Taras Bulba (1962)

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Nikolai Gogol (novel)
Waldo Salt (writer)

Release Date:

19 December 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

A Love Story of Flesh And Fire!

Plot:

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

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Taras Bulba (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Kosakken Taras Bulba (Denmark) [da]
Taras Bulba (Finland) [fi]
Taras Bulba (France) [fr]
Taras Bulba (Spain) [es]
Taras Bulba (Brazil) [pt]
Taras il magnifico (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

122 min | 124 min (TCM print)

Country:

Yugoslavia | USA

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Disney Ranch, Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company:

Avala Film

Trivia:

Another movie where Yul Brynner has a full head of hair in a few brief scenes. Ironically, when Tony Curtis punches Yul in the abdomen (in the scene where he and Brynner are reunited after two years), Tony's hair piece flops forward, revealing his thinning hair on the back of his head.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the brothers are sitting by the river observing Natalia on the opposite bank, in the front shot they are close together and the rear shot they are apart. Then the front shot reveals them close together again.

Quotes:

Natalia Dubrov: I love you, Andrei, I will always love you. You know that. I love you. But I can't let you fight against your own people. I can't do it. You're a Cossack, Andrei.
Andrei Bulba: I'm a man before I'm a Cossack.
Natalia Dubrov: Don't let them use me.
[they kiss]

Movie Connections:

Version of Tarass Boulba (1936)

Abundance of mass scenes

This was one of the first movies I've ever seen; and as a child I was deeply impressed by both the story and the spectacular horse riding. Nowadays these mass scenes, of which you'll see an abundance of like in no other film, would be generated in a computer. Back then they were made possible by the Argentinian cavalry. Though the film lacks the extra touch that would put it on a par with "Love and War", Yul Brynner is outstanding and inimitable. The story bears the stamp of the inevitable catastrophe of a Russian drama, but it hasn't been worked out by the script writers as it should have been.