Sins of Jezebel

How I managed to watch this through to the end will forever remain a mystery. Appalling religious codswallop!

Sins of Jezebel is a 1953 production financed by Sigmund Neufeld and directed by Reginald Le Borg , the film was shot in Ansco Color for widescreen projection . Set in 9th century BC Israel, the prophet Elijah (John Hoyt) advises king Ahab (Edward Franz) not to marry Jezebel (Paulette Goddard) , an idolatrous princess of Phoenicia. Ahab sends for Jezebel, however, and commands Jehu (George Nader) , his captain, to escort her caravan safely to Jezreel. Once Jehu meets Jezebel, he immediately becomes attracted to her and she confuses him for Ahab . Jezebel finally arrives at Jezreel and is greeted by Ahab who , stunned by her beauty, provides her with an individual chamber until they marry. The aging Ahab, king of Israel, comes under the influence of a young and beautiful but scheming pagan woman . Against the advice of his advisers and the prophet Elijah, Ahab falls for her . On her wedding night, Jezebel evades Ahab and pursues Jehu , whom she seduces. Jezebel establishes the cult of Baal, her idol, in Israel and builds a temple. Her plan to introduce her pagan idols to Israel angers God, who decides to wreak vengeance on Israel. Jehovah, the God of the Israelites, delivers drought upon Israel because of the idolatry and sends his prophet Elijah to reprimand the people. Elijah prays to Jehovah and the drought ends.

Paulette Goddard was signed to star this Biblical film along with Edward Franz as Ahab , George Nader as Jehu and Margia Dean was cast as Deborah . The film began shooting on May 13 , 1953 , interior scenes were shot at KTTV Studios and exterior scenes were shot at Corriganville Ranch. Sins of Jezebel received mixed reviews from critics. Some reviewers described the film as "a spectacular Robert L. Lippert, Jr. Production in gorgeous new Ansco Color" . Other critics also commended and praised the film's color cinematography, but questioned the film's low budget by writing, "the desire was strong, but the cash was weak¨. For the film's cast, Paulette Goddard gives a riveting performance as she was "ideally cast" as Jezebel, while Edward Franz is nice as elderly king Ahab and John Hoyt provides a competent job as Elijah and narrator .

The film is inspired by Biblical writings , there are the following ones : Jezabel as the daughter of Ithobaal I of Tyre and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel, according to the Book of Kings of the Hebrew Bible . According to the biblical narrative, Jezebel, along with her husband, instituted the worship of Baal and Asherah on a national scale. In addition, she violently purged the prophets of Yahweh from Israel, damaging the reputation of the Omride dynasty. For these offences, the Omride dynasty was annihilated, with Jezebel herself suffering death by defenestration. Later, in the Book of Revelation, Jezebel is symbolically associated with false prophets. Her coronation as queen upset the balance of power between Yahwism and Baalism. As a worshiper of Baal, Jezebel had significant power and influence, which she used to both support Baal's cultus and eliminate its rivals, using methods that the Bible describes in brutal terms. Obadiah, a pro-Yahwist figure in Ahab's royal court, secretly protected the survivors of these purges in a cave. As a result, Elijah invited Jezebel's prophets of Baal and Asherah to a challenge at Mount Carmel. The challenge was to see which god, Yahweh or Baal, would burn a bull sacrifice on an altar. Jezebel's prophets failed to summon Baal in burning the bull sacrifice, despite their cries and cutting themselves. Elijah, however, succeeded when he summoned Yahweh, impressing the Israelites. He then ordered the people to seize and kill the prophets of Baal and Asherah at the Kishon River. After the prophets were slain, Jezebel swore to have Elijah become like her prophets , even if it meant embracing divine judgement upon herself if she failed to do so. Elijah fled for his life to the wilderness, where he mourned the devotion of Israel to Baal and lamented being the only Yahwist worshiper left. Three years later, Ahab died in battle. Elijah condemned Ahab for committing theft and murder. As punishment, God decreed Ahab's death and the annihilation of his royal line. Jezebel's death was also decreed, with her corpse to be devoured by dogs. His son Ahaziah inherited the throne, but died as the result of an accident and Ahaziah was succeeded by his brother, Joram. Elisha, Elijah's successor, commanded one of his disciples to anoint Jehu, commander of Joram's army, as king, to be the agent of divine punishment against Ahab's family. Jehu killed Joram, and his nephew Ahaziah . He later approached the royal palace in Jezreel to confront Jezebel. Knowing that Jehu was coming, Jezebel put on make-up and a formal wig with adornments and looked out of a window, taunting him. Bromiley says that it should be looked at less as an attempt at seduction than the public appearance of the queen mother, invested with the authority of the royal house and cult, confronting a rebellious commander. Jehu later ordered Jezebel's eunuch servants to throw her from the window. Her blood splattered on the wall and horses, and Jehu's horse trampled her corpse. He entered the palace where, after he ate and drank, he ordered Jezebel's body to be taken for burial. His servants discovered only her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands-her flesh had been eaten by stray dogs, just as the prophet Elijah had prophesied.

