Die schöne Helena

Of all the great stories handed down through the ages, few can equal Homer's Iliad - a towering epic of warrior heroes, squabbling gods, and anger that destroyed nations...

This is the source for Robert Wise's film... All the elements of a magnificent spectacle exist in Homer's work - a lavish and decadent court life, the tension of the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, the most beautiful woman in Greece, and a drama of love and seduction...

Thousands of weapons are used: spears, bows, arrows, body armor, helmets, shields, maces and ships of the period l200 B.C., plus a tremendous wooden horse...

Paris, on a diplomatic mission to Sparta to arrange peaceful trade, is washed up on the Spartan shore after being shipwrecked during a storm... He is helped by the lovely Helen who claims to be a handmaiden to the queen... She takes her leave, directing him to the court of King Menelaus... Paris is greeted and honored in a 'cesti' combat with Ajax... Secretly, however, Menelaus plots to kill his guest...

Helen warns Paris of the danger to his life and urges him to run away... Herself in danger for revealing the plot, she succumbs to Paris' pleadings to flee with him... The lovers make their way to Troy...

From that point the spectacular elements - the massing of the ships and men, and the battles outside the walls of Troy, take over...

Rossana Podesta - a natural brunette given a blonde wig and the classical Grecian look - plays Helen, the indirect cause of the Trojan War, but for Paris, she is the goddess of love and beauty, "Aphrodite."

Jacques Sernas plays Paris... His seduction of Helen and refusal to return her, started the Trojan War...

Robert Douglas is Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the Greek forces... He calls on the kings and princes to unite in a war of revenge against the Trojans... He was a very ambitious man, dreaming of Troy's treasures...

Stanley Baker is Achilles, the unbeatable warrior, the greatest and most tragic of the Greek heroes...

Harry Andrews is Hector, the eldest son of king Priam, and the husband of Andromache... He is the chief warrior of the Trojan army...

Niall MacGinnis is the furious Menelaus, King of Sparta, who calls on his brother Agamemnon to gather an army and avenge the mark of shame...

Torin Thatcher is Ulysses, king of Ithaca, the man of outstanding wisdom...

Sir Cedric Hardwicke is the powerless but kindly King of Troy...

Janette Scott is Cassandra, daughter of Priam, loved by the goddess Athena... With a great spirit of prophecy she warns her father to burn the wooden horse...

Robert Wise makes a brave attempt to marry the intimate with the spectacular - a difficult task - but "Helen of Troy" is an epic movie, a superior entertainment filmed in CinemaScope and Technicolor..

Spectacular and Hollywood style renditíon based on Troy war with splendid cast and breathtaking battle scenes.When París : Jacques Sernas escapes with Helen : Rosana Podesta there takes place the Troy war. Helen is the beautiful wife of Menelao , Sparta King, : Neal MacGuinnis, when she falls for París , son of Troy king Priamo : Cedric Hardwicke, both of them escape. This event lead to the Siege of Troy.Director Robert Wise picked two new Italian stars: Sernas and Podesta to play the íntimate lovers in this impressive as well as epic tale based on the known poem written by Homero: Iliada. Dealing with love , battles , Goddess : Aphrodita and Atenea , death and the motive led up to it . While tension among Greeks divide the camp giving hope the Trojan . As Greek warriors under command of Menelaus , Agamenon , Ulysses , and Achilles : Stanley Baker get to hide out in the Trojan horse when they take the Wooden Beast into the Troy city and they are successful.

This monumental and epic retelling contains a moving love story , Drama, tragic events , and overwhelming battles with a cast of thousands. After a hardworking filming the results were only fair and decent. The picture ignores true deeds for lavish and high budgeted effects, including a great number of extras and a lot of war machines.In the movie shows up numerous historical and mythological roles as Priamo: Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Hecuba well played by Nora Swinburne , Agamemmon performed by Robert Douglas , as Menelaus interpreted by Neal MacGuinnis , Ulysses : Torin Thatcher, Hector : Harry Andrews , Achilles: Stanley Baker , Cassandra : Janette Scott , Ajax : Maxwell Reed , Patroclus : Terence Longdon , among others.

