Solomon and Sheba (1959)
Country: US
Technical: Super Technirama 70 142m
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders
Synopsis:
The Queen of Sheba visits Jerusalem and tempts Solomon with an unprecedented display of swaying hips and diaphanous chiffon.
Review:
This bloated biblical epic is second only to De Mille's Ten Commandments in its turgidity, and apparently uses the Egyptian costumes and chariots from that movie. That other great silent era monolith, King Vidor, delivers everything that is supremely awful about the Hollywood biblical epic as distinct from the Italian peplum: portentous 'thee/thou' script, elephantine pacing, and lashings of sanctimony. The Italian Miss Lollobrigida offers tantalising glimpses of what might have been, but even the fertility ritual sequence is a tepid affair, and the destruction of the Egyptian army a blatant model fest. In short, this is an attempt to repeat the success of Samson and Delilah ten years too late.
Country: US
Technical: Super Technirama 70 142m
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders
Synopsis:
The Queen of Sheba visits Jerusalem and tempts Solomon with an unprecedented display of swaying hips and diaphanous chiffon.
Review:
This bloated biblical epic is second only to De Mille's Ten Commandments in its turgidity, and apparently uses the Egyptian costumes and chariots from that movie. That other great silent era monolith, King Vidor, delivers everything that is supremely awful about the Hollywood biblical epic as distinct from the Italian peplum: portentous 'thee/thou' script, elephantine pacing, and lashings of sanctimony. The Italian Miss Lollobrigida offers tantalising glimpses of what might have been, but even the fertility ritual sequence is a tepid affair, and the destruction of the Egyptian army a blatant model fest. In short, this is an attempt to repeat the success of Samson and Delilah ten years too late.
Country: US
Technical: Super Technirama 70 142m
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders
Synopsis:
The Queen of Sheba visits Jerusalem and tempts Solomon with an unprecedented display of swaying hips and diaphanous chiffon.
Review:
This bloated biblical epic is second only to De Mille's Ten Commandments in its turgidity, and apparently uses the Egyptian costumes and chariots from that movie. That other great silent era monolith, King Vidor, delivers everything that is supremely awful about the Hollywood biblical epic as distinct from the Italian peplum: portentous 'thee/thou' script, elephantine pacing, and lashings of sanctimony. The Italian Miss Lollobrigida offers tantalising glimpses of what might have been, but even the fertility ritual sequence is a tepid affair, and the destruction of the Egyptian army a blatant model fest. In short, this is an attempt to repeat the success of Samson and Delilah ten years too late.