Whoever put this cast together was clearly looking at box office revenues and not at suitability and/or compatibility. Omar Sharif as the eponymous title character has just about enough on-screen charisma to get away with this, but James Mason and Robert Morley (the Emperor) are almost comical in their portrayals. Stephen Boyd as "Jamuga" and Eli Wallach "The Shah" don't fare much better with this most stilted of scripts and Françoise Dorléac as "Bortei" has a sort of faux personality that just adds to the emptiness of this entire thing. Looks great, though - costumes and grand cinematography (particularly the battle scenes) do help this adventure to remain just about watchable - and, let's face it - it is miles better than "The Conqueror" (1956).

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