_**Cossacks vs. Poles on the steppes of Ukraine (actually Argentina)**_

In the 16th century, Cossacks on the Ukrainian steppe defy their subjugators, the Poles. Yul Brynner plays a hearty colonel while Tony Curtis plays his eldest son, who foolishly falls for a lovely princess in Kiev (Christine Kaufmann).

"Taras Bulba" (1962) is based on the first half of the classic novella by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1835. At heart, it’s a sword & sandal flick that meshes “The Vikings” (1958) with Brynner’s “Solomon and Sheba” (1959). There are curious stabs at frivolity and amusement that are absent by the second half. The singing & dancing of the mirthful Cossacks seems a little too choreographed, eliciting a sense of unreality to the proceedings, but it’s such a small part of the movie it can be overlooked.

One exhilarating sequence takes place around the 70-minute mark with the various tribes of Cossacks gathering together while galloping the steppe to fight at Dubno. There’s no CGI, it’s literally hundreds or thousands of men on horseback.

The movie bombed at the box office. Although it’s not great like “The Vikings,” it’s almost on par with “Solomon and Sheba.” It needed more depth, like milking Andrei’s relationship with Natalia. Still, it’s entertaining enough to check out.

Curtis was 36 during shooting while Christine was 16. He didn’t waste much time dropping his wife of eleven years, Janet Leigh, to marry Christine as soon as she turned 18 in 1963. The marriage lasted five years and Tony has lamented letting her go.

The film runs 2 hours, 3 minutes, and was shot in northern Argentina (with the unit based in Salta), as well as Walt Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in Newhall, California (the outside love scene), and Universal Studios (the city of Kiev & Polish academy).

GRADE: B-