Der Untergang von Pompeji

I first saw this film when I was a child and the impact it had on me has never faded no matter how many times I watch it, nor at what age. Every time I find some nuance I had not noticed before...it really is an unsung masterpiece. Try to see it with eyes unjaded by years of excess on the movie screen...for its time it had great special effects..a wonderful script, interesting casting...none so much as Basil Rathbone as Pontius Pilate..I have never seen better! Basil imbues Pilate with a sense of duty and conscience that fills the screen with its irony and pain at his dilemma. Marvelous! Preston Foster is often forced and hammy...but it did not distract from the enjoyment of the movie..in fact it was "a style" of acting in the thirties that many leads presented..actors like Fredrick March, etc had the same style...a leftover from the silent age when actors, in order to convey their sentiment used their body more to propel their feelings to the screen. An exaggeration of movement that lasted for a number of years until the realization hit that on the big screen with sound actors could be more subtle with their gestures. The story is , in content wonderful...holds my attention even after all these years of viewing. It is a fascinating story...a progression from a happy, hard working man with everything he could ever want, who loses it all in a very few days for lack of money. Bitter and lost, after having lost not only those he loved but losing his principles too to try to save them, he decides the only thing worth having is money..because it is the only thing that PROTECTS you. In the backround to all of this is the story of the Christ...not meant to be in the foreground but a backdrop to everything that happens to this man struggling with the heavy burden of his reality and his decisions. This is a beautiful film worthy of repeated viewing for its amazing messages...and there are many. This is a thinking man's film, a philosopher's film, a spiritualist's film, and a film for every man and woman searching for answers to the question "why?" What it ultimately leaves you with is HOPE. This is a KEEPER.

These days I watched this old epic and well entertained I was. A fine story and great production make you - almost - forget that there are no colors. Filmed in colors this one could scratch at the doors of Ben Hur (1959) or Quo Vadis? (1951). Anyway, if you like epics of the Roman age, you may give this almost antique movie a try. Good.

I first saw this movie years ago as a child and it had quite an impact on me. I loved the acting. Preston Foster as the disillusioned blacksmith, David Holt, as the sweetest little boy one could possibly imagine, and John Wood as the older Flavius, so idealistically touched by his experience at the hands of Jesus. But I must reserve the greatest praise for Basil Rathbone. His portrayal of Pontius Pilate, so fine, so sure, is unparalleled. His nuances of effect and strength of personality are superbly matched to this role. You can almost taste the turmoil roiling within him as you watch the splendid emotional battle waged on his wonderfully expressive face. Walt Disney once said, "First you begin with a story." It is true. The story here is classic. A man searching the world for the key he holds within his own heart. Preston Foster, so disillusioned in his flight from poverty, that he fails to see the significance of events around him, Flavius, as the boy grown to manhood touched by a higher calling and Basil Rathbone as Pontius Pilate, probably the second most reviled figure living at that time. Wonderful, wonderful historical novel, acted brilliantly as only the actors of that time could do.

The team that produced King Kong for RKO Pictures, writer Meriam C. Cooper and director Ernest B. Schoedsack, decided to emulate Cecil B. DeMille in giving us The Last Days Of Pompeii. It's not a bad film, but it nearly bankrupted RKO so prohibitive was the cost for that small studio.

The film bears a distinct resemblance to DeMille's eye filling, but now incredibly campy The Sign Of The Cross. Our protagonist here is Preston Foster who plays Marcus the Blacksmith, but before the film is done goes through more reinventions of character than you would find in good and bad Russian literature. As a content, but happy blacksmith a bit of good fortune has him and wife celebrating. But she's accidentally injured and dies for lack of medical care, not that medical care was all that good back in those days to begin with. Foster decides that all that matters in life is the money you can accumulate for a rainy day. Foster is constantly reassessing life throughout the film.

Foster gets to go to Judea and is on the scene of the crucifixion and before that has Jesus heal his adopted son David Holt who grows up to be John Wood. Foster also meets Basil Rathbone as Pontius Pilate who also does some major reassessing after presiding over the trial of Jesus.

If the Oscar for Special Effects was in existence in 1935 it would have been interesting to see either The Last Days Of Pompeii or Mutiny On The Bounty would have won the award. Those scenes of the volcanic eruption of Versuvius are what guaranteed this film would not show a profit. They do rival what DeMille was capable of, but DeMille had a far bigger studio and more financial security in Paramount.

Also in the cast are Louis Calhern as the Roman consul and Alan Hale as Foster's number two man. They give their usual good performances.

As for RKO Studios and Preston Foster, they got some Oscar recognition for another film that Foster did for them that year. It was the low budget, but incredibly powerful Irish story, The Informer where Victor McLaglen won for Best Actor. A much better film than The Last Days Of Pompeii.

Still the spectacle of this film can still awe you, even on the small screen.

Conscious stricken after abandoning Christ on the way to Golgotha, a jaded slave trader witnesses THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, and the city's horrific destruction.

Although burdened with occasional wooden acting, this is generally a fine historical drama. RKO spent quite a bit of money on its production and it shows in the large crowd scenes and still noteworthy special effects. The film boasted a very fine team behind the camera, working together as they had on KING KONG (1933). Directorial duties were shared by Ernest B. Schoedsack & Meriam C. Cooper. Special effects wizard Willis O'Brien worked his magic, while composer Max Steiner contributed a pounding score.

Preston Foster had one of his finest roles as the stalwart blacksmith turned gladiator and slaver. His performance during the prolonged climax, while desperately trying to save the life of his doomed son, is especially effective. David Holt & John Wood, playing the youth at different ages, are also very good.

Additional fine support is offered by Alan Hale as the rough mercenary who teams with Foster; and by villainous Louis Calhern as Pompeii's last prefect. Acting honors, however, go to marvelous Basil Rathbone, who gives a most sophisticated performance as Pontius Pilate, by turns rogue, fate's victim & moral philosopher.

Movie mavens should recognize Ward Bond as a boastful gladiator, elderly Zeffie Tilbury as a soothsayer, Edward Van Sloan as Pilate's clerk & Edwin Maxwell as a Pompeii official, all uncredited.

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The film makes rather a mishmash of historical chronology. Young Flavius appears to be about ten years old at the time of Christ's crucifixion, which occurred around AD 29. It would be another fifty years - August 24, AD 79, to be precise - until Vesuvius' eruption destroyed Pompeii, yet Flavius is still depicted as a youthful fellow, just reaching maturity. Early Christian tradition also holds that Pilate committed suicide in AD 39 - four decades before Pompeii's rendezvous with destiny.

While using the same title & location, this film tells quite a different story from that of the classic 1834 novel by Baron Bulwer-Lytton.