Waste of time

Admirable film.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

In the old Roman Empire city of Pompeii, brawny blacksmith Preston Foster (as Marcus) suffers a great family tragedy. Desperate for money, Mr. Foster reluctantly becomes a gladiator; he is uncomfortable killing defeated opponents, but must make a living. Wracked with guilt, Foster adopts pre-teen David Holt (as young Flavius) after killing his father in a fight. Foster can no longer fight competitively and makes money trading slaves and horses. He eventually becomes very prosperous...Foster is unaware he is living during the time of Jesus Christ, who has a following. An old woman instructs Foster to take his son to see the "greatest man" in Judea. Foster considers this to be "prophesy." He crosses paths with Christ, but believes the greatest man is more likely the governor of Jerusalem, Basil Rathbone (as Pontius Pilate). Foster begins working with the notorious leader. After the Christian crucifixion, Foster's son grows up to be John Wood (as Flavius) and clashes with his papa...Other than the ending eruption, "The Last Days of Pompeii" completely re-works the plot (of the original novel by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton). It's a good (perhaps better), Christian-focused revision, though sometimes stodgy in the production. The concept of slavery is changed, which is nice. Original thinking was that the mistreating of slaves was bad; nice people treated them nicely, and bad people treated them badly. Also, Mr. Rathbone's "Pilate" is given more depth in characterization...God, however, is still in firm control of natural disasters.****** The Last Days of Pompeii (10/18/35) Ernest B. Schoedsack ~ Preston Foster, John Wood, Basil Rathbone, David Holt

The Last Days of Pompeii will of course end with the great volcano. Until then, as you can guess, we get sword and sandals.However, in a style that reminds us somewhat of de Mille, we get fantastic imagery and spectacular scenes, along with epic historical characters.It does lack de Mille's brisk pace and comic relief, the comic relief provided by Overman and Tamirof in some of de Mille's best works.And it is probably the lack of timely comic relief that makes this lull, particularly in the first half.The second half is very brisk and crisp, however. It should make modern sword and sandal film makers very jealous.The imagery is perhaps even better than de Mille. The hunky statue of the gladiator in the final scenes is almost as striking as de Mille's use of female beauty, and even reminds us of the beautiful femme fatale of Northwest Mounted Police.Great acting, and most people will probably be most acquainted with the charismatic Basil as Pontius. His Pontius is a modern caring man. Indeed, the original Pontius was somewhere between the "thinker" and the "monster" and it seems no one wants to go in between the extremes. He savagely saw the Hebrews as a people not his own. However, odds are he did want to release Jesus. That doesn't make him less savage. It just means he was a strict "lawman", and Jesus wasn't the "punk" sort he felt needed to be crucified.The effects were astounding, and the extras should have gotten an all time Academy Award for best extras. They worked their butts off, and emoted better than most modern day stars.Crisp, brisk, full of art. With added comic relief and a brisker beginning, it would've easily been 10/10. This was a clever, well designed film, with characters we could care about.

"The Last Days of Pompeii" was a film that captivated me during childhood and still intrigues me today, albeit on a different level. As viewers' comments have noted, "Last Days" is a little heavy handed with its moral theme and the character development of Marcus the Blacksmith-turned Gladiator-turned head of the Arena. Marcus (Preston Foster) is an innately good man, blessed with a loving wife, baby son, and a career, until an out-of-control chariot shatters his existence. With his wife (Gloria Shea) nearing death, Marcus must turn to the Arena, against his earlier values, now faced with the reality that money is the key to everything. Marcus becomes a killing machine, progressing up the gladiator billing to the top spot, but then adopts the son, Flavius (David Holt), of a slain adversary, resulting in another change. Acquiring a Greek slave (Wyrley Birch) to tutor his son, Marcus eventually heads for the Holy Land to make his fortune, meets Pontius Pilate (Basil Rathbone), and encounters Christ. Pilate uses Marcus in a symbiotic way that benefits them both, but it is the Lord who heals Holt when he lies near death. Marcus turns his back on the Lord, despite the protests of Simon (Murray Kinnell), in order to get his money back to Pompeii. The scene shifts, with Flavius (John Wood) now a young man appalled by the events in the Arena and struggling to remember the man who healed him in his youth. The conflict between father and son, arrival of Pilate to take Flavius to Rome, the corrupt Prefect (Louis Calhern) who demands gore for the "Games," and Flavius' romance with a slave (Dorothy Wilson) all intertwine and lead to the climatic eruption of Vesuvius. Marcus redeems himself in the emotional conclusion.As a child, I loved Marcus' spiritual journey from innocent joy to sorrow to hard-hearted bitterness to mercenary greed and, finally, to redemption. As an adult, I still like the tale, but have focused more on the acting and production values. I disagree with the commentators who call the acting "wooden." Foster gives one of the best performances of his career as Marcus. As many note, Rathbone renders a sympathetic, sensitive delineation of Pilate. And the supporting players are superb: Edward Van Sloan as a kindly neighbor, Frank Conroy as a kind but condescending noble, Gloria Shea as the young wife, Dorothy Wilson as the son's love interest, Calhern as the despicable Prefect, Zeffie Tilbury as an old Greek soothsayer, etc. Even the minor roles are well-etched: Ward Bond as a bragging opponent of Marcus, Jason Robards Sr. as the tax gatherer, Reginald Barlow as the slave market proprietor, Kinnell as the Judean peasant, and many more. One can even spot Jim Thorpe throwing coins after a gladiator battle. A few players did very underrated work in "The Last Days of Pompeii." Alan Hale Sr., as Burbix, captures the rough edges of a criminal and then the fierce loyalty to his understanding friend Marcus. William V. Mong, as the growling-at-times, cowering-with-fear at others, slave dealer, Cleon, gives a wonderful, colorful performance that is anything but "wooden." But it is Wyrley Birch, as Leaster, the kindly Greek scholar/slave, who provides the moral compass for the film, counseling Marcus, tolerating his greed and seeming imperviousness to the suffering of others, while educating his son Flavius that there is a better way and far superior values than those his father seems to endorse. Birch walks the tightrope and never becomes overly sentimental. Truly, Leaster represents the apex of Birch's career."The Last Days of Pompeii" is an enjoyable film on many levels, including as a morality tale. It is much more than that, however. And for lovers of old character actors, it is a treasure trove!

Two years after King Kong, the same team went on to make this enjoyable disaster movie about life in Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It is directed by Kong's Ernest B Schoedsack and the impressive eruption at the end was also done by the same people who did the effects for Kong including Willis O'Brien.The excellent cast includes Preston Foster, Alan Hale, a pre Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone and Edward Van Sloan (Dracula, Frankenstein).The Last Days of Pompeii seems to be quite a rare movie and I was pleased when BBC2 screened it several years ago and I still have it on video.Catch this if you are lucky. Enjoyable.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.