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While having some very major flaws, this is a thoroughly decent biblical epic on the story of Samson and Delilah. It is nicely filmed, with lovely costumes, nice sets and good cinematography and has a rousing score. Also the acing is not bad at all, Victor Mature is a dashing Samson and Hedy Lamarr pretty much steals the film as the beautifully captivating Delilah, it somehow reminded me of Rita Hayworth in Salome. George Sanders proves here he is the epitome of calculation and world-weariness, and while Angela Lansbury is good she has been better. Plus the final scene with the temple coming down is brilliantly staged and serves as the highlight of the film. However, the script is not always that great, neither is the pacing which is quite slow or the direction which is disappointingly stodgy. Overall though, Samson and Delilah isn't bad, it could've been better, but it was decent. 7/10 Bethany Cox

By the time the 1940s were rolling around, Cecil B. DeMille was doing a lot less work, but the work was getting more expensive. DeMille took off a couple of years now between films to create the opulent splendor that typifies his work.

Well Samson and Delilah abounds in opulence. The color cinematography is first rate and reason enough to see the film. Of course it has the usual stilted dialog that is common in DeMille's costume work. But one has to remember that DeMille made his show business bones with David Belasco in the Edwardian era. And that's how folks talked in those Belasco plays.

Acting honors in this go to George Sanders as the Saran of Gaza, Philistine ruler and sophisticated cad. This was the height of Sanders career, he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for All About Eve the same year. I think the Saran and Addison DeWitt would have understood each other very well.

Angela Lansbury is the original object of Samson's lust and she does okay, but personally if you had the choice between Jessica Fletcher and Tondelayo, who would you choose? Is that ever a no-brainer.

DeMille got a couple of loan-outs to play the leads. Hedy Lamarr could easily lay claim to be the most beautiful woman in the cinema. She never had much acting skill, but all she has to do is be seductive and that no one could do better.

And Victor Mature away from his home studio of 20th Century Fox where he was languishing, Samson and Delilah provided a whole new vista for him with roles in spectacle pictures where he could truly be that beautiful hunk of man.

Fay Holden is good as Samson's mother. In modern times I can just hear her telling him about settling down with a good Jewish girl.

I've always loved this film. Granted, somehow it does not generate the 'huge epic' feel of some of the director's other work but it is a great film to sit down and relax in front of. Opulent costume design, good casting and excellent cinematography make this one of the better biblical epics that were being produced at the time.

Victor Mature, a fine physical specimen of the male physique, seems to fit perfectly into the role of the brooding and oft-troubled Samson. Burt Lancaster, I'm told, was the original choice for the part which I think would have been a bad choice. Although Lancaster is a better actor, on purely aesthetic grounds, the Mediterranean featured, tousle-locked Mature fitted better into the location.

George Sanders is superb as the Saran of Gaza. One of the other reviewers on this website said he portrayed a "sophisticated cad" which is the best description I have ever heard of Mr Sanders in this role or any other for that matter.

The absolute star of the show is the movie's other lead actor, Hedy Lamarr. This was undoubtedly the finest hour of an actress who either, curiously passed up or was just overlooked for many other leading parts. Hedy sets the screen on fire as the sensual and wicked Delilah, playing with and dragging every man on screen and in the audience in her wake. Many have questioned her acting ability. Truth is I doubt we shall ever really find out. Poor choice of scripts and directors resulted in her being pushed to the sidelines at MGM and eventually and sadly into complete obscurity.

In 1949, I was 11years old and saw it in NYC when it was first released. My aunt Ethel, may she rest in peace, took me during Christmas vacation. I was mesmerized by it which led me to check out the story in that Chapter of the O.T. called Judges. And I remember being asked by my 6th or 7th grade teacher to do an oral report about the film before the class. I found it a bit awkward to discuss the idea of seduction at that time especially when I heard the pubescent girls giggling. At any rate I did make that report and remember displaying the book I had bought about the film right at the theater. I estimate from age 11 to 14, I saw the film a dozen times and I'm not kidding. In my adulthood, I saw it once on free TV and rented it once for kicks. Quite honestly, I never saw a more beautiful woman than Hedy in that role. And Victor was perfect thanks to his countenance and physique. After seeing it first and then reading the story in the O.T. I came to the conclusion that the film certainly was factual and illuminating. The bible came alive thanks to the genius of Cecil B.DeMille. The special effects were brilliant, way ahead of its time. What I especially loved about this film was the haunting score by Victor Young and I do remember going out to buy it on 78 rpm disks. And I do have the radio program on cassette, "Lux Presents Hollywood-Samson and Delilah starring Mature and Lamarr. That last scene will always stick in my mind as Samson, standing blind between the two main pillars of the Temple of Dagon, the Phillistine God,called on Jehovah to give him the strength to crush his enemies and WHAT A SCENE FOLLOWED. Good heavens, DeMille was indeed a GENIUS! I recommend the film to EVERYONE because of the amazing story, color

