A 1956 Warner Bros. WarnerColor epic film in CinemaScope, based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. It was directed by Robert Wise. The music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr.
The film stars Rossana Podestà, Stanley Baker, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Jacques Sernas, with Niall MacGinnis, Maxwell Reed, Nora Swinburne, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Harry Andrews, Janette Scott, Ronald Lewis, Eduardo Ciannelli, Esmond Knight and a young Brigitte Bardot as Andraste, Helen's handmaiden, her first film production shot outside France.
The film was made in Rome's Cinecittà Studios and in Punta Ala, Grosseto.The scene of the Greek initial assault on the walls of Troy features a series of shots that are directly copied from a sequence in the Persian attack on Babylon in D. W. Griffiths' silent film classic Intolerance. Some shots from this sequence would in turn be reused in the introductionary scenes of the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts.
Personal note: This movie makes several departures from the original story, especially with Paris who's depicted as a hero. No movie does the Illiad justice, in my book. However, this is the closest I've seen reenactment of the Trojan War. Furthermore, I have fond memories of this movie from my childhood. I went to cinema like ten times to watch it, and for some bizzarre reason I even wrote the whole script by memory. LMAO!
Don't expect a masterpiece, but this is a very good Hollywood "sword and sandal" type of movie, with a strong international cast and great production values. I would say that the strongest points of this movie are the massiveness and opulence of the settings, the size of the huge cast, Max Steiner's beautiful score, the magnitude of the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans, and the best (huge) Trojan horse I've seen in any version. So, just take some popcorn and a beer, sit on your sofa, relax and enjoy this 50's Epic. :)
p.s. There is 5 minutes of "Overture" at the beginning. Sorry, I forgot to cut that so just skip it.
𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑: 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟏𝟎𝟕 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟔, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 “𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞” 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡. 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠.
