The Soviet fantasy film ‘Sadko’ was released in 1952 by director Aleksandr Ptushko, based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera, which in turn was inspired by the Russian bylina (epic poem) from the Onega region.
Novgorod merchants are feasting in a magnificent palace. A young guslar (gusli player), Sadko, boasts that he can bring the sweet-voiced bird of happiness to their land. The merchants mock him for his bravado and say his quest is impossible. One of the Sea King’s daughters, enchanted by his singing and in love with him, offers her help. On his search for the bird, Sadko travels through many lands, including India and Egypt. He fails to catch the bird of happiness and returns empty-handed. But upon returning to Novgorod, Sadko realizes that there is no land greater than his homeland, and that there is no need to travel far in search of happiness.
What happened to the film?
The film was first shown in the Soviet Union in early 1953. Shortly after, it was released in the USA with English subtitles, and in 1962 it was dubbed into English by Roger Corman’s The Filmgroup Inc. and released under the title The Magic Voyage of Sinbad.
While the dubbed film retained the main storyline of Sadko, it introduced several changes: the total running time was shortened by about six minutes (most of the cuts involved musical sequences, though one song was kept and performed in English), voiceover narration was added, and the hero’s name was changed from “Sadko” to “Sinbad.” Other character and actor names were also given more Americanized names to disguise the film’s Russian origins and recast it as a tale of Sinbad the Sailor. For example, Sergei Stolyarov was renamed Edward Stolar, Alla Larionova became Anna Larion, and Aleksandr Ptushko was changed to Alfred Posko. Also, Novgorod was renamed “Copasand.”
The English dub gives the film a slightly more “affected” tone than the original version, in which the dialogue has a more polished feel. The script adapter for this version of the film was a young Francis Ford Coppola, but his name was not included in the credits.
In Russia, the story of the film’s unusual transformation was only discovered in the 1990s, and it was too late to change anything. Sadko received the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1953, and the festival jury included its lead actor, Sergei Stolyarov, in the list of the best actors in the world in the 50-year history of cinema.
