Valley of the Kings (1954)

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 | Egypt | Statue | Archaeologist | Cairo Egypt

Cast

  (Complete credited 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.

One of the worst Egyptological movies ever made

Robert Taylor, with a vocabulary of one word in Arabic ("emshee". "walk" or "get moving") conducts a laughable search for lost tombs. After considerable "adventure" his native guide leads him on a long desert trek to the famous rock-cut temple of Abu Simbel and says, "there it is". He could have just as easily said "go up river until you see some big statues", since this temple has been known to the West since about 1815. One good feature is the use of the French excavations at the Step Pyramid at Saqqara as a background to Taylor's archaeological "work". Shots in Cario, supposedly around the beginning of the 20th century, show a remarkable amount of modern electric and telephone wire. Not for anyone interested in historical accuracy, either ancient or modern.