''Sandokan'' is a 1976 Italian six-part television series directed by

Sergio Sollima Sergio Sollima (17 April 1921 – 1 July 2015) was an Italian film director and Screenwriter, script writer. Biography Sollima graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1935. During World War II he was in the Italian Resistanc ...

, based upon the novels of

Emilio Salgari Emilio Salgari (, but often erroneously ; 21 August 1862 – 25 April 1911) was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction. In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than that of Dante A ...

featuring the pirate hero

Sandokan Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the protagonist of 11 adventure novels. Sandokan is known throughout the South China S ...

. It was followed the next year by a feature-length spin-off film, and another twenty years later by a sequel series named ''

The Return of Sandokan ''The Return of Sandokan'' is a 1996 television series produced by Germany (where it was released as ''Die Rückkehr des Sandokan'') and Italy (where is known as ''Il ritorno di Sandokan''). It is a sequel to the 1976 ''Sandokan'' television ser ...

'', with

Kabir Bedi Kabir Bedi ( pa, ਕਬੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੇਦੀ; born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other European countries in three media: fi ...

reprising his role as Sandokan in both.

Plot

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, the second half of the 19th century. The English

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

owns the domain of the eastern lands of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. The occupying British forces are commanded by Lord James Brooke, oppressive and ruthless governor and uncle of the beautiful Marianna Guillonk, nicknamed "The Pearl of Labuan". The brave

is a young Malaysian prince who has lost his kingdom and title as result of the British annexation. Along with his friend Yanez De Gomera, Sandokan is now the ruler of the isle of Mompracem, a den of

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

who make constant attacks against British forces. One day Sandokan travels from the island of

to the lands of Borneo. Lured into a trap, Sandokan is injured in an attack, falls overboard, and is found and treated by the family of Lord Brooke. In fact, the governor does not know Sandokan personally, and mistakes the pirate for an Indian noble. Sandokan plays along with this deception, as Marianna and he have fallen in love with each other. The love between them is not meant to last for long, as Lord Brooke eventually discovers the truth and begins to pursue Sandokan. This culminates in the invasion of Mompracem, in which Sandokan loses both Marianna and his base, but is able to escape and start his resistance against the English anew.

Cast

as Sandokan *

Carole André Carole André-Smith (born 11 March 1953) is a French-Italian former actress. Her best known role was Kabir Bedi's love interest Lady Marianna, nicknamed "", in the successful RAI series ''Sandokan'' (1976). Since retiring from acting, she has be ...

as Lady Marianna Guillonk * Philippe Leroy as Yanez De Gomera *

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

James Brooke Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was bor ...

Andrea Giordana Andrea Giordana (born 27 March 1946) is an Italian actor. He has appeared in more than 14 films, 29 television and 35 theater shows since the mostly late 1950s. Early life He was born in Rome, Italy to film director Claudio Gora and actress Ma ...

as Sir William Fitzgerald *

Hans Caninenberg Hans Caninenberg (1913–2008) was a German actor.Goble p.418 He was married to the actress Lola Müthel Lola Müthel (1919–2011) was a German stage, film and television actress. She was married to the singer Eric Helgar and following their ...

as Lord Guillonk *

Milla Sannoner Milla Sannoner (1938–2003) was an Italian film and television actress.Pitts p.352 Selected filmography * '' The Changing of the Guard'' (1962) * ''Grand Canyon Massacre'' (1964) * '' Three Graves for a Winchester'' (1966) * '' A Man for Emmanu ...

as Lucy Mallory *

Renzo Giovampietro Renzo Giovampietro (23 June 1924 – 10 March 2006) was an Italian actor, theatre director and playwright. Life and career Born in Velletri, Rome, the son of a carpenter and of a cook, in 1944 Giovampietro enrolled at the Silvio d’Amic ...

as Dr. Kirby *

Franco Fantasia Franco Fantasia (5 March 1924 – 10 November 2002) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and fencing master. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1951 to 2002. He was the brother of actor Andrea Fantasia. Illness and Death September ...

as Captain van Doren

Soundtrack

The musical score for the series was composed and performed by

Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, also known as Oliver Onions, are a prolific duo of Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalists, composers and singers, as well as television and film producers. They reached the height of their popularity in the 1970 ...

under their most famous alias, ''Oliver Onions''. The score, released as an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, also included songs performed by the duo in Italian and English. Their title song, heard under the opening credits, became hugely popular in Italy and Europe.

External links

* 1976 Italian television series debuts 1976 Italian television series endings Television shows based on works by Emilio Salgari Italian television series Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Television shows based on Italian novels Television series set in the 19th century Television shows set in Malaysia Television series about pirates British Empire in fiction {{Italy-tv-prog-stub

Plot

Cast

Soundtrack

See also

External links