Christopher Lee as Sardar Khan
*
Jennifer O'Neill
Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winn ...
as Ellen Jasper
*
Behrouz Vossoughi
Khalil Vossoughi ( fa, خلیل وثوقی; born 11 March 1938) known professionally as Behrouz Vossoighi (بهروز وثوقی), is an Iranian actor. He has also worked in television, radio and theater. His work has earned him recognition at ...
as Colonel Nazrullah
*
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and '' Sab ...
as Crandall
*
Barry Sullivan as Richardson
*
Jeremy Kemp
Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries ''The Winds of War'' and ''War and Remembrance'', the film ''The ...
as Dr. Smythe
*Duncan Quinn as Moheb
*Behrouz Gramian as Peasant Boy (Behrooz Gueramian)
*
Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz as Shakkur
*Parviz Gharib-Afshar as Nur Mohammad
*Fahimeh Amouzandeh as Mira
*Mohammad Kahnemoui as Maftoon (Mohammad Taghi Kahnemoui)
*Khosrow Tabatabai as Dancing Boy
Production
In the MGM Lionpower featurette in 1967 it was advertised as one of many coming attractions in development at the time. MGM later dropped out of the film's distribution. The film later was distributed by Universal.
Changes from the source novel
The film was not well received by James Michener as it strayed wildly from the plot of his book, even eradicating its main character, a Nazi war criminal on the run who falls in love with the female lead character. This omission and other story changes caused Michener to take legal action.
Music
Mike Batt
Michael Philip Batt, LVO (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director and conductor. He was formerly the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry.
Having achieved substantia ...
wrote the score, which has been the most successful element of the film, remaining a bestseller for many years after the film's release. The song "Caravan Song" was written by Mike Batt and sung by the British singer
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and ' January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a ...
. It peaked at No. 41 in UK charts and was included on her album ''
All for a Song''.
Reception
Harold C. Schonberg of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' panned the film as a "fake epic," adding. "It has a fabricated plot, based on the James Michener novel, it has bad acting, it has unbelievably inane dialogue, and it has every cliché in the books, including an ending with the caravan silhouetted against the sunset. Even so reliable an actor as Anthony Quinn looks idiotic; he displays his macho by grunts and muttering, and occasionally there is a peculiar look on his face that suggests what he really thinks of all this nonsense."
["Arts".](_blank)
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. November 6, 1978. 54. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "The main trouble with 'Caravans' isn't the Iranians, it's Hollywood. Almost every fake moment in the film, and there are lots of them, has the touch of Hollywood laid on with a heavy coating. Take away the Americans, of course, and you wouldn't have such a slick film, but you might have a more honest one."
Roger Ebert of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and wrote that it was "slow and obvious, and at the end rather pointless," but "if you're facing a slow Sunday afternoon with a lot of time before the roast is done, 'Caravans' could, in its own way, be fun."
Gene Siskel of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' gave the film 1 star out of 4 and called it "a thoroughly laughable desert adventure" with the relationship between Quinn and O'Neill getting "short shrift" and the movie lacking "an action scene of any merit. Only at the very end is there a battle of sorts. But director James Fargo ... shoots these scenes in boring medium shots. They are as exciting as if they had been shot with models in a sandbox."
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' called the film "a stirring romantic epic on a grand scale marred by patches of truly terrible dialogue. As a result, despite all that this Universal release has going for it in the way of visual splendor and high adventure, it is likely to be entertaining only for the least discriminating (or most indulgent)." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote, "'Caravans' will be lucky if it's remembered as an expensive flop ... Ironically, the film's emptiness is magnified by the contrast between its drab, flimsy plot and vast, majestic landscapes. 'Caravans' is too inert to be salvaged by the photogenic advantages of impressive scenery." Tim Pulleine of ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' wrote that "Ellen's twofold defection remains resolutely undramatised and the gun-running sub-plot is mainly demoted to a few cryptic reference to off-screen action. The movie thus becomes a tiresome exercise in anti-climax."
References
External links
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{{James Fargo
English-language Iranian films
1978 films
Films set in the Middle East
Films set in Asia
Films set in 1948
Universal Pictures films
American adventure drama films
1970s Persian-language films
Films shot in Iran
Iranian multilingual films
American multilingual films
1970s adventure drama films
1978 multilingual films
1978 drama films
Iranian adventure films
Iranian drama films
Films directed by James Fargo
1970s English-language films
1970s American films