Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.6/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Escritores:

William Faulkner (written by) &
Harry Kurnitz (written by) ...

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

24 junio 1955 (USA)

Género:

Drama

Frase comercial:

HER BLOOD STAINED EVERY STONE OF THE PYRAMID

Plot:

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to insure the impregnability of tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Plot Keywords:

Pharaoh | Tomb | Egypt | Architect | Ancient Egypt

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Wrongly criticized Hawks

Reparto

Jack Hawkins	...	Pharaoh Khufu
Joan Collins	...	Princess Nellifer
Dewey Martin	...	Senta
Alex Minotis	...	Hamar (as Alexis Minotis)
James Robertson Justice	...	Vashtar
Luisella Boni	...	Kyra (as Luisa Boni)
Sydney Chaplin	...	Treneh
James Hayter	...	Mikka, Vashtar's servant
Kerima	...	Nailla
Piero Giagnoni	...	Xenon (Pharaoh's Son)

También conocida como:

Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs (USA) (complete title)
Tierra de faraones (Spain) [es]

Duración:

Canada:144 min | UK:105 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

2.55 : 1

Sonido:

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

Clasificación:

UK:U (cut) | Australia:G | West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #16995) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15

Locaciones de Filmación:

Egypt

Compañía:

Continental Company

Trivialidades:

James Hayter is dubbed

Errores:

Errores que Revelan: During the ceremony for the soldiers who were cowards in battle, when they are thrown into the alligator pit, the alligators are seen eating but there is not one drop of blood seen in the water.

Citas:

[first lines]
Hamar: I, Hamar, Lord High Priest of Egypt, am preparing a chronicle of the reign of Khufu, ruler of Egypt. Word has come that again he has been victorious in the war against our enemies and now Egypt has taken its place as the greatest of all nations in the world! Today, Pharaoh and his armies return.

Conexiones de Película:

Apareció en Cineastes en acció (2005)

Wrongly criticized Hawks

Here's a film hotly criticized by not only many who saw the film, but by director Hawks himself. It's true, there's a bit of the Hollywood glam element to the production, but I'd say no more so than a half dozen other Hawks films, including the much more often praised "Rio Bravo" and "Hatari!"! (which both followed directly after "Pharaohs"). And the plot of "Pharaohs" makes a lot more sense than that of Hawks' earlier film, "The Big Sleep," which I believe is over praised because of its cast.

As a grand epic from the era where they made them big and were not afraid to spend money where it would show up on screen, "Land of the Pharaohs" surpasses many other epics of its period and even many recent films dealing with a similar subject (1999's "The Mummy" comes to mind). "Pharaohs" has an impressive and very satisfying climax that makes perfect sense historically and dramatically.

Also, no one seems to have mentioned the marvelous handling of crowds, particularly in the lengthy building of the pyramid sequence. I'll even go so far as to say the way Hawks composes his crowds for the cinemascope screen - arranging his Egyptian workers and pharaoh worshipers in intricate patterns with complex movements - rivals even Fritz Lang's similar work in "Metropolis" (1926), famous for its handling of crowds.

I think one of the reasons the film keeps getting bashed is because people haven't seen it in its original widescreen format in many years. Until recently, no Region 1 DVD has been available, so in its cropped, pan and scan VHS incarnation, the film comes across as wimpy and ridiculous. As can be seen in the widescreen DVD release, the grandeur is stunning, its art direction, costumes, sets and locations all holding up marvelously.

It must be said that composer Dimitri Tiomkin probably never wrote a score as majestically spirited as this one, a vast canvas of antiquity and drama. The cast is very much of its time, and some of the dialog is stilted and dated, but with the passing of time, most films suffer from this. Time passes and acting styles change. But a good plot holds up, and "Pharaohs" has plenty of the devious vs altruistic characters that drove many of Hawks plots effectively.

The powers that be in Hollywood finally released the film on DVD, promoting it as a camp classic, adorning the cover with a cheesy shot of Joan Collins, the one thing they apparently consider notable and sell-able about the film. Too bad. Yes, "Land of the Pharaohs" does have an element of campiness, but there is true grandeur in the vastness of the production and the fact that its cast of thousands was indeed a cast of thousands, not CGI. Perhaps one day the wonders of this film will be given the appreciation it deserves. As time passes these epics seem to be acquiring as much antiquity as the genuine historical period itself.