Biblical epic that became the biggest hit, up until then, in Paramount Pictures history. The story about the Hebrew Hercules Samson, Victor Mature, who redeemed himself from a life of foolhardiness and slavery by taking down the Temple of Dagon, the Philistine Idol God. Samson not only destroyed Dagon's temple he took the lives, together with his own, of 3,000 of his bitter enemies and tormentors in the movies', Samson and Delilah, spectacular and ground shaking final scene.

Never living up to what God wanted from him, to lead his people the ancient Israelites against the hated and occupying Philistines, Samson instead lead a life of womanizing and partying mostly with the Philistines who more then anything else wanted him dead. Because of his super-human strength Samson felt safe from anything that the Philistines could do to him, killing hundreds who tried, in capturing or killing the biblical strongman.

It's when the Philistine temptress the drop-dead gorgeous Delilah, Hedy Lamarr, got to work on the big guy that he left himself open to be captured, by the Philistine army, in revealing the source of his strength; His black curly locks of hair on his head. Blinded, with a red hot iron put to his eyes, Samson was then forced to pull the grind-mill and made to look helpless as he was brutally mocked and tortured by his Philistine captors.

As the days weeks and months went by and his hair, the source of his great strength, grew back Samson with Delilah's, who had since repented what she did to him, help then planned to finish the job that he never really started; annihilate his and his peoples enslavers the hated Philistines. Samson did it by, with Delilah's leading him to them, tearing down the pillars that held up Dagan's temple and thus bringing the entire house down.

The film "Samson and Delilah" still holds up quite well despite it's bargain basement, compared to those now, special effects. Victor Mature as Samson was at his best being able to show off his hunky body without having to wear a suit and tie, as well as pants, like in his previous blockbusters "Kiss of Death" and My Darling Clementine". Heady Lamarr in her first Technicolor movie showed why she was considered to be, just get a load of her violet/lavender eyes, the most beautiful women in the world at that, back in 1950, time.

The movies director Cecil B. DeMille really had very little to go on in making the biblical blockbuster in that it was based on only four chapters, the 13 to 16, of the Book of Judges. It was an obscure 1930 German language novel "the Judge and the Fool" by Vladimir Jabotinsky that filled in all the gaps and made a full length two hour plus film about the subject, Samson & Delilah, possible.

Cecil B. DeMille is best remembered for his biblical epics, even though in a forty-year, eighty-film career he only made four of them. It wasn't just that the bible pictures gave him some of his biggest hits; it was in these features that DeMille seemed most at home, and the one genre in which he had unique ability.

Samson and Delilah brought an end to a long phase of epic-cum-adventure movies from DeMille. This period, beginning with The Plainsman in 1936, had some of the weakest pictures of his career for a number of reasons. For one thing, DeMille was not really very good at individualistic action scenes, and there was too much DeMillean historical grandeur and not enough of the free-spirited feel of the Errol Flynn or Tyrone power swashbucklers he was to some extent an trying to copy. What's more, these were mostly original stories or, at least, ones which were not well known, and DeMille's poor choice of source material and screenwriters meant the new characters and situations tended towards the feeble. DeMille's strength lay in his staging and presentation of a familiar tale, and as such his return to Sunday-school moralising, stuffy and pompous though it may be, is apt and welcome.

You see, DeMille was probably aware on some level that although these fables were well-known in a largely Christian society, to a modern audience they were also historically distant, emotionally neutral and even ridiculous when presented literally. But DeMille never attempted any humanity or realism in his features, instead turning the remote, mythical nature of the stories into a virtue, portraying his subject matter with a kind of dignity and grace. Of course most ancient world epics do this to some extent, but DeMille did it the most effectively because he never demanded that the audience sympathise with the characters, merely that we marvel at their deeds.

