Helen of Troy (1956)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Hugh Gray (screenplay) &
John Twist (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 January 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Action | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Its towering wonders span the age of titans!

Plot:

The Iliad's story of the Trojan war, told from the Trojan viewpoint.

Plot Keywords:

Trojan War | Queen | King | Warrior | Battle

Cast

Rossana Podestà	...	Helen of Troy
Jacques Sernas	...	Paris (as Jack Sernas)
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Priam (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Stanley Baker	...	Achilles
Niall MacGinnis	...	Menelaus
Nora Swinburne	...	Hecuba
Robert Douglas	...	Agamemnon
Torin Thatcher	...	Ulysses
Harry Andrews	...	Hector
Janette Scott	...	Cassandra
Ronald Lewis	...	Aeneas
Brigitte Bardot	...	Andraste
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Andros
Marc Lawrence	...	Diomedes
Maxwell Reed	...	Ajax

Also Known As:

Elena di Troia (Italy)

Runtime:

Germany:111 min (theatrical version) | Germany:116 min (with overture and exit music) | USA:118 min | UK:116 min (uncut) | UK:114 min (cut)

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording) (magnetic prints) | Mono (RCA Sound Recording) (optical prints)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | South Korea:15 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Noted British actor Edmund Purdom overdubbed in English the lines of French-Lithuanian actor Jacques Sernas on the soundtrack of this film, due to Sernas not having a firm English-speaking voice. Sernas at that point in his career was learning English but had not yet mastered the language. Purdom was not credited with his voiceover talent for this picture, as the film's producers wanted the public to think Sernas did it all on his own.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gladiators: Bloodsport of the Colisseum (2000) (V)

One of the greatest epics ever made!

Basically, this movie is criticized because, being one of the very first big international co-productions, its main players were Euro celebrities who never caught on in the US, and because Jacques Sernas' and Rossana Podesta's voices were voiced-over. That is a pretty shallow approach to movie criticism. This film is well-scripted (it's based on Homer and neither substracts nor adds to his basic plot - except for the Gods, which are mentioned but never seen, which makes it a modern secular version of the Iliad), well-acted by some very impressive British actors, superbly constructed (art direction, photography, costumes, period research, choreography) and creates a lasting impression. I own it on laser disc and just had to buy a widescreen TV with home theatre sound to do it justice. I can watch this movie as often as I crave substantial food, which is very often. Robert Wise, besides being the director of The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and The Sound of Music started his career as the editor of Citizen Kane and it is his input in the editing (vibrant, energetic, kinetic, masculine) that makes this movie a real winner and actually brings life to the giant vistas of this classic and tragic fairy tale/war movie/love story. Max Steiner's beautiful score adds several other dimensions to this masterpiece and its interplay with the editing is always fascinating to watch. The general impression is a beautiful dream of the paintings on a Greek urn coming to magical, inspiring, colourful life. It is also fascinating to watch how the fight scenes were a sort of preliminary study to the ones in West Side Story, which is basically on the same subject. I had better stop while I'm ahead. One word of advice: Don't believe the nay-sayers (i.e. Leonard Maltin) until you have experienced it for yourself in all its CinemaScope, Warnercolor and Stereophonic glory. A must-have at any price and already overdue on DVD.