7th Voyage of Sinbad, The (1958)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad brought the legendary sailor into combat with a variety of creatures, all brought to life by the stop-motion magic of special effects guru Ray Harryhausen.

In this 1958 screen adventure, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) and his men sail to the island of Colossa and find trouble with a man-eating Cyclops.

Facing certain death, the crew is rescued by the bald Sokurah the Magician (Torin Thatcher) and his young genie Baronni (Richard Eyer).

Sokurah returns with Sinbad and his men to Baghdad, but the evil magician wants to return to the magical island for further booty.

When Persia’s Caliph (Alec Mango) refuses the magician’s request to return, Sokurah uses his magic to shrink beautiful Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) to an inch high. Naturally, the potion to re-grow the princess requires an ingredient found only on Colossa – an egg from the Roc, a giant two-headed bird.

The voyage to Colossa is filled with danger and excitement, all spectacularly rendered by Harryhausen. The FX man’s creature creations include a dragon, the Cyclops, the Roc and its hungry young (pictured below), and most famously, a living skeleton ready to do battle with our hero.

To this day, Harryhausen’s work is so identifiable that it reads like a signature, despite the fact that he was not the director of the film.

The movie was every young boy’s adventure fantasy come true. Seafaring adventures, stunning stop-motion effects, and a stirring score from Bernard Herrmann combined for a major hit.

In the days before video, the film came back as a reissue on a regular basis, proving the timeless charm of monsters, magic and rousing swordplay.

Schneer and Harryhausen went on to further Sinbad adventures in the 1970s, also teaming up on classics like Jason & The Argonauts (1963).

Sinbad
Kerwin Mathews
Princess Parisa
Kathryn Grant
Baronni the Genie
Richard Eyer
Sokurah the Magician
Torin Thatcher
Caliph
Alec Mango
Karim
Danny Green
Sultan
Harold Kasket
Harufa
Alfred Brown
Sadi
Nana DeHerrera
Ali
Virgilio Teixeira

Director
Nathan Juran

Video