Specifically, DeMille composes the picture with overstated gesturing and painterly tableau, like a Gustave Dore print come to life. This is combined with the vivid colours of a bible stories illustration, coded with drab shades for humbleness and virtue, garish ones for extravagance and sin. Throughout, DeMille's flair for dreamlike, rhythmic motion keeps the images flowing, most notably in the establishing tracking shot at the wedding feast - although if you watch closely you'll see one of the two men engaged in a mock swordfight is actually camply slapping his opponent with a feather duster.

And DeMille was perhaps unique in that he even used the imagery to turn God into a character. You can see from one of his much earlier religious pictures, 1929's The Godless Girl, that DeMille associated God with natural beauty, and in Samson and Delilah God makes several key "appearances" as a breathtaking skyscape. This touch would be expanded upon in the 1956 version of Ten Commandments.

It's a pity DeMille didn't associate God with good acting, because even the theatrical presentation on offer here could do with at least some half-decent hamming. The trouble is DeMille chose his actors for their physicality, not for their ability to qualify their job description. In this respect Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr are natural choices. DeMille's business associate Henry Wilcoxon, whom the director unbelievably used to cast in lead roles, is as wooden as ever, and the somewhat hit-and-miss Angela Lansbury, misses this time. The only standout is George Sanders who proves, just as Herbert Marshall did in DeMille's Four Frightened People, that bad dialogue becomes bearable if you underplay it.

Fortunately when it came to crew DeMille always procured the best. Samson and Delilah boasts Oscar-winning costumes and art direction from no less personages than Edith Head and Hans Dreier respectively. The Technicolor cinematography is great, with some remarkably clear night time shots. Some of the effects may be a little dubious; whenever Victor Mature lifts up something heavy it's obvious it's being hoisted from offscreen, and that woolly-rug/lion tamer scene is actually betrayed by bad editing, but overall this is a solid, high-quality production.

Yes, Samson and Delilah is as corny as anything, but it looks great, and above all it entertains. Don't be too harsh on DeMille's staginess or his archaic moralism, for as his willing appearance as himself in Sunset Boulevard proves, he probably didn't have a sense of irony. And his earnestness was probably his greatest asset.

I first saw this as a kid in the early 80s n was blown away by the lion fight sequence n the climax scene of that of Dagon's towering idol.

Saw many times aft that n coincidentally revisited it again on this Easter (04/04/21).

This one is a classic action movie n i still found it very captivating.

The film was very violent for its times. Samson using a jawbone of a donkey to crush skulls like eggs thru helmets is very brutal.

The film's special effects are noteworthy and the most spectacular special effect in the film is the toppling of the temple of Dagon.

Yeah...so some people may think it's corny and outdated. However, there is something about this movie, in spite of some of the poorer technical gimmicks...yet I still love it. I think that Lamarr does a great job as Delilah and don't understand why some think otherwise.I think she is/was the perfect Delilah..and Mature did a great job as Samson. Sanders was really terrific in his role and Lansbury carried out her part very well also. Call it what you will..but I find it is still worth watching; the color, costumes, Samson knocking down the Temple.. (love that scene!Good special effects for the time.) Whatever it is..I find myself watching it every now and then and still enjoy it as much as when I first saw it..

Even after considering that this Cecil B. DeMille Biblical epic was produced in 1949 and is therefore over fifty years old, this film works poorly from a dramatic sense. I've rated it a 4 out of 10: although the film falls short on many vitally important points, much of the fault lies within the conventions of the epic genre, rather than this specific film itself.

In context, this is one of DeMille's early attempts at the full colour sound spectacle picture. Three years later, he could have shot it in CinemaScope, so in some respects, this was a film before its time: widescreen would have added to the sense of spectacle, which is the main thing going for it, apart from a staged and frigid sex-appeal.

DeMille's silent "Ten Commandments", made nearly thirty years earlier, which intertwined both biblical story and modern narrative, holds up far better today than this poorly conceived outing into Bible-land voyeurism.

