I'll agree that this isn't the best movie ever made but it's not a total disaster that some might say it is. Afterall, Paul Newman started his career in this movie despite he hated the film very much. Well everybody has to start their career somewhere. The acting is pretty good especially Jack Palance as Simon, the evil sorcerer. Virginia Mayo and the beautiful Pier Angeli. Also look for Joseph Wiseman who would play the villain in the first James Bond movie Dr. No. (1962).
This film received two Oscar nominations for William V. Skall's colorful cinematography and Franz Waxman's terrific score. Both nominations were well deserved.
Despite all of the talent involved, I do have one complaint. That's for the set designs. They looked cheaply done and very cheesy and not enough texture to make them look believable and were an eye sore at sometimes. Which is a shame because I saw that Boris Levin was the Art Director and he's done terrific work in the future. I also think there were some issues with the writing because things just seemed to happen for no reason at all. But I tried to overlook some of these things and enjoy Paul Newman's performance in what I think was a fair movie. But watch and judge for yourself.
This film received two Oscar nominations for William V. Skall's colorful cinematography and Franz Waxman's terrific score. Both nominations were well deserved.
Despite all of the talent involved, I do have one complaint. That's for the set designs. They looked cheaply done and very cheesy and not enough texture to make them look believable and were an eye sore at sometimes. Which is a shame because I saw that Boris Levin was the Art Director and he's done terrific work in the future. I also think there were some issues with the writing because things just seemed to happen for no reason at all. But I tried to overlook some of these things and enjoy Paul Newman's performance in what I think was a fair movie. But watch and judge for yourself.