L'esclave du pharaon

The first Italian movie by Irving Rapper.

The screenplay is rather faithful to Genesis ,which is much to the credit of the movie.Only Joseph and Benjamin are true brothers ,both Rachel's children, whereas the others share the same father with other mothers .

All that you learn in Sunday school is included: the brothers ' jealousy (which was justified,the Holy Writ tells us so -the robe-)Joseph's dream in which his brothers bow to him ,his interpretation of dreams which made him pharaoh's adviser ,and the coming of his family in Egypt.

Robert Morley is the stand out of a rather faceless cast:his tongue in chick playing works wonders in the scene of the slaves market .Putiphar and his wife are given more importance than in the Good Book .The hunting (in the jungle,with black warriors) becomes ridiculous.The opening of the floodgates so that the enemy gets drowned is a (very) poor man's "ten commandments" .The little arithmetic problem of the fifteen sheep is probably not a good way to introduce Joseph (generally,this little riddle concerns camels).

That said,this is an entertaining flick,in which you will not feel God's inspiration,and emotion is terribly lacking when Joseph meets again his bros ,but it is certainly not worse than the other Italian Peplums of the era.

In the wake of the adoption of the Widescreen process and the consequent increase in popularity of the Biblical subgenre within the realm of the Epic, stories from the Old and New Testament became a much-raided Hollywood commodity during the 1950s and 1960s. It was only a matter of time before the ultra-Catholic Italians got onto the bandwagon and grew another branch into their own in-house brand of the epic that was renamed the peplum.

As would eventually became the custom, veteran Hollywood film-makers – among them Frank Borzage, Raoul Walsh, Jacques Tourneur and Edgar G. Ulmer – were engaged to supervise the production of these cheaper Italian epics and so it is that Irving Rapper – best-known for the schmaltzy but solid Bette Davis vehicles NOW, VOYAGER (1942) and DECEPTION (1946) – became involved with bringing to the big-screen the story of Joseph; subsequently, he would be employed in a similar capacity on PONTIUS PILATE (1962). While the co-director here was one Luciano Ricci – who would later (under the alias of Herbert Wise) be the officially credited director of THE CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1964) despite the reported intervention of two others! – the actors who came on board Joseph AND HIS BRETHREN were far better known. Chief among them were Robert Morley (ludicrously hamming it up as Potiphar) and genre staple Finlay Currie (as a dignified Jacob), while the younger roles were entrusted to an eclectic bunch: Geoffrey Horne (in the title role), Belinda Lee (as Potiphar’s deceitful wife, she featured in several of these Italian cheapies and would eventually die tragically within a year in a road accident), Arturo Domenici (as Potiphar’s ambitious counsellor), Terence Hill (as Joseph’s younger brother Benjamin) and Dante Di Paolo (as the main schemer among Joseph’s jealous brothers).

One may wonder why I’m talking about everything else but the film and, unfortunately, that’s because it is no great shakes. While the story was good enough to be remade thrice on celluloid – as a 1974 TV movie by Michael Cacoyannis, yet again for TV in 1995 and as a Dreamworks animated feature in 2000 – not to mention revamped as a musical extravaganza on the stage, the version under review is dreary, dull and unmemorable. Small wonder, then that the film has fallen into public domain and is available on various budget DVDs in an English-dubbed, pan-and-scan, washed out print which further serves to alienate the viewer.

This movie gives insight into life as seen by Joseph. From his father's favorite son. To beaten and left for dead, captured and sold into slavery. But Joseph was a wise man. He deciphered dreams, made wine, saves lives with medical wisdom. Lived life in a dungeon but rose to become second in command in Egypt. This is the story of how you can rise up and prosper if you are kind and intelligent.

