Released in 1962 a week after Lawrence Of Arabia, Taras Bulba, was not a thinking man's epic like Lawrence or any of the other epics of the time, such as Ben-Hur, Spartacus, El Cid, King Of Kings – it was more of a grand adventure yarn and critics and audiences of the time were just not that interested, despite the film having two big stars in Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis, and a director, J. Lee Thompson, who'd just come off a huge smash hit with The Guns Of Navarone. What Taras Bulba did have was an absolutely brilliant score by the great Franz Waxman.
For me the Best Sequence in the film is the Ride to Dubno where the various Cossack legions meet up with each other in long extended gallop march sequence.
This film is largely overlooked now despite some broadcasts on TCM where I had the privilege of seeing it for the first time. It appears to be a throwback to that epic film-making style in the 1950s and 1960s but appears to be a bit truncated in its length to retell the Gogol story. The subplot love story between Andrei (Tony Curtis) and Christine Kaufmann is uninspired to say the least. The one interesting fact to note is that Tony Curtis married Christine Kaufmann after meeting her on this film.
For me the Best Sequence in the film is the Ride to Dubno where the various Cossack legions meet up with each other in long extended gallop march sequence.
This film is largely overlooked now despite some broadcasts on TCM where I had the privilege of seeing it for the first time. It appears to be a throwback to that epic film-making style in the 1950s and 1960s but appears to be a bit truncated in its length to retell the Gogol story. The subplot love story between Andrei (Tony Curtis) and Christine Kaufmann is uninspired to say the least. The one interesting fact to note is that Tony Curtis married Christine Kaufmann after meeting her on this film.