Caravans (1978)

Such a frustrating disappointment

One of my all time favorites.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie, Caravans, was filmed in Isfahan, Iran, and near by the city out in the desert. I had the opportunity to visit the sets on several occasions. Some of the film was shot at what was then called the Shah Abbas Hotel, the best hotel in town and one which used to be a Caravanseri. It was and still is a beautiful hotel, with much blue and white tile walls and brass chaise lamps. Across from its landscaped Persian garden courtyard is an alcove where one of the scenes of the movie was filmed. It was a tight fit, with many cameras and crew packed into its small space. They did a number of takes that day. Most of the cast stayed at this hotel. Rumors claimed Anthony Quinn didn't like his mattress and threw it out his window. My Time Magazine mentioned that Jennifer O'Neill complained about the lack of dry cleaners. I found these stories amusing. I also got invited to a desert filming near Isfahan and I had a wonderful day on the set. That day, they were shooting the caravan going by as well as Jennifer O'Neill in a tent with some other women. I was able to get some photographs of some of the actors, but when I asked Anthony Quinn if I could take his picture, he asked me not to since he wasn't wearing makeup. There was a good bit of time to kill between filming, and near sunset, some of the Iranian extras started doing a spontaneous mock dance fight using sticks. I heard group singing from Jennifer O'Neill's tent. It was a magical day, one I will never forget. I didn't have the chance to see Caravans until years later. Unfortunately, the movie itself isn't nearly as exciting as watching it get filmed.

I love to watch 60s and 70s films mostly for nostalgic reasons (I was a young woman then). So when this came up on Netflix I was pleased. I vaguely remembered seeing it when I was young, but I did not remember the film at all (I never read the book). I was sadly reminded why.This film is just a bit of spectacularly photographed fluff. Jennifer O,Neill was one of the most beautiful women of her time, but she could NEVER act. And is it only me, or do her clothes look too much like crisp, brand new Barbie-disguised-as-Sheherezade costumes? Also, the plot is so rushed I felt like I was fast-forwarding to the end. They don't give us any real reason to like Ellen, or even understand her motives. When Miller asks her what prompted her inconsiderate behavior to her parents, she answers with all the petulance of a spoiled brat, "My parent used me for their respectability." Ah, well. There you are, then. That explains everything, doesn't it? But wait. There's more. In order to put a stop to her parent's disrespectful ill-usage of her, our heroine seeks solace among men who, according to one of the locals, Sardar Khan (Christopher Lee), "Give our women less rights than a camel." Naturally! Who else would a Western woman go to for respect? ... Oh, dear. Now I've upset solinvictus93, and his fellow students specializing in Middle-Eastern studies ...Caravans is OK if you just want light escapism and you are a fan of the ever-versatile great actor, Anthony Quinn. The film is also in excellent condition for one of its age. I want to read the book now.

The film's scenario would never happen except in a novel, or a soap opera where the central character has to "find herself". An USA Intelligence operative goes into the Persian desert to find a missing diplomat's daughter. His journey involves gun-running Arab nomads, flash floods and lots of camels. Nevertheless Caravans is good escapist fun. I could watch this film again and again, as it is great cinema. Two good bonuses are the scenery and the soundtrack. Mike Batt (a fellow Brit) composed the stirring music and it is worth buying the soundtrack CD alone (you may recall the minor pop chart hit-single by Babara Dickson, called Caravans).

So, OK, Citizen Kane this isn't. I re-read the original Michener book a few years ago and went looking for the movie. Only the largest video store in town had it, and you had to ask, because it was waaaay in the back stacks.They simplified and Hollywood-ized the book's plot and removed much of Michener's trademark exposition on the good things, bad things, history and cultural foibles of Afghanistan. For that matter, they scrubbed out the word "Afghanistan" and made it a generic "country in the mid-East".But it does have a lot of wonderful photography of Iran and a genuine bedouin people, who provided the extras for Anthony Quinn's "tribe". Iran had its revolution and became mostly closed to the West just a year after shooting, and it is almost heartbreaking to see all the magnificent countryside and archaeological sites that provide the backdrop, along with the knowledge that it is still so difficult, dangerous, and expensive to visit.