Les Péchés de Jézabel

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.

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

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.

Paulette Goddard, a beautiful star of the 1940s, was given her first big break by immortal comedian Charlie Chaplin. He starred her opposite himself in his classic film "Modern Times" in which she played his young companion. She also became his wife (though they would eventually divorce). Nevertheless, she and Claire Bloom were the only Chaplin leading ladies to go on to prestigious careers of their own. Vivacious Paulette made such classics as "The Cat And The Canary", "So Proudly We Hail (Oscar nomination), "The Great Dictator" (again opposite Chaplin) and "Kitty". She also made a few films with Cecil B. DeMille--most notably, "Northwest Mounted Police". By the 1950s, however, her box office appeal had faded, and her age (she claimed to have been born in 1911, but the true date was 1905) had finally caught up with her. After "Bride Of Vengeance", her last film at Paramount (where she was under contract) flopped, she and the studio parted ways, and she was on her own. For the next four years, she made a handful of low-budget quickies, none of which revived her fading career. "Sins Of Jezebel" is one of the more interesting ones, though. Made on an unbelievable $100,000 budget,it was reportedly completed in all of three days),but, that's probably just the length of time Paulette filmed her scenes. (She worked on 'Vice Squad'' (1952) for just three days as well. Paulette starred as the infamous Biblical queen, who attempts to replace God with her own Pagan idol, Baal. Opposite her (eventually) is a young George Nader, playing a servant of King Ahab (Eduard Franz), who quickly falls for her after she marries the weak willed King. As might be expected, production values are extremely low, though in an attempt to cash in on the then-popular Biblical epics ("The Robe", "Demitrius and the Gladiators" among others), it was filmed in color and wide screen. The script is serviceable, the photography is above average, and Goddard, Nader, and Franz give good performances. Paulette still boasted a trim figure, though at 48 years old, she was obviously past her prime. Nevertheless, this film, as a fairly straightforward retelling of the Bible story remains watchable and entertaining. Rarely seen on TV these days, VCI Communications has just released it on a DVD double bill with "Queen of the Amazons" (about which the less said, the better). There is minor print damage, and the sound is poor, but it's presented in Anamorphic Widescreen and the color is still attractive. All things considered, it's a welcome release of an obscure film.

The box-office success of Cecil B. De Mille's SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949) spawned a series of movies that were inspired from Biblical tales in The Old Testament. None of them, however, quite overtook in popularity their prototype or De Mille's later remake of his own THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956); for the most part, in fact, they turned out to be low-budget, second-rate programmers tailored for the needs of past-their-prime Hollywood sirens – so much for the would-be moral values the stories ostensibly highlighted! Needless to say, this is one of them: shot for a mere $100,000 in just 3 days (if we are to believe the IMDb's claims!), it featured 43-year old Paulette Goddard as the Phoenician beauty for which Israelite King Ahab (Eduard Franz) loses both his head and his faith.

It goes without saying that the Queen's romantic attentions lie elsewhere – her new Captain of the Guards (George Nader) – and that resident prophet Elijah (John Hoyt) is none too pleased that his weakling monarch has acceded to his wife's request of erecting a temple in honor of her god, Baal! Two more notable actors who put in subpar appearances here are Ludwig Donath (as the one adviser of King Ahab's that resists the practice of pagan worship and gets framed – and stoned to death – for his troubles!) and future member of The Three Stooges, Joe Besser (as a chubby charioteer purportedly providing the requisite comic relief); just as predictable – and even more implacable – is the inclusion of a dance routine performed here by one Carmen D'Antonio.

Although the film is atypically short (74 minutes) for such exotic fare, it still features a lengthy prologue (clearly modeled on SAMSON AND DELILAH itself - as is the music score!) and epilogue, plus intermittent interpolations from Hoyt in a second(!) role – dressed up as a modern-day University rector but eventually leaving the room carrying Elijah's own walking cane! – a cheapskate ploy intended to fill in the obvious narrative gaps. Events come to a head when a drought befalls the Israelites for having abandoned God and we are witness to a battle of wills between Elijah on one side and Goddard and her High Priests on the other over whose deity will grant their animated prayers for rain! Unfortunately (if unsurprisingly) not even Goddard's prophetic end – being eaten by dogs! – provides the goods here...but, truth be told, this proved a mercifully trim time-waster that fits the bill harmlessly for this time of the year.

Incidentally, Goddard would only go on to make just 4 more films after this, including William Castle's CHARGE OF THE LANCERS (1954) that I also have in my collection; speaking of Castle, he too made his fair share of cut-rate spectacles before he struck a gold mine with exploitative horror, including SERPENT OF THE NILE: THE LOVES OF CLEOPATRA, SLAVES OF BABYLON (both 1953) and THE SARACEN BLADE (1954) – all 3 of which I also have a copy of and might get to watch before this month is out...