The script is the birth place of most pictures: here, the script is the film's death. It's overly melodramatic, with totally forgettable lines delivered with the dramatic tension of a Saturday afternoon visit to the local shopping mall. The film has no discernible sub-text; no inner tension. Victor Mature might be a good choice for an amateur passion play, but on film he looks and acts like a human ox. To say that he actually "acts" at all is an exaggeration. He plods through his allotted scenes in an emotionally wooden trance. John Wayne would have made a more convincing Sampson, with his American drawl adding spice. Hedy Lamarr does look good on screen, but there were plenty other Hollywood Female Philistines available, and her performance and screen presence is good, but not earth-shakingly so.

Most of the film is photographed in shadowless high contrast colour: the only relief we get is when the film is shot through gauze defusing screens and curtains, which Lamarr has to put in place herself, even the stagehands having presumably gotten bored of yet another scene of Lamarr's posturing by this time.

Most of all, one has to wonder if the film is somewhat hypocritical. Billed as a biblical epic, most of the film is comprised of full shots of the pair doting on each other with as much lasciviousness as was allowable in the period. DeMille does not want us to forget that he's got a Very Beautiful Woman signed for this picture, and shows her off to best effect whenever he can, in as many scanty costumes as possible, with the hint of nipples showing whenever he can. Yet, as is to be expected from DeMille, we aren't given close-ups; no reaction shots (there's pretty little to react to) and dramatic moments are lost. Example: the hair cutting scene simply does not exist. Instead, DeMille cuts to a five-second sunrise instead, and then, guess what, the Philistine's are upon a shawn Sampson! I can only think that when DeMille shouted, "The cut goes here", editor Anne Bauchens thought it was an instruction to her, not Delilah. As for Sampson, he is portrayed as witless rather than morally weak. There must have been more to this character – after all, he was a judge over Israel for twenty years.

The theme of 'power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely' could have made a relevant sub-text, but no, this is box-office entertainment sold on the back of a biblical narrative. This lack of depth - and not the acres of flesh - is what I question most about this film. DeMille has cloaked himself around religion, simply, in my opinion, in order to indulge his voyeuristic fantasies and still be called righteous.

There are lots of lessons to be learnt from this film. For all the tacky and unconvincing set design, (despite an Ocar); loud costumes (despite the other Oscar) and the ham acting, at least technically George Barnes' cinematography is very consistent and carefully controlled; and Bauchens' editing proficiently seamless (despite crossing the action line at least once) – but the entire production lacks creative imagination. There is no evidence that the idea of character development ever once crossed Cecil B. DeMille's mind. However, thinking back to 1949, the world was recovering from a savage war, and perhaps western audiences needed to be bathed in colourful escapism for two hours.

Although I've unashamedly panned this film, I still believe it should be watched and studied closely today. It is part of movie-making history, and deserves more analysis than these brief words can hope to achieve. If the film worked for audiences in its time, then we need to find out why and how, and learn from these lessons. On the plus-side, the unobtrusive, Oscar-nominated musical score by Victor Young and the Holy Land location shots by Dewey Wrigley, are both elements of the picture that work flawlessly well. Also, despite its ridiculously abrupt end, the film does improve toward the last act.

DeMille was, above all else, a consummate storyteller, and I'm aware of the need to see this picture on the big screen in a good print for it to be fully appreciated. I could even be persuaded to like it quite a lot more, once I see it as it was meant to be shown. With a supposed "adult" theme, is the picture suitable for children? It is the tamest thing going, but the real question is how any child would be persuaded to sit down to watch without walking out or falling asleep after ten minutes. For the rest of us, however, "Sampson and Delilah" did give the male population of its time a legitimate opportunity to watch a beautiful woman strut her stuff on the big screen in glorious Technicolor without risking the wrath of wives or girlfriends afterwards. On that level, perhaps this is the film's main redeeming feature. After all, who ever got told off for going to church?

This film is a must for everyone who loves Technicolor, great actors and great movies. Mature is a wonderful Samson but Hedy Lamarr is the definitive incarnation of beauty. She is also a very good actress and directed by De Mille gets her screen triumph. Watch this over and over again and you'll not be tired.

