There are movies that come along that leave a lasting impression. A film that harkens back good memories and scene recall. Films where we can share our love for the subject and geek out with fellow fans of the movie. Today is definitely one of those movies for quite a bit of people. A movie that is well-loved and revered by its fans and those introduced to it alike. A movie made with help from a special effects legend and highlighting a story from Ancient Greece.
So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that’s a can of Man Fill of Trouble from our friends at Dock Street Brewing Company here in Philadelphia. So sit back, relax, and let’s talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.
For the past three seasons we usually celebrate July by talking about one or two sci-fi films for Sci-Fi July, but this year I wanted to talk about another related genre. The idea of Fantasy films. Things built on mythical, reinvented, or unknown worlds with less emphasis on science or alien beings and more emphasis on things like old worlds, oddities, or mythology.
Today’s subject highlights a story from Ancient Greece, showcasing fantastical worlds and creatures in an epic journey of discovery. Our journey begins with an oracle reading the future of a military leader, Pelias who is about to go to war. He is told that he will win the throne of Thessaly, by killing the king Aristo as commanded by Zeus. He also learns however that he will lose that same throne when Zeus ordain it. Gripped by greed and power, Pelias vows to kill Aristo and his children and proceeds to battle. Later Jason, upon reaching manhood returns from exile to claim his rightful throne, but before doing so vows to find the Golden Fleece, a gift of the gods said to heal and rid plague and famine. To help his kingdom and inspire its people Jason vows to bring the Fleece to Thessaly and avenge his father.
The movie follows Jason, rightful heir to the throne of Thessaly on his quest to find the golden fleece to unite the land and reclaim the throne that is rightfully his. Jason, determined to save Thessaly from yeas of misrule assemble a crew including Hercules and sails on his newly made ship the Argos to the end of the Earth. Taking their name from the ship the Argonauts set sail and encounter many obstacles they must overcome to find the legendary fleece. Encountering Harpies, landslides, an army of skeletons, and more makes their journey not just harrowing, but also entertaining.
Jason and the Argonauts was directed by Don Chaffey based on a screenplay written by Jan Read and Beverly Cross. While the screenplay for the film was written in 1962, the story of Jason and the Argonauts goes back to Apollonius and the Library of Alexandria back in 3rd Century BC. It’s a story of grit, revenge, and compassion that entertained Greeks for centuries. When the idea of this film came to be it was during a time in which movies of ancient tales had been doing well in Hollywood. Movies like Ben-Hur, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and The Ten Commandments.
The plot of the movie takes from the original Greek tale and adds on certain flourishes to provide more action. The original Greek tale as a lot of them did, has tremendous intrigue and subtext to make things interesting. It's a tale of revenge and adventure while using things like irony to thicken the wonderful stew that makes up its story. The movie uses the bones of the story and tailors it quite well into the 104 minute duration film we know and love today.
Jason has drama, character, and adventure. Of course there is also a lot of action with the help of obstacles in Jason's quest including mythical beasts and creatures, which help provide action. In fact, with all of the action and creature sequences involved in the plot, the studio hired a special effects wizard to bring the action to life. They employed the legendary stop-motion effects artist, Ray Harryhausen.
Ray Harryhausen is a legend of stop-motion animation who got his start working on Mighty Joe Young with Willis H. O’Brien. If that name sounds familiar, we talked about O’Brien in an episode last season where we detailed how he helped bring King Kong to life. After working with O’Brien he then worked on films like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 20 Million Miles to Earth, and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad before our subject today. By the time 1963 rolled around Harryhausen was a sought after name in visual and technical effects. His expertise earned him the spot as creator of special visual effects. He along with his team of artists, sculptors, and technicians created the moments we know and love in this movie.
The best thing about this movie though is the amazing stop-motion animation work of Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen was fundamental in this picture and brought a lot of the amazing moments fans of this movie and know and love come to life.
Harryhausen gravitated toward dinosaurs and fantasy at a young age and began making models and stop-motion animation after seeing The Lost World and King Kong. His career in filmmaking would begin taking shape after meeting legendary animator Willis O’Brien who was in charge of special effects on King Kong. After some consideration Harryhausen went to college to hone his animation style at USC. Soon after graduation he would work alongside his mentor O’Brien on Mighty Joe Young.