So you're watching that old classic Bridge On the River Kwai, and begin to wonder what ever happened to Geoffrey Horne, the young male lead who holds his own against such top talents as Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa? One might figure that with a blockbuster like that behind you, any actor ought to be able to move on to major work. Didn't happen in this case, and while Horne has had a long history of small roles in both movies and TV, he only received the lead in one movie that was released to theatres in the U.S., and it's a pretty bad one at that. He's Joseph, the lad whose father gave him a coat of many colors, in this miniscule 'epic' that tried to find a place for itself at a time when Biblical films were huge at the box office - Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Barabbas, King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, etc. etc. Don't expect the kind of sweeping vistas, spectacular action, and attention to period detail here that you do in any of those. An Italian-American co-production, this does benefit from Robert Morley doing his plump/effete bit as a cruel slave holder and the sadly forgotten Belinda Lee (she died young in a car accident) as that man's gorgeous, sexually frustrated wife who throws herself at the slave Joseph. The entire Biblical story is told, dreams and all, but its a paint by numbers, run of the mill job, without so much as decent pacing much less good dialogue. What might have helped immensely is if the brothers had been developed as individuals rather than reduced to a mere mob. Too bad, because here's a story worth telling - and, from the evidence in Kwai, there was an actor worth developing!

The Biblical story of Joseph , beloved son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham , who rose to become Prime Minister of Egypt . Joseph : Geoffrey Horne, was sold to slavery by his brothers : Judah, Dan Reuben, Zebulon, Simeon,.. played by Helmuth Schneider, Dante Di Paolo , Manetto, Charles Borromel... , they were jealous of his abilitites and of being their father's favorite. As they seize him, tear off his coat and throw him into a dry well and the following day he is given to traders on their way o Egypt . As Joseph is sold as a slave to Pothiphar : Robert Morley , the Pharaoh's Prime Minister. His prophetic abilities and highly productive skill win his master's trust and he is appointed as Steward of Pothiphar 's household. One day, he is seduced by Pothiphar' s wife , Belinda Lee , who orders to give her pleasure, but Joseph rejects her. The desesperate woman seeks vengeance and accuses him of violation . Joseph is locked and in prison he prophetizes the future by interpreting the dark dreams. As Joseph describes the famous dream about seven fat cows and seven thin cows . As Joseph is summoned by Pharaoh and predicts the dreams that after 7 years of plentiful harvest, Egypt will suffer 7 years of starvation. Convinced , the Pharaoh appoints Joseph as his main chancellor , and , subsequently , he takes an attractive Egyptian girl : Vira Silenti , as his wife .

Biblic story in medium budget imitating the American Colossal but made in Peplum style. This old Testament story is decently told, though it has some flaws and gaps, taking parts here and there of the known story about Joseph who was sold into slavery and after governing Egypt during seven-year famine ; while his brothers go to the country seeking grain only to encounter their brother who they had long presumed dead .The picture offers enjoyable messages about forgiveness, fraternity , compassion , brotherhood , and redemption . It stars Geoffrey Horne who gives an average acting as the good son whose brothers become increasingly resentful of their dad's preference of Joseph . Horne had a brief cinematic career including titles as Bridge on the River Kwai , 3 implacables , Tempest and Bonjour Tristesse. He is accompanied by two Hollywood actors , Robert Morley and Finlay Currie who played various various Colossal, epic and Biblical film. Along with a lot of Italian secondaries as Arturo Dominici, Vira Silenti ,Charles Borromel, Dante Di Paolo and a young Terence Hill as the youngest brother Benjamin. And the beautiful British girl Belinda Lee who a bit later on she died by car accident at 25.

It contains an evocative and atmospheric musical score Mario Nascimbene. And colorful and shining cinematography by Riccardo Pallotini. The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Luciano Ricci and Irving Rapper. The Italian Luciano directed a few films as Alone against Rome, and Castle of Living dead. While the American Irving Rapper was a veteran Hollywood director and producer who directed films from all kinds of genres , such as : The brave one , Forever female , Deception , Rhapsody in blue , Another man's person , The corn is Green , Adventures of Mark Twain , among others . There is another rendition about these events : ¨Joseph¨(1995) TV version by Roger Young with Paul Mercurio as Joseph , Ben Kingsley , Lesley Ann-Warren and Martin Landau as Jacob .