This events about Troy war have been adapted on various films : Silent movie titled The Private life of Helen of Troy by Michael Curtiz 1927 with Maria Corda , Lewis Stone ; Italian versión 1962 by Giorgio Ferroni with Steve Reeves , Juliette Mayniel, Lidia Alfonsi, Mimmo Palmara; Italian recounting titled Fury of Achilles by Marino Girolami with Gordon Mitchell , Jacques Bergerac , Gloria Milland , Ennio Girolami and Troy by Wolfgang Petersen, with Brad Pitt, Diana Kruger, Rose Byrne , Orlando Bloom , Brian Cox. And a TV series 2003 by John Kent Harrison with Matthew Mardsen , Sienna Guilery, Rufus Sewell , Joe Montana,Daniel La Pine, James Callis , and Katie Blake as Cassandra.

In comparing this version of Helen Of Troy with the more recent Troy it's quite the tossup. Both didn't quite live up to expectations, the casting in a few places doesn't quite work. There was also different emphasis placed on the classical figures in each film. This version also uses a cast of thousands and in the current version, computer graphics are used to show the mass armies of both sides.

I never understood why 20th Century Fox never thought to film this with Tyrone Power, the role of Paris seems like such a good fit for him. Jacques Sernas was adequate, but not more than that. Rosanna Podesta is one magnificent looking Helen in a role that asks nothing more than being the first celebrity romance in history.

I'd be hard pressed to choose between Peter O'Toole in Troy and Cedric Hardwicke. Each so well portrays the world weary and war weary Priam so well. Hecuba is reduced to a cipher in the current version. But Nora Swinburne is not just a magnificent queen, but a caring mother for her rambunctious brood of Trojan princes and one princess.

My favorite as he's likely to be in any film he's in is Stanley Baker. There is quite a difference between him and Brad Pitt. Brad was a reluctant warrior as in Homer's epic. But Achilles as Baker realizes him is just a warrior who likes battle with the zest of a warrior who knows the gods have given him near invincibility. Baker brings so much passion to anything he does, he usually blows me away with any performance.

Next to the stories of the Bible, Homer's epics are probably the most universally known tales and everyone is a critic. For me this Helen Of Troy is a good if not great retelling of the tale.

Based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, it's the story of the Trojan War. It's a grand old Hollywood epic from Warner Bros. They are shooting in Italy. The cast is international. The lead character is Paris which is a little odd. He always struck me as a bratty teenager. Of course, that's not the Paris in this movie. They are making him the hero and the Greeks as the villains. It's love against the world. I don't buy it, but that's what they're selling. The dialogue is a bit stiff. It's trying to be a Shakespearean tragedy. On top of that, the production is big. It's huge in fact. It's an old Hollywood epic in that sense. They really have ships and war engines. They have some big sets. They have masses of extras. It's very big and the battles are big. Whatever flaws this has, it's worth it to see all the construction and destruction.

I loved "Helen of Troy" when I was a young girl in the 50's. Paris, played by Jacques Sernas, was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen and to me, made his character come alive. I wondered how I would feel about Jacques' performance after seeing Orlando Bloom play a rather wimpy Paris in "Troy". Sadly, there didn't seem to be any chemistry between Paris and Helen in the new version. When comparing the original, classic version, I was pleased to find that it still remains an exciting and dynamic story and could not be improved with extravagant special effects. "Helen of Troy" has a romantic, poignant warmth and the audience is compelled to hope that Helen and Paris can have a happy life together. In the new version, it didn't seem to matter if they stayed together or not, their story almost felt secondary to the glorious story of Brad Pitts' Achilles. Needless to say, I highly recommend the remastered DVD of "Helen of Troy, 1956" for the discerning movie viewer.