Valley of the Kings (1954)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Robert Pirosh

Writers:

C.W. Ceram (book)
Robert Pirosh (written by) ...

Release Date:

23 July 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

AMAZING! TIMELY! THRILLING! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Hard-boiled archeologist Mark Brandon is searching for ancient tombs in Egypt when he is approached by beautiful Ann Mercedes...

Plot Keywords:

Tomb | Scorpion | Fistfight | Beautiful Woman | Sandstorm

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Mark Brandon
Eleanor Parker	...	Ann Barclay Mercedes
Carlos Thompson	...	Philip Mercedes
Kurt Kasznar	...	Hamed Backhour
Victor Jory	...	Taureg Chief
Leon Askin	...	Valentine Arko, Antique Dealer
Aldo Silvani	...	Father Anthimos
Samia Gamal	...	Dancer

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved (PCA #16916) | West Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Cairo, Egypt

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Before the desert sandstorm, a rabbit is shown crouching beside a clump of grass, with a tile or flat square stonework nearby. After the storm, there are different shots showing how the sand covered things over... except for the rabbit, the clump of grass, and the flat stonework.

Quotes:

Mark Brandon: You know what they say: Egypt is like a man without a woman.
Ann Barclay Mercedes: Why do they say that?
Mark Brandon: Hot by day, cold by night.

The Quest For Joseph

Eleanor Parker has come to Egypt at the turn of the last century to seek the help of two fisted archaeologist Robert Taylor. Given this man's readiness to duke it out with friend or foe, he might well have been Sean Connery's father and Harrison Ford's grandfather. Maybe on Sean's mother's side accounting for the name change.

Parker's mission is to prove a theory of her late father that there is some archaeological proof of the biblical story of Joseph and they've identified a Pharaoh who might have been the one in charge at the time Joseph was doing his prognosticating from his dreams. She convinces Taylor and her husband Carlos Thompson to go to the Valley Of The Kings and seek the proof.

Our archaeologists run into a lot of opposition from Tuareg leader Victor Jory, antiquities dealer Kurt Kaszner, and even from Thompson who's in it for whatever loot he can acquire and smuggle. One of the plot weaknesses is that Thompson's villainy is revealed too early. Let's a lot of the suspense out of Valley Of The Kings.

Valley Of The Kings is a gorgeously photographed film on location in Egypt in the real Valley Of The Kings. Taylor and Parker were in their second of three films they made together and they were an item while Taylor was in between marriages to Barbara Stanwyck and Ursula Thiess. The attraction is quite obvious.

There is also a wonderfully staged climatic fight on top of one of the tombs between Taylor and Thompson. Valley Of The Kings is an entertaining enough film, that could have used a better written story for its cast of talented players.