Spectacular hokey Bible epic produced and directed by the great Cecil B Mille concerning about Samson (Victor Mature won the role over Burt Lancaster) and Delilah (Hedy Lamarr , among most serious candidates for the role were Jean Simmons , Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth) who plans to seduce him into revealing his secret and then to betray him to the Philistine leader, the Saran (George Sanders) , as she robs Samson his incredible strength . The story of Samson from chapters 13-16 of The Book of Judges , but being based on a novel titled "Judge and Fool, aka Samson the Nazarite, Samson & Prelude to Delilah" . As it is the pattern throughout the book of Judges , the Israelites again turned away from God after 40 years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan and were allowed to be oppressed by the neighboring Midianites , Amalekites and Philistines . According to the biblical account , Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies Philistines ,and perform heroic feats such as killing a lion , slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass, and destroying a pagan temple . Samson had two vulnerabilities, however : his attraction to untrustworthy women such as Delilah and his hair, without which he was powerless . These vulnerabilities ultimately proved fatal for him. One day the Philistine leaders assembled in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, one of their most important deities, for having delivered Samson into their hands. They summon Samson so that people can gather on the roof to watch. Once inside the temple, Samson, his hair having grown long again, asks the servant who is leading him to the temple's central pillars if he may lean against them . He pulled the two pillars together , and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people . Thus he killed many more as he died than while he lived .

¨Samson and Dalilah¨ remains an enjoyable and entertaining picture with great camp performances that still looks fine today . This dumb but fun film contains breathtaking outdoors and indoors , a lot of extras and with glorious paper-Maché sets on the temple of Dagon ; in fact , it was far and away the top-grossing film of 1949 . Victor Mature is surprisingly nice as Samson along with a young Angela Lansbury as Semadar and a cynical Saran of Gaza well incarnated by George Sanders . Victor Mature as Sansone or Samson is acceptable though his famous fight against a philistine army is hopelessly phony . For the scene in which Samson kills the lion , Victor Mature refused to wrestle a tame movie lion . The scene shows a stunt man wrestling the tame lion, intercut with closeups of Mature wrestling a lion skin . Hedy Lamarr supplies biggest surprise by playing a tempter and beautiful vixen Delilah . Being a lavish production here appears several actors usual from Hollywoood pictures such as Cecil B DeMille's long-time associated Henry Wilcoxon , Julia Faye , Fay Holden , Moroni Olsen , Mike Mazurski , George Reeves and a sympathetic boy , Russ Tamblyn , as Saul . Spectacular and climactic sequences in the Temple of Dagon , it took two tries to bring it down . During the first time, some of the dynamite charges in the miniature temple failed to go off on schedule , as the temple had to be rebuilt, and the second attempt was more successful. Colorful and luxurious cinematography by usual Hollywood director of photography George Barnes . Victor Young's lush background music, nominated for an Academy Award in the competition for 1950, would become his penultimate best-score recognition .

The motion picture was realized in Cecil B DeMille's ordinary style ; with a $28 million gross domestically , the film was Paramount's biggest hit since DeMille's silent version of Ten commandments (1923). Cecil produced and directed 70 films and was involved in many more . Many of his films were romantic sexual comedies , as he is supposed to have believed that Americans were curious only about money and sex . His best-known were biblical epics that further established him as the symbol of Hollywood such as King of Kings (1927), The ten Commandments (1923) , The Crusades (1935) and , of course , Charlton Heston's Ten commandments (1956).

Other films about this Biblic figure are the followings : ¨Gedeon and Samson¨ (1965) by Francisco Perez Dolz with Anton Geesink and Rosalba Neri ; Samson and Delilah (1984) by Lee Philips with Anthony Hamilton , Belinda Bauer , Max Von Sidow ; Samson and Delilah (1996) by Nicolas Roeg with Eric Thal , Elizabeth Hurley , Dennis Hooper ; Samson et Dalila (2002) with Plácido Domingo and Olga Borodina .

