Immediately after completing “20 Million Miles To Earth” was hired to bring his "Dynamation" effects mastery to…
"The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad" (1958)
Directed by Nathan H. Juran, Written by Kenneth Kolb,
Based on the character Sinbad the Sailor from "One Thousand and One Nights", Produced by Charles H. Schneer & Ray Harryhausen, Music by Bernard Herrmann, Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper,Edited by Roy Watts & Jerome Thoms. Starring Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer & Torin Thatcher.
Sailing to Baghdad after a narrow escape from the monster island of Colossa, the wedding plans of legendary hero Sinbad and Princess Parisa are spoiled by the scheming sorcerer Sokurah when he shrinks the princess and forces the sailor and his crew back to the high seas to find a missing magic lamp in order to save her.
It was in this film Harryhausen gave us the creature creations,
"CYCLOPS OF COLOSSA"
It was in "The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad" Harryhausen first explored a stop motion skeleton fighting a real human actor.
Famously this is something that Ray would later use to great effect in a future project but the skeleton fight in this film is still truly remarkable.
The film also boasts a fire-breathing dragon complete with fangs, a forked tongue and twisted horns. Ray's creation does have more than a touch of dinosaur about it but Ray did like a dinosaur.
Ray created the believable fire breathing effect by filming a flamethrower being discharged against a dark sky then superimposing that footage onto the film of his animated dragon opening its mouth.
This movie was very well received at the time igniting the imaginations of young and old movie fans alike. "The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad" (1958) is still very watchable and enjoyable to this day even though the kid genie is really annoying.
"The Three Worlds Of Gulliver" (1960) Directed by Jack Sher, Written by Arthur Ross
& Jack Sher, Based on "Gulliver's Travels" by
Jonathan Swift, Produced by Charles H. Schneer,Edited by Raymond Poulton, Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper, Music by Bernard Herrmann, Starring Kerwin Mathews
June Thorburn, Basil Sydney & Sherry Alberoni
Surgeon Lemuel Gulliver wants to explore the world before his marriage to Elizabeth, despite her wishes to the contrary. He sets off on a ship, but is reunited with Elizabeth when he discovers she's hidden aboard. Their reunion doesn't last long, however. A storm leads Gulliver to a strange land inhabited by tiny people called Lilliputians. His journey then takes him to a rival land called Blefuscu, and finally to a land of giants named Brobdingnag.
Ray provided the Visual effects for two sequences A scene featuring a squirrel and one with a crocodile.
both scenes are wonderfully executed by ray in his thrilling "SUPERDYNAMATION".
The following year saw the release of the film...
"Mysterious Island" (1961)
Directed by Cy Endfield, Screenplay by John Prebble, Daniel B. Ullman & Crane Wilbur,
Based on the 1874 novel "L'Île mystérieuse"
by Jules Verne, Produced by Charles H. Schneer, Music by Bernard Herrmann, Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper, Edited by Frederick Wilson, Starring Michael Craig,
Joan Greenwood, Herbert Lom, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill & Dan Jackson.
Three Union Army soldiers use a hot air balloon to escape from a Confederate prison camp. The trio crash into the ocean then wash up on a beach of a strange island.
The men soon run afoul of the local wildlife, which include giant crabs and prehistoric creatures. To make matters worse, the island's central volcano begins to erupt, threatening to take the whole island down with it.
For this film Harryhausen created sequences with an underwater Cephalopod, a giant crab, Phorusrhacos, and a giant bee.
This film was a financial hit at the time and this film only works because Ray's creatures are exciting and believable.
On completion of "Mysterious Island" Ray Harryhausen embarked on not only his most ambitious project but the film that would truly cement him as a cinema legend.
END OF PART 3
