Simply Perfect

Simply A Masterpiece

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Blistering performances.

Surprisingly good, many factors adding to an excellent Cinemascope version of the Trojan war, above all the script, which is clear and consistently relevant and sticking to the subject; and although very far from Homer, this variation of the intrigue is impressively intelligent and definitely logical. The first half of the film deals with the Spartan argument, (Homer's epic doesn't start until 75 minutes into the film,) Achilles (Stanley Baker) making an impressing entry, with Brigitte Bardot as Helen's slave girl who is given for the night to Paris by Menelaos but instead helps him escape - she is only 22 but striking - you recognize her figure before you see her face. Niall McGinnis is very convincing as the jealous Menelaos whose jealousy Helen finds it necessary to escape, while most surprising of all is the convincing excellence of Paris especially but also Helen. Jacques Sernas (totally unknown to me) is the perfect Paris, a beautiful young man of great charm, sympathetic intelligence and audacious insolence, and Rossana Podestà (also unknown to me) is a very credible Helena, masking her real identity to get away with Paris from Menelaos.Among the Trojans, Cedric Hardwicke makes a very plausible Priam, he is given the most famous quote of the Trojan war, taking Helen round her chin: "So this is the face that launched a thousand ships," (Christopher Marlowe), and also Nora Swinburne as Hecuba, Ronald Lewis as Aeneas and Janette Scott as Cassandra, a Trojan parallel to Brigitte Bardot. Only Hector is not quite convincing, Harry Andrews being the wrong type, (Eric Bana is the better compensation in the 2004 Wolfgang Peterson version), and all the battle scenes are dramatically violent and bloody enough.The action is swift and never dull, the dialogue is comfortably fluent all the way, the story is well but not exaggeratedly sugared with romanticism, and to all this comes Max Steiner's glorious music, culminating in the orgy of the wooden horse.Of course, you have to make a comparison with the 2004 "Troy" version. None is better than the other. Both have their great credits and very few lacks. The 2004 is technically more excellent, while Robert Wise's contribution (in the shadow of Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" of the same year) is more realistic and human.The Trojan adventure is such a great story that it's impossible to make a mess of it. As far as I know, no one has ever been unsuccessful in dealing with it - the characters are too individually outstanding, all of them, not to naturally add to a great show. But of all the film versions, I think Robert Wise, with his concise and clever editing of the story, with its flamboyantly efficient story-telling (it's less than 2 hours,) and exciting virtuosity constituting an excellent epic for all time, has made the best of it.

Paris in a leopard print toga, sea foam green, lilac blue and various pastels with REALLY short skirts and that's just the guys!! That Lithuanian guy was absolutely gorgeous, never heard of him and I thought he could act given his Adonis looks. I found Helen to be of equal beauty and loved her many different complex hair designs. When did they have time for that in a 10 year war? Although Diane Kruger of "Troy" by comparison is most attractive, she is not a face that launched a thousand ships.It really annoys me that the guise of war and evil is typically blamed on a woman. So we really are all that powerful folks?? Hmmmmm. Sheesh even Bethsheba gets blamed for all the woes of King David! And who could not get enough of the drunken orgies and rape scenes. Of course these chicks were asking for it....A lot! Poor Cassandra is also portrayed as a clueless dimwit, but the only voice of reason in the entire film.OK so what about the action? Pretty amazing for 1956 and no David Lean. I was impressed although the fight scenes were less believable. Even the Greek warship head bongo banger kept missing the wood stump and wondered how they ever made it into town.Despite the aforementioned misgivings, I was "into it" trying to decipher the differences between what I learned back in the day, other films, references, etc. It's very easy to bash a film from the confines of your bedroom notebook but I am trying to be more fair and balanced, BUT a tad of humor helps me write.Recommend for a stylized historical perspective of many moons ago and to keep you wondering what happens on the return trip....YIKES!!! ;}}

