Erode il grande

This has all the makings of a great story - the legendary Herod the Great, a twist of Anthony and Cleopatra and some good, old fashioned, court intrigue... What we get, however, is a poorly constructed sword and sandals offering featuring some rather poor performances from Edmund Purdom in the title role and Sylvia Lopez as his Queen "Mariam". It's actually fairly accurate - historically speaking - but the execution is so haphazard and lacklustre that it soon becomes quite an effort to watch, and it's equivalent of the 'Dance of the 7 Veils" is a distinctly wooden effort. The staging and costumes are efficient, and had the cast and writing been just a little stronger then this could have been good... but it wasn't/isn't.

When Marco Antonio is defeated by his enemies, his former allied King Herod of Judea (Edmund Purdom) travels to convince Augustus to support his government by the Romans. He makes his chief commander and friend Aaron (Alberto Lupo) swear that he would kill his beloved Queen Miriam (Sylvia Lopez) if he died. When Herod is arrested by the Romans, one of his men returns to Judea and lies, telling that he was killed by the Romans. However Aaron is not able to keep his promise and Miriam stays alive. When Herode returns to his palace, his son Antipater, poisons Herode with the lie that Aaron has betrayed him and had an affair with Miriam. The madness of Herode destroys his friends and his kingdom.

"Erode il grande" is a good epic of betrayal and revenge in a nest of snakes. The theatrical performance of Edmund Purdom is very exaggerated and quite ridiculous in the love scenes with Sylvia Lopez, but in the rest of the movie he works well. The character of Antipater seems to be inspired in Iago of Shakespeare's Othello. Unfortunately the DVD released in Brazil by the distributor London Films is horribly dubbed in English, and the quality of the image is awful. But this movie is a worthwhile entertainment if the viewer disregard the previously mentioned problems. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Herodes o Grande" ("Herode The Great")

As with almost every Sword and Sandals movie, you get some historical thing or figure and than the movie runs with it. In this case it does not take it and runs completely away with it, which has been the case before. No it does stay in a timeline that is quite close to History.

Having said that, do not take anything that happens at face value. This is her to entertain and while the 60s proved to be filled even more with Sword and Sandals in Italy, this has the formula/bluepring down

A lazy and failed Italian peplum of the fifties.

The film is inspired by the sadly famous king of Judea Herod the Great, considered a villain in the gospels for being responsible for the massacre of the innocent saints, although some historians question the truth of these events.

Regarding the film the figure of Herod, here is embodied by the Englishman Edmund Purdom, who gives presence to the character but who never manages to give true intensity to his interpretation. The same goes for the rest of the cast who fail to emerge in their characters by offering soulless and passionless performances.

Although it may seem so. This is not a biography of the mythical king, because he does not pay attention to his work as a builder and the prosperity that he brought to the Jewish people but that the film focuses only on his family dramas, there is hardly any action his always complicated relations with Octavio are touched superficially and it has become tedious and uninteresting for a historical figure that gave more of itself.

Their photography costumes and decorations recreated with some luxury are saved.

Otherwise a forgettable film.

Thank you.,

The story is about King Herod and his love for his Queen Mariam.

It has been a while since I read Josephus and his account of Herod, but I will assume the movie follows Josephus' storyline to some degree. In the last ten minutes, a little subplot taken from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew is added. In it Herod orders the killing of a brat born in Bethlehem. Oddly, according to the movie, King Herod only ordered the killing of the new born babies because he was so distaught that Mariam did not love him anymore.

There are some nice sets and costumes, but nothing really spectacular here. There are no real battles or sword fights, so action fans should stay away. This is a small cast with only a few dozen extras. It has more of an intimate stage play rather than an epic quality feeling.

The real reason to watch is the acting. Edmund Purdom is actually quite good as Herod. You actually do feel sorry for Herod at moments. Sylvia Lopez is extraordinary as Mariam. This and "Hercules Unchained" are basically the only known widely released movies she was in during her short three year movie career. If she had not died at 28, she might have been one of the great stars of the 60's. She kind of reminds me of Diane Cilento. She's more sexy than beautiful and she really dominates the screen. One can easily see why she drives Herod crazy.

If you're interested in 1st century B.C.E. Judean history, the movie is worth a look. Also if you want to see a beautiful young actress who died at the door to stardom in 1959, you should check it out.