Constantin le grand

This Italian production stars an American born in Hungary (Wilde), a German, and a Brit in key roles. American Cornell Wilde plays Constantine. Livia, a pious Christian woman loved by Constantine's friend Hadrian is played by German prodigy Christine Kauffman (at the age of 18, she was already a veteran). And the tragic British glamor- girl Belinda Lee plays Constantine's devoted wife Fausta (Lee died in a car crash shortly after this film was completed). The rest of the cast rounds out nicely with Italian actors, many of whom are quite good.

The subject matter is, ultimately, the story of Christianity's (really Eastern Orthodoxy) rise from an obscure, persecuted cult to one of Europe's dominant religions through its adoption by one of the great Byzantine Roman conquerors - Emperor Constantine. Those who are not interested in this ideologically and historically important subject should probably avoid this film, because it does, at times, move pretty slowly.

The story is epic and heroic following Constantine, Fausta, Hadrian and Livia from their young adulthood through to Constntine's rise to power and eventual unification of the empire. Constantine is depicted as a brilliant warrior, leader and strategist (which he certainly was) with stability and peace at the heart of his motivations (which is arguable). Much is left out of the story and much is changed. There is no clear indication of Constantine's formidable intellect and education, nor the ambiguity of his motives and alliances. Much of the complex intrigues of Constantine's times is ignored or altered in order to keep the story moving. Even so, the story can be a little hard to follow if you are not already familiar with the history.

The production is generally very good. The acting is fine, though Wilde and Lee are both a little stiff at times, and don't seem to have developed the chemistry appropriate for their roles. Christine Kauffman (Livia), and Fausto Tozzi (Hadrian) are excellent in their important supporting roles. The sets are great, though the occasional and unnecessary bird's eye views of Rome (a miniature) are a bit silly. the costumes are impressively detailed, and the battles are well choreographed and filmed - though it is sometimes hard to figure out what is going on in the battle scenes.

Considering the grand scale of the film, Constantine and the Cross is quite good. I enjoy historical fiction - even when it is more fiction than history - so - had I gone with my own personal enjoyment of this film, I would have given it a 7. It is a good effort to portray an important and under-examined subject. Well worth seeing by those interested in the history of religion, Christians, and movie fans who enjoy epic historical fiction.

Above average Italian sword and sandal:it is longer than the usual peplum (2 hours+),the settings are not cheap,and there's a solid American actor(and a director,one often forgets he made the memorable "naked prey"and the estimable "no blade of grass" )as the lead ,Cornel Wilde ,a Hollywood veteran ("leave her to Heaven" ,"Forever Amber","the greatest show on earth" and many more) .

Constantin's mother's destiny is not exactly what we see in the movie:she was not a highborn lady (an innkeeper's daughter) and Constantin was not estranged from her till his victory over Maxence;but the movie introduces her with taste .To keep a story-like side,the screenwriters invent the tale of two unfortunate lovers Adrian and Livia (the delicate Christine Kaufman who played opposite Steve Reeves in Bonnard/Leone's doomed "last days of pompei"(1959) in which she was ...a young Christian of course!) Wilde is a convincing Constantin,he gets good support from the rest of the cast ;this is neither "Spartacus" ,nor "Cleopatra " ,but as an entertaining epic ,that's still good value

The Roman empire took a time for the decadence and downfall , however during the fourth century it was a battleground for rival Caesars ; until Dioclecianus with the tetrarchy (two Augustus and two Caesars) imposed peace and order . Constantinus (Cornel Wilde) the Great (280-337 A.D.) was the first Christian emperor , he sets out to conquer the Roman Empire for Christianity , though his conversion was probably more a political deed than a theological . He was son of Constantinus Chlorus (Carlo Ninchi) and Helena (Elisa Cegani) , a fundamental supporter for Christians . He was married to Fausta (Belinda Lee) , emperor Maximiniano's daughter . Constantinus published the edict of Milan (313) which established the religious freedom and reunited the council of Nicea (325) prohibiting the paganism . Constantino assembled the Roman empire but is establishing Constantinople (Byzancio) as the new capital when started the Byzantine empire .

Cornel Wilde was an excellent Constantino confronting his rival Maxentius (Massimo Serato) and the remaining roman pagans . Belinda Lee (the next year she died in a car accident) as his wife Fausta is enticing and attractive . The highlights of the film are the one that Constantine saw the flaming cross in the heaven captioned ¨In this sign conquer¨ , the Christians martyrdom and , of course , the battle of the Mulvian Bridge where are shown spectacular combats . Enjoyable support cast by Christine Kauffman (Tony Curtis's wife) as a kind Christian , Massimo Serato y Fausto Tozzi (both of them were actors in ¨the Cid¨) . Awesome cinematography by Maximo Dallamano and atmospheric musical score by Mario Nascimbene . The motion picture is well directed by Lionello De Felice . The flick will appeal to sword and sandal genre fans .

It continues to amaze me that, to date, this is the only movie that has been made about a man who, quite literally, changed the world. The historical accuracy in this movie leaves much to be desired; Constantine's mothers name was Helena, he had several half siblings,he was married (or was at least sleeping with someone) before he met Fausta, as he already had a son, Crispus, when he married her, Licinius was Constantine's ally, not Maxentius', Galerius hated Constantine, and Maxentius drowned and was not cut down by Constantine. However, with all that said, the movie still does send the overall message that it was meant to send, even though it is definitely dated.Cornell Wilde did a fine job with the tools he was given, and the acting, on the whole, is satisfactory, especially in light of the fact that it was primarily an Italian movie with an Italian cast.The battle scenes are good, for their time, and the continuity and flow of the movie are acceptable. This is a good movie about a great man, a man who deserves to have a GREAT movie made about him (but definitely NOT by Oliver Stone!!!) This guy gave Christians the fundamentals of their religion as it is practiced today, changed forever the face of the greatest Empire on earth, moving it from West to East, established laws that are the basis of many of ours today, and may very well have found some of the most profound religious relics ever discovered by mankind (including the True Cross and the Spear of Destiny). At the same time he murdered his own son and wife (had Crispus strangled and Fausta suffocated in an overheated bath), and carved a bloody swath through Europe on his rise to the Imperial throne. A fascinating man who truly deserved the title Great. He deserves a new, Great remake of this flick (but this time let's stick a bit more closely to history-it really would make for a better story!).

This film must have been spectacular in its day, just like the Roman Empire. Now its saturated colors are faded, its panoramic vision compressed. Cornel Wilde is still a hunk, but an aging one, and it's hard to believe he was the educated, fluent in several languages and fussy about his roles actor from his performance here, delivering some of his lines just like John Wayne might have done. There are several hokey overview shots of Rome, which are really of the scale model version from the Museum of History of the City of Rome, but otherwise the sets, costumes and production is a lavish one. The final battle at the Milvian Bridge is endless (you know who is going to win), but thanks to this victory, Christianity directs the course of Western History.