Can you believe the American State Dept would that stupid to expatriate young diplomat to the Middle East and didn't train and educate him well enough to know and understand the customs of the Muslims? This guy bulged into the territory without even having the basic knowledge of the Arabian culture and all the the taboos not allowed? Eating with left hand? Taking away the hijab of a woman, albeit a married one? Sitting down next to a married Arabian woman? The mockeries of James Michner's novel were just too many and too unbelievably unconvincing that had shown every segment of this movie.

"We Muslim men valued women less than our mules, but tributed all the love to them in our poetry" , the only thing that I totally agreed. It shows how weird the Arabian male chauvinists' logic is. Then when the French government passed a law to forbid the Muslim females wearing hijabs in public, but the Muslim women protested, claiming it violated their right to choose. It's another weird Middle East logic, but this time, it's the females who refuse to liberate themselves.

An entertaining adventure with all the ingredients , set in the Middle East in 1948 , and concerning about an American emissary , Michael Sarrazin , sent by the Ambassador, Joseph Cotten , to find a senator's daughter , the gorgeous Jennifer O'Neill . After an unsuccessful marrying a native army officer , she has joined a caravan formed by the tribe Kochi led by Anthony Quinn travelling through the sunny desert .

Enjoyable and obscure film that failed at boxoffice . An unusual and colorful adventure with great cast and full of action , thrills , battles and being well treated oriental social habits from desert life . Anthony Quinn gives a nice acting , as usual ; Quinn work is well up to his ordinary high standards . Anthony played a lot of exotic roles such as : Osceola in Seminola , Crazy Horse in They died with boots on , Chief Yellow Hand in Buffalo Bill , Kublai Khan in Marco Polo , a bullfighter in Santo the magnificent , an Emir in Simbad the sailor , a Mexican rebel in Viva Zapata , Quasimodo in The hunchback of Paris , a Basque in The passage and here a sort of Zorba the Sheik . But the beauty and attractive Jennifer O'Neill is the real star of this film .And support cast is pretty good , such as Barry Sullivan , Joseph Cotten , Mohamad Ali and Jeremy Kemp .

Glowing colour and distinctive photography by Douglas Slocombe , including exhilarating and riveting exteriors from Iran , during Sha period and prior Jomeini . Rousing and catchy soundtrack by Mike Batt , including an unforgettable leitmotif .The motion picture ,produced by usual editor Elmo Williams , was professionally directed by James Fargo , though it has some flaws and gaps . As the spectacular outdoors , acceptable interpretation , and the size of the drama are not enough to make this one a memorable picture , but it remains in many ways an agreeable experience. James Fargo is a craftsman who started as an assistant director to Clint Eastwood films . He has directed Eastwood vehicles: The enforcers , Every which way but loose , and Chuck Norris : Forced vengeance . And other dramas and action movies as Second chances , Born to race , Riding the edge , Game for vultures , Voyage of rock aliens . He also made Tv episodes from Hunter , A team , Tales of gold monkey , among others .

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.