Sadko (film)
A Soviet fantasy based on a Russian epic tale.
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Sadko is a 1953 Soviet adventure fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Ptushko, adapted from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera based on a Russian epic tale. It was released by Mosfilm in January 1953 and later distributed in the USA by Artkino Pictures with English subtitles. In 1962, Roger Corman's The Filmgroup Inc. released an English-dubbed version retitled The Magic Voyage of Sinbad.
Plot summary
In the ancient Russian city of Novgorod, merchants feast in a palace while a young gusli player named Sadko boasts he can bring them a sweet-voiced bird of happiness. Mocked by the merchants, he sets off on a journey to find it.
The daughter of the Sea Tsar, enchanted by his singing, offers help. Sadko travels to India, Egypt, and other lands but fails to capture the bird. Returning home, he realizes no land is better than his homeland and that happiness need not be sought far away.
The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
The film was first shown in the U.S. in 1953 with English subtitles by Artkino Pictures. In 1962, Roger Corman's Filmgroup re-released it in an English-dubbed, modified form as The Magic Voyage of Sinbad. The running time was reduced from approximately 85 to 79 minutes, mostly by cutting song scenes, though one song was retained and sung in English. Voice-over narration was added, the protagonist Sadko was renamed Sinbad, and other characters and places were renamed to disguise the Russian origin; for instance, Novgorod became Copasand.
The opening narration references Ray Harryhausen's 1958 film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, presenting this film as a direct sequel. Cast and credits were anglicized, and the uncredited script adaptor was young Francis Ford Coppola. This version appeared in episode #505 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1993, despite Kevin Murphy's professed love for Ptushko's visual style. It is considered the second in the MST3K Russo-Finnish troika.
DVD release
If you want the original Russian version of Sadko on DVD, RusCiCo is the label to look for. The heavily re-edited English dub, retitled The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, comes from Retromedia on a double-feature disc paired with The Day The Earth Froze.
That same English-dubbed cut was also lampooned on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and their version appeared in Shout! Factory’s 20th four-film box set released on March 8, 2011. In some copies, the disc is mislabeled as Project Moonbase.
More in Russian Children's Fantasy Films
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Sadko (film) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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