I've seen this movie many times. It is not extraordinary in any technical manner; the magic it weaves, is about the the stars, Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature. Hedy Lamarr absolutely was a fantastic choice for this role. Imagine Betty Hutton playing Delilah; yes folks, it almost happened, and I am sure the movie would turned out to be absolutely ridiculous. Paramount did not spend big bucks for this movie, this is quite obvious; but with Lamarr as Delilah and Mature's Samson, this became a major example star-power. George Sanders won the acting laurels here. He was the quintessential powerful man; who understood that he could never completely dominate Delilah. Angela Lansbury was O.K., in a minor role. Edith Head effectively designed the costumes for Hedy; sexy, but not overwhelming (think Irene Shariff's over the top designs for Liz Taylor in Cleopatra). Hedy was sultry, sexy in a subtle and an utterly believable way; Mature was strong, the epitome of masculine strength, and totally confident that he could control and have his way with any woman. If Paramount and DeMille had agreed to add at least $1-2,000,000 to the budget; I think the film would have even been a bigger blockbuster than it was. Folks, this films was among the top five moneymakers, after its first release. Only Gone With The Wind, The Best Years of Our Lives, Duel In The Sun, and maybe Snow White. As of 1/51, S&D was in the top money-makers of all time. Pretty good for a half-bakrd effort and investment from Paramount and DeMille. Lamarr+Mature = 9/10, in my book.

It's 1000BC. Samson (Victor Mature) is a Danite Hebrew in the village of Zorah under the domineering rule of the Philistines. Samson is in love with Semadar (Angela Lansbury) from a wealthy Philistine family. Her younger sister Delilah (Hedy Lamarr) is infatuated with the brute. He kills a lion with his bare hands while with Delilah but Lord Saran (George Sanders) doesn't believe them. He is awarded a hunter's prize after beating Garmiskar in wrestling, but he takes Semadar's hand in marriage instead. Semadar was originally promised to Ahtur (Henry Wilcoxon) and he's not happy. Ahtur brings his 30 warriors to the wedding. Samson has a riddle and makes a bet for 30 cloaks with Ahtur. The jealous Delilah pushes Ahtur, and he frightens Semadar into betraying Samson. Samson robs passing Philistines to pay the debt, but Delilah's scheming isn't finished. She convinces her father to marry Semadar off to Ahtur while trying to get Samson for herself. It all crumbles as Samson battles Ahtur and his 30 men. Samson escapes but Semadar is killed. He burns everything down and Delilah vows vengeance against Samson.

The Technicolor looks brilliant. There is a nice stunt wrestling a real lion early on. Of course, Victor Mature is wrestling a stuffed lion. He is a big guy and he plays Samson as a self assured brute. The acting is not subtle. Hedy Lamarr is playing the vixen for all her worth. Her acting is extremely broad. This is a grand epic from Cecil B. DeMille. It's all very old fashion in everything from tone to style to acting. I doubt that I should count that against it. It is simply an epic of a compelling biblical story.

Hedy Lamarr was the most beautiful woman in films. Her ability as an actress was limited, but as a femme fatale, capable of bringing down a mighty warrior, she certainly was convincing to me. The fact that Samson fell for Angela Langsbury, in the first place, was laughable. Victor Mature was a good choice, for the part of Samson. George Sanders gave the best performance; he simply had no peer, when it came to playing sophisticated, world-weary, men of wisdom. Compare this role to his part in Rebecca, All About Eve, and you'll see what I mean. Again, just watching Hedy Lamarr, is like watching a beautiful work of art. Entertaining, old fashion Hollywood stuff. They don't make them like this anymore, and there certainly is no contemporary beauty that comes close to Hedy Lamarr.

In the line of the Cecil B. de Mille's biblical epics, "Samson and Delilah" tells the story of the strong Hebrew judge that fought his people's oppressors. No doubt that de Mille's usual luxurious and expensive touch is in this film and it is clear once more that the man didn't care about expenses whenever he entered a project and so the movie doesn't lack a sense of greatness and spectacle.

The special effects are excellent for 1949, mainly the final sequences when a blind Samson demolishes the pagan temple with the only strength of his arms. There is also a fine musical score by Victor Young.

Though not too gifted when it came to acting Hedy Lamarr was indeed a beautiful woman and she comes out acceptably as the treacherous Delilah. Victor Mature (Samson) -a good choice as for his physical presence- overacts as he usually did, most noticeably in the action sequences in which he doesn't look too comfortable. George Sanders brings an interesting performance as the "Saran" carrying the role of a ruler with dignity and class, and a young Angela Lansbury is good as Delilah's sister Semadar, "Samson and Delilah" turns out as an entertaining and watchable film in its genre though, in my opinion, inferior to the almost contemporary "Quo Vadis" by Mervin Leroy or de Mille's later product "The Ten Commandments" in which he was aided by an all star cast.