Now over fifty years old, this almost epic film pales in comparison to other more notable sword and sandal movies. The scale of the film cannot be faulted, hundreds of extras & huge lavish sets are evident, while the piece is given a well regarded director in Robert Wise to chart its course.However, the problems with it are many. First off is that the film is terribly pedestrian for the first hour, a tepid script fails to engage and at times is unintentionally funny. Then there are major cast issues. Taking the leads of Paris & Helen are Jacques Sernas & Rossana Podestà respectively. They look the part, both of them undeniably pretty, but neither of them can act for toffee. Filmed in Rome, Italy, it begs the question on if the casting director walked around Lazio and picked the two blondest people available for the roles! In support of the Blondie's are a host of usually fine performers, Cedric Hardwicke, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Harry Andrews, Torin Thatcher & Robert Douglas. A mixture of actors either too old for their roles, poorly written, or in the case of Douglas, an underused important character (Agamemnon).Shifting away from the awful back projection work, the action sequences fair much better. There's enough here in the second hour to please the sword & sandal fan. But if it's enough to make this a safe recommendation to the potential first time crowd? Well I wouldn't stake my life on it you know! It's a genre I personally love, so I wondered why I hadn't heard about it long before now? After viewing it it became evident why, it's just not any good. A generous 4/10 from me for the siege of Troy action construction, the stunt work throughout and for Baker's moody show as Achilles.

Noted (and versatile) director Wise amassed a considerable team of behind the scenes personnel and an impressive array of actors for this large-scale epic rendition of the legendary story of the title character. Unfortunately, the production suffers somewhat from the casting of the leads, primarily stemming from the fact that neither one was able to use his or her own voice. Sernas plays a prince of Troy who journeys to Sparta to attempt to establish peace between them and his own people. Shipwrecked before he can even get there, he is greeted on the shore by Podesta, to him the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. After recovering from his close call, he heads to the palace to speak to king MacGinnis and is sorely mistreated and disbelieved. He then discovers that his object of affection is, in actuality, MacGinnis' queen! Circumstances lead him to spirit her back to Troy where she is skeptically received by his unhappy family. MacGinnis pulls together a massive army of men from various Greek states and proceeds to attack Troy. When things look almost impossible, one of his men oversees the construction of the famed Trojan Horse, which makes things look awfully bleak for Sernas and Podesta who are, by now, deeply in love. Podesta is curvaceous and attractive, but not necessarily what one might expect as the woman whose face launched a 1000 ships. Having learned her lines phonetically just to get through the shoot, she was then dubbed by an American actress. This, along with the fact that her platinum wigs don't really compliment her dark coloring, prevents her from really registering very heavily in the role. Sernas (who is caressed by the camera almost every bit as much as Podesta is, frequently shirtless) is likewise dubbed and, though he gives it a good shot, winds up not being able to craft a character that audiences could really care a great deal about. (Some of this stems from the fact that the character really wasn't written as heroic or particularly likable in the original Homer story to begin with!) Fortunately, a host of fine character actors is on hand to help out. Hardwicke plays Sernas' father, Swinburne is his mother, Andrews is his brother and a nearly unrecognizable Scott is his soothsaying sister. MacGinnis is strong in his part and is ably matched by Thatcher, Baker and Douglas as his associates. Reed appears briefly as the hulking Ajax, who takes on Sernas in a fairly savage grudge match. Also popping up to good effect is an ebullient Bardot in an early role as one of Podesta's servants. She, too, is dubbed by an English-speaking actress. There is a lot going for the film, including a splendid Max Steiner score, a vast collection of extras, impressive sets and moments of genuinely good drama. On the flip side, the costumes often lean towards the pedestrian, the script lacks zest and some of the model work is a tad poor. This film includes references to the Greek Gods, but eliminates them as actual characters and does not attribute any of their own actions to them directly. Rather, things take place as if they are occurring without the interference or direct influence or aid of the deities. Though it's certainly not blatant, there is the opportunity to read Baker and his chief aid Longdon's relationship as more than platonic. Fans of epic films ought to appreciate the pageantry and scope of it, but may find themselves wishing for a little more meat in the story and, perhaps, more significant acting from the leads.