I was just a little kid when Frankie Laine's hit record of Jezebel came out paying tribute in song to the evil Phoenician Queen of Israel. It may very well have inspire Lippert Pictures to think like DeMille and make what passed for a biblical epic at that small studio with a cast of dozens.

In fact DeMille veteran Paulette Goddard plays the title role in Sins Of Jezebel. Paulette who ran afoul of C.B. DeMille during the filming of her third and last DeMille epic Unconquered probably missed the lead in Samson And Delilah because of it.

Samson And Delilah had the usual big budget and effects that a major studio can bring to bear. Sins Of Jezebel has none of that kind of opulence, but in Paulette Goddard's performance I think you can see what she might have brought to the part of Delilah another biblical bad girl.

The film is narrated by John Hoyt who plays a modern day rabbi and the prophet Elijah. Had this been a major studio production we would have seen Elijah via Paramount's special effects swept up in the fiery chariot as the Bible says he was. All that happens here is he goes off in the sunset after handing off the prophet's job to Elisha.

The luckless and feckless Ahab is played by Eduard Franz. He's just a fool for lust who passes off that he's marrying the slinky and sexy Jezebel because of reasons of state. Like anyone really believes him. But when she starts bringing in priests of her God Baal and sets up temples to same, it all unravels for Franz and Goddard.

One thing C.B. DeMille would not have done is cast Joe Besser in any kind of role in one of his epics. Besser is one of those guys who should stay in what he does best. I half expected some of his shtick from burlesque in the film. He plays Yonkel the chariot repair guy.

Given the microscopic budgets of Lippert Pictures as compared to Paramount, Sins Of Jezebel passes for an epic in that studio. Maybe the only one they ever did. But how Paulette must have missed Paramount and C.B. DeMille.

One of the surest money-makers Hollywood put out in the 1950s were religious epics. Some of them are amazingly good....most just seem silly and often have little to do with the Bible verses that they are supposedly based upon. I assumed "Sins of Jezebel" would fall in this latter category...especially since it sports such a salacious title. However, surprisingly, the film is quite well made and actually is a good representation of the life of Jezebel and King Ahab in the book of Kings. Now I am not saying it's perfect...but it's far less silly and is a decent movie that probably won't offend Christians or Jews.

The story is about Jezebel, a non-Jew who came to Judea...and leaving a long trail of seduced men in her wake. She sets her sights very high and soon is one of King Ahab's favorites. And, as she's able to twist men around her wicked fingers, he soon agrees to break the Law and construct temples for foreign gods in his country. But while she's worshipping Baal, the prophet Elijah points out how ineffectual and wrong these people are. Ultimately, it ends up with a contest between these priest of Baal and Elijah...though even this doesn't change the evil hearts of Jezebel and Ahab.

There were two things I wasn't thrilled with in this movie. Paulette Goddard, though a nice looking woman, is well past her peak and it's unintentionally funny whenever men go all googly-eyed at her. The other is the inclusion of silly and 100% non-sexy 'sexy dance' scenes. It obviously is a time-filler and just seems way out of place.

Otherwise, the story worked reasonably well and I actually was more interested in it than I'd imagined. Not life-changing but good.

In the Bible ,there's no love interest between the heroine and Jehu. So he has no regret when he has the wicked queen thrown out of the window .

The Biblical story is sandwiched between sequences which will remind you of your old Sunday school days : one deals with the creation (it's perhaps going too far back in time) ; the other one makes the viewer think that maybe the budget was too low to film certain scenes ,so a voice over would do the trick.

Paulette Godard is gorgeous as a wicked queen who makes life difficult for everybody around , urging the Israelites to turn their back on Jehovah ; John Hoyt is impressive as Elijah the prophet who curses them : Jehovah 's wrath will be ruthless. He predates bearded Charlton Heston in "the ten commandments" and the ten plagues of Egypt.

The stoning of Naboth was told in the BIble ,the queen wanting to latch onto his vineyard .

The movie cannot compete with high budget movies such as "Samson and Delilah " ,"the ten commandments" "Solomon and Sheba " or "Esther and the king" ; made in a slapdash manner ,it's only a curio for sword and sandals buffs.