Cecil B. DeMille produces and directs and four writers are credited with adapting the story from the Holy Bible and the book "Judge & Fool" written by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It stars Hedy Lamarr (Delilah), Victor Mature (Samson), George Sanders (Saran of Gaza) & Angela Lansbury (Semadar).

Late to the party in terms of classic DeMille historical recreations, Samson & Delilah made four times its budget back in the day but now plays out as an agonising chore to get thru. There's no doubting the high production value on offer, every dollar is right up there on the screen. The color is pure joy and the sets, costumes, photography, score and even the effects are worthy of a viewing. But notably for a film that was nominated for 5 Academy awards, none of the actors were considered. Understandably because quite simply some of the performances are as wooden as the sets that dwarf their very frames.

Sanders does a nice enough line in snarly villainy, but Lamarr and Mature are dreadful. The former is gorgeous, and the latter is built like a temple, but in a film that involves much (and I mean much) standing around posturing and musing about the pitfalls of life, they fail to convince and at times look like they are reading from an auto-cue. Lansbury can be forgiven since she's actually not in it long enough but DeMille doesn't have the luxury of that excuse. He was a master at dealing with crowd scenes, but his action construction here is poor. The Samson/Lion fight is as notoriously bad as you have heard, while the "jawbone of an ass" fight as Samson way-lays the Philistine army comes off like a Laurel & Hardy bonk on the head skit.

The paying public back on its release suggests otherwise, and yes the final "walls come tumbling down" sequence does stir the blood, but the good points are very much swamped by the bad. A poor movie all told that is like opening a sparkling jewel box only to find a gum-ball ring awaits your pleasure. 3/10

When Hedy Lamarr heard that Demille was making this film, she went to him and demanded the role, telling him: I AM Delilah. He obviously agreed and anyone who has seen Samson and Delilah would have to agree too. Every other actor here is playing a role, no matter how capably (though why Demille kept on using Wilcoxon in leading roles remains a mystery to me), but Hedy disappears completely into Delilah and captivates us in every scene she appears in.

And not even an AA nomination for Best Actress! As much as I loved Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (who won the Oscar that year), her performance does not compare with Hedy's becoming of Delilah. The moguls of her day must have felt so threatened by her. If only there were others in Hollywood in that paranoic era who could have harnessed her extraordinary powers as they deserved.

And what about the lion fight! Never have I seen the love and trust between a wild animal and its trainer (a remarkably similar stand-in for Mature) better exhibited than in this film. Not even The Bear surpasses it, despite its far more sophisticated filming techniques. Almost unbelievable and yet so much more impressive than all the CGI-generated impossibilities that are supposed to astound us in modern films. There is no technological substitute for the impact of extraordinary human talent, no matter how primitively recorded on film. (Mature, by the way, refused to go anywhere near the lion, doing some necessary "face shots" while pretending to grapple with a lion skin instead.)

And yet today some 70 years later, the Academy still overlooks the extraordinary contributions of stunt people!

It is fascinating to speculate how little would need to change in the dialogue of these characters to make Delilah's role a celebration of the power of modern woman. The concept of Samson supporting Delilah is, of course, never considered by the movie's makers, nor the story's original writer, but oh what worlds that couple could have conquered if Hedy's Delilah could only have been seen for who she really was.

A mighty creation by DeMille, drawing out his leads to the utmost of their powers, and the mightiest performance ever by Lamarr.

Cecil B. DeMille started setting BIBLE stories to film after WWII and this is one of the most intriguing tales from that set of cinematic productions. But, unless you're a kid or with kids or can get yourself into a kid-like mindset (the special effects are great) Hedy Lamarr is the reason to see this film. She was probably the most beautiful Delilah in Hollywood at the time. But, because of the sexist patriarchy which ruled (rules?) Hollywood, her very great intelligence was completely overlooked. Hedy was a math and science genius. She's credited with inventing a torpedo guidance system for the Allies in the early days of WWII, the fundamental scientific merits of which are still being mined today. Do a Google search on her and find out for yourself. In a way like Marilyn Monroe, Hedy was underrated by the philistines who surrounded her, but at least we can still look at her sensual beauty and dream of what could have been.