Suez

The history and the practical solutions for the building of the Suez Canal are brought to light in this lavish production of Suez. Tyrone Power is perfect casting for this role, and his romantic interest is the Canal, itself. The rest of the cast, however, does a very good job supporting Power. The Egyptian Prince who is a real softie, befriends Power and eventually gets him permission to build the Canal in Egypt. The only sticking point are the Ottoman Turks, who oppose the building of the Canal for political reasons. A good biopic for late at night.

Biopic upon Ferdinand de Lesseps : Tyrone Power who built the famous canal from Port Said to Suez . It is inspired by real events, being freely adapted by screenwriter Philip Dunne taking some actual facts here and there. It deals with Lesseps , his lovers : Loretta Young , Annabella , and his relationship with historical people as Napoleon III : Leon Ames , Benjamin Disraeli : Miles Mander , Gladstone : George Zucco, Egyptian Sultan : J Edward Bromberg, among others . He changed the map of the World!

This is a stirring and interesting saga about one of the world's most astonishing engineering achievements , dealing with a brave Man of two loves and one mighty deed . Well handling the human drama along with historic happenings , though director is partially unable -undeed unwiling- to combine both strands of his story in contrast to filmmakers as William Wyler , Raoul Walsh , King Vidor or Anthony Mann. In fact , Suez is a series of moving events and unfortunate incidents unconnected by dramatic urgency . In the film appears various historical characters , being well played , such as : Napoleon III : Leon Ames , his wife the Spanish Eugenia de Montijo : Loretta Young , Prime Ministers Gladstone : George Zucco and Benjamin Disraeli : Miles Mander. Adding other notorious secondaries and familiar faces : Nigel Bruce , J Edward Bromberg , Joseph Schildkraut , Henry Stephenson , Sidney Blackmer, Rafaela Ottiano and Sig Ruman . The action/disaster sequences are competently assured without ever going over the top. They are some impressive escenarios, as well as spectacular set pieces , including rocks falling, catastrophes , wild thunders causing destruction , wreck havoc and chaos on the monumental construction that are the highlights of the movie , but marred by excessive matte-painting.

The motion picture was well directed by Allan Dwan, it has virtues and some flaws, too. In his films Allan Dawn is compellingly concerned with the modest virtues of fairness and honesty , he was a prolific artisan, shooting all kinds of genres with penchant for western and adventure, such as : Enchanted island, The Restless Breed , Escape to Burma , Pearl of the South Pacific , Tennesse's Partner , Cattle Queen Montana , Passion , Silver Lode , Montana Belle , Northwest Outpost , Around the World, Young People, The Gorilla, The Three Musketeers , Heidi , Manhandled , The Iron Mask, Robin Hood , and many others . Rating 6.5/10 , decent historical/adventure/drama .

This is a very solid 20th Century Fox/Tyrone Power epic film. While not the best Power ever did, it is still very good and worth seeing. Plus, it gives people a chance to see the real-life Mrs. Power, actress Annabella. Rarely do you get a chance to see actors starring with their wives. The film score, sets, direction and script are all very good--though perhaps a little too much emphasis is placed on romance. Oh well, perhaps that's what you get for putting your wife in the film (just kidding). After you see this film, you might also then try watching the movie DISRAELI, so you can find out that just a few years after the French almost single-handedly built the canal, the British swooped in and obtained a 50% interest! Now that's cheeky!

Enjoyable on every level, Tyrone Power is magnificent. Intriguing storyline rooted in history...they don't make 'em like this anymore! The cinematography is ahead of its time, the actors are perfect for their roles and the movie itself is timeless. If you are a Tyrone Power fan you will not be disappointed in this film. It's hard to find, but worth it if you can find it. I didn't think I would enjoy a movie from the 30's as I'm more a fan of the 40's and above, but once I started watching this film I couldn't look away. Of course, the fact that it's Tyrone Power and he's the most striking looking man of his time doesn't hurt either!

In "Suez" a lot of Americans pretend to be a lot of Frenchmen, or maybe just plain old 'foreigners', as they often did on the big screen. This 1938 20th Century Fox picture might qualify as an epic; it's certainly a very handsome, prestige production directed by Allan Dwan with Darryl F. Zanuck producing. As you may or may not guess from the title it's the story of how the Suez Canal came into being with Tyrone Power as Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who came up with the idea of a passage to link the seas of the East with the Mediterranean.

The large cast also includes Loretta Young as the Empress Eugenie, Leon Ames as Napoleon III and such stalwarts as Joseph Schildkraut, Henry Stephenson, Sig Ruman, Nigel Bruce and George Zucco. For a touch of authenticity the French actress Annabella was cast as the French girl Ty falls for out in Egypt. The Egyptian 'locations' were mostly shot in Arizona and California but an excessive use of sand helps us suspend our disbelief. It's also surprisingly entertaining and Power was as handsome here as he ever was on screen. A swan-necked Loretta Young also manages to live up to her given title as 'the most beautiful woman in Europe'. A huge hit in its day and a great way to pass a dull Saturday afternoon.