For Harryhausen, Jason and the Argonauts was his favorite picture he was ever apart of. He marveled at all of the characters he worked on animating and loved bringing the imaginative tale to life on the big screen. In Jason he helped animate a number of sequences including those surrounding a giant bronze warrior statue, a Hydra with seven heads, and skeleton warriors. These action sequences blended stop-motion animation with live action sequences to make it look like these things were happening in the same worlds.
The hardest creature for Harryhausen to animate was the Hydra with all of its seven necks and heads. He recounted in an interview once that if he was taken away in the middle of filming a sequence he would forget which of the seven heads he was last animating upon returning to filming. This was in large part because in each sequence all heads were moving in separate directions. One moved up, another moved forward, a third moved back and remembering those movements after being distracted became challenging let along the task of making those movements happen using stop-motion animation to begin with.
I learned something about my favorite creature that I didn’t know which is the giant bronze statue. The statue is based on the one in the original tale, a statue called Thalos, but in the story it’s not nearly as big as it is in the film. Harryhausen had the idea of combining the original idea of Thalos with something else from Ancient Greece, the Colossus of Rhodes. If you’re unfamiliar with the Colossus of Rhodes, it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Colossus was a giant statue at the harbor of Rhodes in Greece, modeled after the Sun God of Helios. The statue was said to have stood around 33 meters high or one-hundred fifty feet, about the size of the statue of liberty and took twelve years to build. That might not sound high by today’s standards, but back then there was no other statue rivalling its size. Harryhausen made the giant bronze statue as an ode to that ancient wonder.
Maybe the height of his work may very well be how he animated the skeleton army. He animated them rising from the ground, marching, attacking, defending, and of course falling. He recalled that for one frame of film there were thirty-five moves that needed to occur, five for each of the seven skeleton warriors, meaning he could only do thirteen frames a day. Quite the undertaking, but one that paid off very well. There are so many sequences in this movie that without Harryhausen’s skilled hand at work wouldn’t be nearly as effective, entertaining, or memorable.
Apart from the amazing stop-motion animation though the live action sequences were also quite good, anchored by the acting of a well-rounded cast. Playing the part of Jason was Todd Armstrong, who plays the lead role with conviction and a commanding energy. Armstrong was relatively unknown prior to getting the role of Jason, having only two roles in film prior to this effort. That in experience doesn't show though, he does a great job making us root for him. Also in the film is Nancy Kovack, who plays Medea, a priestess of the goddess Hecate. Novack plays her with an air of mystery and mystique, which feels fitting for the role. Then there's Laurence Naismith playing the role of Argos, the ship maker. Naismith had a lively acting career and appeared in a film we covered last season, where he played Captain Edward John Smith in A Night to Remember. The other actors also help to lift the weight of the live action sequences and carry the movie and plot forward with success.
The first time I remember seeing this film I was pretty young. I was over at a friends’ house and it came on the TV and I remember us watching in awe at what was going on. It was the first time I remember seeing mythical creatures interact with acters on screen. It scratched an itch I didn’t even know I had and opened my eyes to all new possibilities of movies. My favorite sequence has been and probably always will be the giant bronze statue the crew encounters. I won’t spoil what happens, but I always loved the inventiveness and execution from the effects, action, and sounds of those scenes.
Now this movie has aged a bit since its initial release over sixty years ago and things won't be as clean and neat while looking at them from a modern lens. Part of that is because this film hasn't had a good restoration done on it in a while, but another is the time it was made. I mention that because while I love this movie I can acknowledge that for an audience today the film's age will be very apparent, but I regard that as extra charm on a legendary film.
Jason and the Argonauts was made on a budget of 2.5 million dollars and grossed roughly 479 million dollars worldwide. The movie was a major success and one that immediately struck fans with its story and action. Jason and the Argonauts is well-loved fantasy film, borrowing from Ancient Greek mythology to bring an epic tale to a modern audience. It is regarded as one of the best fantasy films of the sixties, which was a pretty stellar time for fantasy film in general. Among being a highly entertaining film it also inspired generations of special effects work and paved the way for more inventive and innovative ways to make fantastical concepts come to life on the big screen.
If you’re in the mood for an entertaining and legendary fantasy film I highly recommend pressing play on Jason and the Argonauts. Whether you’re a fan of epic films, mythology, the history of special effects in film, or just want to revisit after a time away, there’s something here to enjoy.
If you’d like to watch Jason and the Argonauts for yourself, you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find it on Tubi. Tubi is a streaming service with a diverse catalog of offering including movies and TV shows and the best part is it’s completely free of charge.
You can also find it on services including Vudu, Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV for $3.99 to rent.
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