A fun desert adventure of a bunch of escaped convicts being led out of danger with the help of a stolen truck, a nurse played by Madelyn Rhue and student rebel Sal Mineo. The main attraction of course is Yul Brynnyr, mainly speaking only when necessary yet still commanding. Others along are Anthony Caruso and unforgettably Jack Warden who gets the showiest of roles. In a fun cameo, James Mason pops up unexpectedly, and steals his five minutes that he's on screen. A colorful production with tons of action, lots of desert wind and the camera staring into the soul of Brynnur, this is very cinematic and the type of film that did what films like this set out to do. Take the audience to exotic places, provide them with non-stop thrills and give them a good deal of entertainment in under two hours. In short, an old fashioned hit that made cinema a lot of fun in glorious widescreen and Technicolor.

The best performance comes from Warden, playing the type of character that he became very well known for, the brash, outspoken American, yet given a drunk moments that reveals so much about his soul is that it opens Rhue up to liking him. Up to this point, she hadn't trusted him or liked him much. Another great scene has an ailing Mineo being comforted by Brynnur, showing the type of chemistry they must have had when they were together on Broadway as father and son In "The King and I". It's a shame that Mineo, with all these early great parts, Oscar nominations and fantastic reviews, couldn't get leading roles outside of a few well done B films in the late 50's. He definitely showed star quality here, even with minimal dialog here. This is one of those cinematic film that most people have never heard of that certainly deserves to be rediscovered.

With an obligatory bow for a few political polemics regarding the Middle East, Escape From Zahrain is essentially an action adventure film about the leader of a rebel faction being broken out of custody and escaping from a Middle Eastern principality. Zahrain is a mythical country along the lines of Muscat-Oman, Yemen, or Qatar or better still the more well known Kuwait. With the ruling class living fabulously wealthy lives due to oil, most of the people are barely scratching out a living. In the next century a place like Zahrain would be a breeding ground for terrorists.

Yul Brynner is the rebel leader and Sal Mineo is an idealistic student who leads a group that springs Brynner and a few others who are along for the ride. They include some common criminal types Anthony Caruso and Jay Novello and one unusual one in Jack Warden, formerly employed by the big oil cartel, but now in prison for embezzlement. Can't be too pleasant for him in a third world jail.

Losing the truck they escaped in, they hijack due to Warden an ambulance belonging to the oil company and get driver Leonard Strong and nurse Madelyn Rhue as well. This then is the crew trying to Escape From Zahrain.

The rulers want Brynner real bad and they're out in force for him. Probably the biggest manhunt in the history of the country.

In a recent biography of Sal Mineo, Mineo was pleased to be reunited with Brynner whom he had played on Broadway with in The King And I. Mineo took over the part of the crown prince during the run and Brynner was like a father to him in real life. Brynner was not an easy guy to know or get along with, but apparently he and Mineo hit it off, very few did with this man who kept an air of mystery about him his entire life.

Warden and Caruso are a pair of interesting characters. In contrast to the idealistic Brynner and Mineo, these two are a pair of realists. Caruso is a real low life, but he does prove useful, but only when one keeps an eye on him. Warden is a cynic in the Bogart tradition, but kind of comes around in the end even though all he wants to do is get out the whole middle east.

Escape From Zahrain moves at a pretty good clip. It doesn't let the political polemics get too much in the way of the action.

A not-bad desert adventure flick from Paramount, this one's notable for featuring Yul Brynner as the Arabic hero leading a rag-tag group on an escape from a fictional African country, Zahrain. It's very similar to all those British desert war flicks of the 1950s, such as the classic ICE COLD IN ALEX, although inevitably nowhere near the same quality. Still, Brynner's constant bickering with Jack Warden is mildly entertaining, Sal Mineo brings some youthful bravado to his role, and James Mason has a surprise cameo. There's plenty of action and incident at least which keeps the running time moving smoothly on.