Le roi cruel

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.

This Biblic Peplum deals about all the passion and power in the pagan court of history's mad and lustful king . There Herod (Edmund Purdom) , King of Judea , married to Miriam (Sylvia Lopez) and happens dramatic happenings . It is set in Jerusalen , after battle of Actium when is defeated Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra , being victorious Octavius Augustus (Massimo Giroti) . Herodes who supported Antonius is taken prisoner by the Romans . Convinced Herod is dead , his faithful official named Aaron (Alberto Lupo) , is nevertheless unable to keep his swearing to murder the Queen if something untoward happened to the ruler . Herod's pleas to Augustus are successful and he goes back to his famous palace . His son , Antipater or Herod Antipas (Corrado Pani) , tells Herod that Aaron has double-crossed him . Then , Herod turned a madman who killed his own family and a great many lieutenants ; later on , King Herod ordered the killing of the new born babies , taking place the known massacre of innocents and appearance the holy star of Belen where was born Jesus .

This epic Italian movie packs drama , thrills , marvelous scenarios and hokey historical events . Nice production design and enjoyable gowns , but little action . Mediocre interpretations headed by Edmund Purdom , an American actor who emigrated Italy and played several historical and Sword and Sandal movies such as Sinuhe the Egyptian , The prodigal , Salambo , Nefertiti, Regina Del Nilo ; and of course Sylvia Lopez , a gorgeous actress who early died at age 26 by cancer illness . Furthermore , the Italian sex-symbol Sandra Milo along with other actors usual of Peplum as Alberto Lupo , Corrado Pani , Renato Baldini , Enzo Fiermonti and Massimo Giroti , Terence Hill 's father . Evocative as well as colorful cinematography by prestigious cameraman Massimo Dallamano , also a filmmaker . Atmospheric musical score by Carlo Savina , Pepum and Spaghetti's ordinary . The motion picture was professionally directed by Viktor Tourjansky , though with no originality . He was a Russian film director who emigrated after the communist revolution of 1917, and worked in several countries , and mostly in Italy . Tourjansky directed period epic films, such as Le Triomphe Michel Strogoff 1961 , Prisoner of the Volga (1959), The Cossacks (1960), The pharaoh's woman (1960) , The Venus of Cheronea (1957) , some of which were considered among his better works. During the 1950s and 1960s he was wintering in Italy and worked there as producer and writer under the artistic name Arnaldo Genoino.

The picture is partially based on historical deeds , these are the followings : Herod , also known as Herod the Great (born 73 or 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis. He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple) and the construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima. Important details of his biography are gleaned from the works of the 1st century AD Roman-Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. The Romans made Herod's son Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 4 BC to 6 AD, referred to as the Tetrarchy of Judea. Archelaus was judged incompetent by the Roman emperor Augustus who then combined Samaria, Judea proper and Idumea into Iudaea province under rule of a prefect until 41. Herod's other son Herod Antipas was Tetrarch of Galilee from 4 BC–39 AD.

The acting in this Italian spaghetti sword and sandal film is really second-rate; there isn't a good performance in the whole lot of characters. Purdom is as hammy as a German deli, and his queen's red hair does not exactly look like it is very real. Neither is her acting.

It is interesting to see what happened to Herod after he crucified Christ, but the film gets bogged down in silly and romantic intrigues that, to say the least, are not very interesting. I did enjoy the stoning sequence, however, although tomatoes would have been more appropriate; pelatis even better.

There is really no development of any characters outside of Herod and the Queen, and we are left with Aaron dangling in the breeze.

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.,

As with almost every Sword and Sandals movie, you get some historical thing or figure and than the movie runs with it. In this case it does not take it and runs completely away with it, which has been the case before. No it does stay in a timeline that is quite close to History.

Having said that, do not take anything that happens at face value. This is her to entertain and while the 60s proved to be filled even more with Sword and Sandals in Italy, this has the formula/bluepring down