Jules César conquérant de la Gaule

If Julius Caesar were to have had a publicist back in the day, he could have done worse than have had this created as an example of his military prowess. Cameron Mitchell plays the eponymous Roman autocrat who must rally his troops in the face of an open rebellion at the hands of Gaulish tribal leader Vercingetorix (Rik Battaglia). The story is a bit wobbly - there are some rather unnecessary romantic elements centring around his ward "Publia" (Raffaella Carrà) and the Queen of the Gauls "Astrid" (Dominique Wilms) which offers up a bit of feminine rivalry that doesn't work at all well, but the battle scenes are authentic enough and unlike so many films set around this time, the sets and look of the film come across as more genuine too. Buildings made of brick rather than marble, and the fight scenes more randomly staged (less choreographed) which all helps keep this flowing quite well. Sadly, the dubbing is largely out of synch, the editing seems more as if it had been hacked rather than cut and the budget doesn't quite facilitate the ambitions of director Nino Scolaro. Still, I didn't hate it and fans of the genre ought to get enough from the slightly overlong 1¾ hours to keep it interesting.

The script proudly reads :"from Julius Ceasar's "the Gauls war" but the plot is so far-fetched it can only have been intended as a joke.Sure,we know about Julius's frames of mind which begin and close the movie,but the rest of the story is business as usual.

Vercingetorix is an obscure historic character,only known by Ceasar's pieces of writing.So why not turning him into the movie's villain?Played by a mediocre actor,the Gallic chief looks like a comic strip baddie,lecherous,cruel and treacherous.On the other hand,Romans are noble,brave,loyal and virtuous.

The Alesia episode is completely false historically speaking:it was a very long siege and the director reduces it to a battle .Alesia was located on a hill,in the movie it's a plain.And I'm not sure Mark Antony was here.

But the Gallic had their revenge in 1963:Astérix was born.

This film renders the exploits of the famed Roman conqueror (generally depicted on-screen either via the Shakespeare play or the Cleopatra affair) routine through countless tortuous intrigues and, when they finally arrive, lifeless battle sequences (despite some gratuitous carnage in close-up, they're full of choppy stock footage and the moves of the various stuntmen/extras look all-too-obviously choreographed and, worse still, fake)! At the very least, however, the American star of this peplum – Cameron Mitchell, who made several of them during this era – delivers a thoughtful portrayal in the title role. The fact that this is cut-rate even for the modest standards usually set by the genre is borne out by its anonymous production values and supporting cast (other than Rik Battaglia, as a hammy villain bearing the unwieldy name of Vercingetorix, and future Italian TV personality Raffaella Carra', playing Caesar's young protégé); unfortunately, blonde Belgian beauty Dominique Wilms (as Battaglia's warrior lover) does not have near enough screen time to make up for these flaws

It concerns Julius Caesar and his famous existence on Gaul , including feats , fights , political events , betrayal , wars and lovers . Vercingetorix (Rik Battaglia) provokes a popular rebellion against Roman domination , he rallies his people and Gaul tribes when they are threatened by an army commanded by Julius Caesar (Cameron Mitchell) . Caesar asks for senator Pompeius (Carlo Tamberlani) to lead some troops for fighting the Barbarians . But Caesar's protégée (a very young Raffaela Carrá) is kidnapped by Vercingetorix and later on , her lover Claudius (Ivo Payer) is also taken prisoner . But they're freed by Queen Astrid (Dominic Wilms) . Although the deeds described are historically inaccurate , some events are vivid and authentic .

This is a fairly Sword and Sandals standard from the 60s . It's made middling scale with some spectacular scenes and in Peplum style . The action is regularly done and the story occasionally drags , however to be liked for Peplum's hardcore lovers . The motion picture was regularly directed by Americo Anton or Tanio Boccia . He directed some Spaghettis : Saguara , Kill or be Killed , Deadly Trackers and this Dio non paga il sabato (1967), but usually made Peplums, adventures and mini-epics , such as : Vendetta of Ivanhoe , La valle dell'eco tonante , Il dominatore del deserto , Maciste alla corte dello zar , I predoni della steppe , Sanson against pirates , Julio César,conqueror Gaul , Il trionfo di Maciste , Il conquistatore d'Orient , among others . Rating : 5/10 , mediocre .

The picture is partially based on real events . These are the following ones : Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix (dead at 46 b.c) was an insightful and valiant warrior , whose father was captured and executed by Romans , he was leader a rebellion against Roman domination . He seeks justice by winning freedom for Gaul from the Romans , and soon he raises an army of his own to defeat Caesar . Vercingetorix was definitely vanquished in Alesia , where took place a long siege . He was taken prisoner and led to Rome . Then he's coerced to a handcuffed parade throughout the Rome streets , being killed after six years in prison . Later on , Caesar, married Calpurnia, and is appointed Consul for life and then he crossed river Rubicon . His history is written by the same Julius Caesar in 'Comments about War of Gaul' or 'De Bello Galico', also he wrote in brilliant and elegant style 'Comments about Civil War' or 'De Bello Civili'.

Other adaptations about Caesar and Vercingetorix is as follows : 'Vercingetorix (2001)' by Jacques Dorffman with Chistopher Lambert and Klaus Mara Brandauer ; 'Julius Caesar (2004 TV) ' by Uli Edel with Jeremy Sisto as Caesar and Heino Ferch as Vercingetorix . Furthermore , known Shakespearian renditions as 'Julius Caesar(1953)' by Joseph L Mankiewicz with Louis Calhern as Caesar and Marlon Brando as Marcus Antonius and Stuart Burgue version (1970) starred by Charlton Heston .

There's nothing to report here other than for once, before France's commercial film market got all artsy in the 60s and 70s, we had a decent epic film with some action made by the French. It could have been a production right out of Hollywood had it not been for the fact that everyone was speaking French.

As you can guess this film deals with Caesar's forays into Gaul, modern France, and how he overcame the Gaullic leader Vercingetorix. Both sides of the conflict are given flourishes, but there is a dash of fatalism in regards to the acting and story presentation (no surprise as it is a French production).

A little history, Julius Caesar simply went into Gaul/France to bolster his own reputation. There was no real threat at the time, and all he did was exacerbate what tension there already was, and, on to of that, tortured and slaughtered thousands all for the sake of his name. Vercingetroix was one of the toughest foes Rome had ever faced, but he was publicly strangled in the end in Rome before the people.

That part is not in this film, nor are Julius Caesar's bloodier exploits of killing women and children, and not just fighting men. But, being a film of the 1960s, there was only so much violence that could be shown at the time.

The acting is okay, the art direction is quite good. It's decently shot for the time; lots of master shots, few cutaways unless focusing on a different character. And, finally, a little hampered in the action department.

I don't if it's the French version of staging a battle, or whether they just didn't have competent technical people, but the battle scenes seemed a little half baked, and that's putting it kindly. Still, they deliver on the action for a film that had been heavy with dialogue, but are somewhat scattered in terms of staging.

Over all it's an okay film. A product of it's time, it's nothing to write home about, but a decent watch all the same.

See it once.