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Helen of Troy

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

English

Rossana Podestà

Jacques Sernas

Cedric Hardwicke

Stanley Baker

Niall MacGinnis

Nora Swinburne

Robert Douglas

Torin Thatcher

Harry Andrews

Janette Scott

Ronald Lewis

Brigitte Bardot

Eduardo Ciannelli

Marc Lawrence

Maxwell Reed

Robert Brown

Barbara Cavan

Terence Longdon

Patricia Marmont

Guido Notari

Tonio Selwart

George Zoritch

Esmond Knight

Robert Wise

Hugh Gray

John Twist

N. Richard Nash

Giuseppe De Blasio

Maurizio Lodi-Fè

Elso Valentini

Roger K. Furse

Max Steiner

Robert Lennard

Thomas Reilly

Edward Carrere

Harry Stradling Sr.

Sergio Leone

Homer

Robert Wise's often forgotten take on The Iliad story. 

Now over sixty years old, this almost epic film pales in comparison to other more notable sword and sandal movies. The scale of the film cannot be faulted, hundreds of extras & huge lavish sets are evident, while in Robert Wise the piece is given a well regarded director to chart its course.

However, the problems are all too evident. First off is that the film is terribly pedestrian for the first hour, a tepid script fails to engage and at times is unintentionally funny. Then there are major cast issues. Taking the leads of Paris & Helen are Jacques Sernas & Rossana Podestà respectively. They look the part, both of them undeniably pretty, but neither of them can act for toffee. Filmed in Rome, Italy, it begs the question on if the casting director walked around Lazio and picked the two blondest people available for the roles!?…

In support of the Blondie's are a host of usually fine performers, Cedric Hardwicke, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Harry Andrews, Torin Thatcher & Robert Douglas, but this is still a mixture of actors either too old for their roles, poorly written, or in the case of Douglas, an underused important character (Agamemnon). Shifting away from the awful back projection work, the action sequences at least hold up as competent construction.

There's enough here in the second hour to please the sword & sandal fan, but if it's enough to make this a safe recommendation to the potential first time crowd? well I wouldn't stake my life on it you know!. It's a genre I personally love, so I wondered why I hadn't heard about it long before now, after viewing it, it became evident why, it's just not any good. A generous 4/10 from me for the siege of Troy action construction, the stunt work throughout and for Baker's moody show as Achilles.

The Siege of Troy Begins

Helen of Troy - Trailer

Jack Hill on HELEN OF TROY

Best Movies

Helen of Troy

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Rossana Podestà

Jacques Sernas

Cedric Hardwicke

Stanley Baker

Niall MacGinnis

Nora Swinburne

Robert Douglas

Torin Thatcher

Harry Andrews

Janette Scott

Box office

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