The Secret Of The Sahara (1988)

Set in 1925, an American archaeologist (Michael York) comes to Africa with the intention of locating and unlocking the secret of the "speaking mountain" which is in the Sahara desert. Some believe it contains great treasure while others say it contains the secret of mankind's existence. Based on the novel by Emilio Salgari and directed by Alberto Negrin. This silly piece of desert adventure takes itself too seriously. There were times that I wished Maria Montez and Sabu would come along and put some fun into it. To the best of my knowledge this has never been seen in the U.S. It was made for Italian television with a running time 7 1/2 hours and later shortened considerably for a theatrical release. It's overlong and never have I seen so many shots of riders crossing the desert in one film, sometimes leisurely and sometimes galloping. A whole half hour could have been cut out if those shots had been eliminated. The acting is bad with James Farentino as an Arab caliph (that accent!) and David Soul as a sadistic legionnaire being the most embarrassing offenders. And whose idea was it to cast Andie MacDowell as an Arab warrior princess? The score is unmistakably Ennio Morricone and it's one of his weaker ones. With Ben Kingsley, Jean Pierre Cassel, Miguel Bose, Delia Boccardo, William McNamara, Mathilda May, Daniel Olbrychski and Diego Abatantuono.