Russia Legend

 

 (imdb)

THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON-1956-This tale is based on a legend. Ivan (Boris Andreyev), a man crippled since birth watches helplessly as the Tugars, a barbarian horde rape, pillage and burn. Some travelers give Ivan a magic elixir that restores him and he becomes a mighty warrior dedicating his life to defending his homeland and defeating the Tugars. After battling and capturing a wind demon and assembling a group of fighting friends, his pregnant wife is kidnapped. Tugar leader Kalin (Shukur Burkhanov) wants to make her his bride but she rebuffs him. 

Instead, he takes her son Little Falcon and raises him as a Tugar. Later Ivan and his son meet on the battlefield and Ivan shows his son what's going down. They join forces and have to battle a three headed dragon in the finale. 

The Russian color fantasy is based on poems about the knight Iiya Muromets. Roger Corman got a hold of it a few years after it was made and had it re-edited, changing some names and having news journalist Mike Wallace do some new narration and Paul Frees dub some voices. The director Aleksandr Ptushko also made another fantasy adventure around this time, THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE.

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It Had To Be Told?

DRACULA UNTOLD-2014-After an encounter with a vampire in a cave, Vlad The Impaler Jr.(Luke Evans) reigns over his peaceful kingdom until the Turkish sultan demands 100 boys for his army (Vlad's dad had handed him over to the Turks in a compromise when he was young). In a new compromise the sultan makes Vlad his new chief but forces him to hand over his son Vlad 3. Instead dad kills the party that comes to get his son. To save his kingdom Vlad drinks the blood of the cave vampire (Charles Dance) and receives great power (and great night vision) and defeats the Turkish horde all by himself (some bats help too). However he is told if he can go for three days without drinking blood he will return to normal, otherwise more blood drinking will cause him to remain a vampire forever. Despite his best efforts, when his wife dies and his son is taken prisoner he drinks his wife's blood and becomes a full fledged vampire. He turns some friends into vampires too and they destroy The Turks. Later they all stand in the sun and die. In the modern day Vlad is still alive for some reason and seems to meet his long lost lover but the cave vampire is there as well. 

Yeah, like there was going to be a sequel to this routine bloody ridiculous CGI laden horror....

The director Irish born Gary Shore had previously done corporation shorts.

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The Alamo

THE LAST COMMAND-1955-Jim Bowie (Sterling Hayden) arrives in the Texas/Mexican territory just in time for an uprising of Texicans against Mexico. William Travis (Richard Carlson) tries to convince a committee to resist Mexico's iron fist. When Santa Ana (J. Carroll Nash) rejects the Texicans demands Austin (Otto Kurger) decides it's time to take up arms against them. But when his wife and kid die Bowie becomes a wanderer. Later he and his small group (including Jim Davis and Slim Pickens) decide to fight. Ernest Borgnine is a tough guy named Mike who has a knife fight with Bowie at the beginning of the story and later they become friends. Edward Franz (THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE) is the Mexican representative living with The Texicans. Anna Maria Albergetti (an actress I only remember for doing salad dressing TV commercials in the late '60's)is the senorita love interest who comes between Bowie and Travis. Things really get rowdy when Davey Crockett (Arthur Hunnicutt) shows up. Great battle finale at The Alamo. I won't reveal what happens...

Roy Roberts, Virginia Grey, John Russell and Morris Ankrum also have roles.

THE LAST COMMAND was once of the most expensive pictures ever produced by the low budget Republic Pictures studio. It was suppose to star John Wayne as Bowie but he also wanted to direct it. However when the studio hired the workman like Frank Lloyd (IF I WERE KING, BLOOD ON THE SUN) instead Wayne bolted. He'd get his chance to star in and direct his own version several years later with THE ALAMO (some argue THE LAST COMMAND is more historically accurate).

This version has lots going for it. Action, a strong cast and good direction.

Here's Lorne Greene's version of the historical battle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZu5T1VbVs

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