Le roi cruel

It's one of those Italian Peplum productions, for once without any Steve Reeves, but Edmund Purdom as Herod is convincing enough, although maybe slightly too handsome for a Herod, like Massimo Girotti also is a bit too dashing for Augustus. The story is the grim drama of Herod killing off his own family - Augustus observed on one occasion that no one needed to threat Herod's family as he would soon have killed them all himself. It has the character of a melodrama, there is very little action and mainly only theatrical acting, but the actors are all good and attractive - like in all Peplum films the set designs are perfectly stylish. But that's all - no cinematography, nothing special, only drama and tears and paranoia, which Herod drives to extremes - which he also did in reality.

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.

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.,

No sooner did I state in my review of THE PRODIGAL (1955) above that it was going to be my only tribute to the late Edmund Purdom, that a visit to the local DVD rental shop also provided me with the opportunity to watch this Italian biblical flick. Unfortunately, the end results were even less satisfactory than that earlier Hollywood epic! For one thing, Purdom makes for a decidedly wooden ruler of Judea who, at the film's start, is seen returning from a lost battle against Octavius Caesar(!) to find all of his elderly subjects (who, naturally, had stayed home) seemingly out for his blood! Even his son and mother-in-law openly hate and scorn him! Eventually, Herod regains his composure with the appearance of his wife – and how could it have been otherwise when she is portrayed by the red-headed, curvaceous beauty Sylvia Lopez? Tragically, in real life she would be dead of leukemia before the year was out but not before making Steve Reeves' head spin in her most significant role in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)! Out of the blue, then, the film's second half takes the form of a retread of Shakespeare's "Othello" with Purdom the jilted monarch, Lopez the compromised queen, Alberto Lupo as Herod's innocent right-hand man and Corrado Pani (as young Herod Antipas) as his Iago-ish brand new confidant! The strain is too much for Herod-Purdom to bear and, a little while after ordering the proverbial slaughtering of Judea's first born, he just keels over and dies at the foot of his throne! Ugh…which is a pity since a few months ago I had rather enjoyed Purdom's next collaboration with director Tourjansky, THE COSSACKS (1960) – which also shares at least three other distinguished participants (actor Massimo Girotti, screenwriter Damiano Damiani and cinematographer Massimo Dallamano) with this one.

The biblical story of the Herod, King of Judea. Herod is captured by the Pagan Romans and held prisoner. Herod's lieutenant, Aaron, believes that he is dead. Aaron had orders from Herod to kill the Queen when he dies, but Aaron could not do it and brought her into the desert to hid her. Herod pleas to Augustus enough that Herod was able to go back to his palace. When Herod arrives, he is told by his son, Antipater, that Aaron has betrayed him and the Queen is still alive. Now Herod must find his wife and face her pursuers.

It's an alright film. One of the better movies in the Warriors 50-pack by Mill Creek. Herod was a person that really lived and there is plenty of proof of that. So in it's way, the film is a History and Biographical film as well as being a Bible Story.

I will say it again, I do not rate these types of films based on how accurate to history they are or how true they are or not. I base my ratings on how well entertained I was by the film.

4.5/10