productions

Distributeurs

• United Artists (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1965) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• United Artists (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Opção (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Autres Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes
• Pacific Title  main titles
• Samuel Goldwyn Sound Department  sound recording

Durée:

122 min | 124 min (TCM print)

Pays:

Yugoslavia | USA

Langue:

Anglais | Latin

Couleur:

Couleur

Rapport de forme:

2,35 : 1

Son:

70 mm 6-Track | Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Classification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:U | West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #20294) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Lieux de tournage:

Disney Ranch, Santa Clarita, California, USA

Société:

Avala Film

Anecdotes:

Originally began as a Burt Lancaster script before Tony Curtis was given the role.

Goofs:

Equipe ou équipement visible: When the cossacks are advancing on the steppe, the wheels of the filming vehicle are leaving visible tracks on the ground.

Guillemet:

Taras: My son, why? Why?
Andrei Bulba: I did what I had to do.
Taras: From the day I plunged you in the river to give you life, I loved you as I loved the steppes. You were my pride! I gave you life. It is on me to take it away from you.

Connexions:

Refait comme Veer (2009/I)

Entertaining (but not in the "pampas")

I've seen the reviews here and a couple of comments set "Taras Bulba"'s location in the Argentine pampas. As a native Argentine I must say that's not correct; the pampas run all through the middle part of our Country but this film was shot in the Province of Salta way up in the northern part of Argentina (some 1400 miles from Buenos Aires); the pampas are a huge flat ground very fertile, but Salta is uneven with not too high hills ("cerros") very different from the pampas. Another reviewer says Tony Curtis declared once that when he and co-star Kristine Kaufmann got mixed up during the filming he was already divorced of Janet Leigh; I don't know about that but I can assure you that Leigh came to Salta with him (a friend of mine has a photo with her on the "cerros").

As to the picture, I really enjoyed it -also because I lived in Salta a couple of years and the landscape is very familiar to me- but I think a real classical epic could have come out of Nicolai Gogol's famous novel with a more elaborated script (as a reviewer correctly stated here).

J. Lee Thompson's product seems sort of "cheap" and lacks spectacle (except for some real good battle scenes) although I admit if has some very good moments. A somehow impressive one is when the big doors of the sieged city open slowly and André (Curtis) appears in a frontal close shot wearing a Polish armor and helmet for he will make a run for food too feed the starving citizens inside in a clear treason to his country and father for the love of a woman. Also the final dark atmosphere Thompson achieves when Taras (Yul Brynner) confronts his favourite son after a treason he can't possibly understand and even less when André just explains "I did what I had to do".

Brynner's performance though a little overacted is good enough and he fills the role of Taras easily. Tony Curtis makes a great effort and gets some good moments as André though he clearly lacks the appropriate "physic du rol". The rest of the cast gives a good support, among them Sam Wanamaker, Brad Dexter, Guy Rolfe and George MacReady. German actress Kristine Kauffman shows her beauty.

All in all "Taras Bulba" comes out as an entertaining and amusing film in its genre and a decent intent on Gogol's book, but no much more than that.