Fall of the Roman Empire

A perfect movie to while away a snowy afternoon with! Nice to catch up with Anthony Mann's 1964 epic THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE once again - its perfectly cast with that first hour or so focusing on those frozen wastes in the German forests at that outpost of the Roman Empire as Marcus Aurelius mediates on his impending mortality (aided by a poisoned apple) as his son Commodus plots to take over the Empire. Alec Guinness is perfect here as the ailing emperor with his friend Timonides who is James Mason. Both actors are always a pleasure to see and here we have Sophia Loren as the emperor's daughter Lucilla - framed by Mann in lots of fascinating shots swathed in furs and against imposing backgrounds. Stephen Boyd fills out the hero role and Christopher Plummer makes for a devious rather insane imposter to the throne, as it turns out he is not the son of Aurelius at all! Mel Ferrer, John Ireland, Omar Sharif and Anthony Quayle fill out the other leading roles as the empire is lost as Rome is conquered from within. It is interestingly done and is probably the last of the big epics of the early '60s, following SPARTACUS and CLEOPATRA. Anthony Mann also directed EL CID and this is more of the same, also from producer Samuel Bronston. Further "epics" like 55 DAYS AT PEKING or the rather tatty GENGHIS KHAN were just not in the same league. So, the last of the big ones then - and the starting point for the later GLADIATOR, though CGI spectacles are just not the same (see TROY for instance!). It must have been an important movie for Loren - she had started off 14 years earlier as an extra in QUO VADIS in 1950, and now here she was headlining her own roadshow epic!

Robert Wise's 1955 HELEN OF TROY is also a pleasure and must more interesting than, well, TROY. The ancient city is nicely evoked, the crowd scenes work, the leads may be a bit bland but Rosanna Podesta is quite charming and lovely and the likes of Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews, Cedric Hardwick as Priam and Janette Scott as Cassandra all impress, and there is Brigitte Bardot as Helen's handmaiden, just before her Vadim sensations!