When the big that is small, shall again become tall
While stopped at the island of Colossa for water and supplies, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) and his crew save a magician named Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) from a Cyclops. The magician was trying to steal a magic lamp from the monster. In the process the lamp falls into the ocean. Sinbad takes the magician to Baghdad. The nasty magician shrinks a princess, (Kathryn Grant), to pocket size. Sinbad and his crew sail all over to find a cure for her. The magician’s devious plan is to con Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) into helping him find the lost magic lamp. He promises to restore the princess, but they must return to the island of Colossa to do so.
“The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” was released in 1958. The movie was directed by Nathan Juran and the music score was done by Bernard Herrmann. It a sword and sandal film.
“The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” was not done until 1974 and “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” was released until 1977. All three movies with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. “The 7th Voyage” I saw as a child. “Eye of the Tiger” I saw as an adult. Almost 20 years apart and Harryhausen’s special effects are as magical in his first Sinbad movie as they are in his last Sinbad movie. As far as I’m concerned, the quality of the work is so good that you can’t tell which movie is the oldest and which is the newest.
This was the first feature using stop-motion animation effects to be completely shot in color. Ray Harryhausen built the Cyclops model over the skeletal armature of the monster from 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) that he made the previous year. The skeleton that Sinbad fights with was a prototype to the ones Harryhausen created for "Jason and the Argonauts" 1963.
One year during the summertime my local elementary school would occasionally show a movie on Saturday afternoon and all the kids in my town were invited to see it. I remember sitting on the floor of the gymnasium at my grammar school and watching a giant Cyclops roast people on a spit. I was fascinated. And I remembered nothing else from the movie. Even so from then on “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” held a special place in my heart. Even though I was a child, and didn’t know his name, it was also the time I became a Ray Harryhausen fan.
In later years, after watching it again, I was enchanted by all the fabulous creatures brought to life. The serpent woman, Roc hatchling, the Roc, The skeleton, and The Dragon. And of course, the Cyclops. The one that started it all.