Erode il grande (1959)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Viktor Tourjansky

Writers:

Fernando Cerchio (screenplay)
Damiano Damiani (story)

Release Date:

5 December 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

All the passion and power in the pagan court of history's mad and lustful king!

Plot:

Herod, King of Judea, is made a prisoner by the Romans. Convinced the King is dead, his faithful lieutenant, Aaron, is nevertheless unable to keep his promise to kill the Queen if something untoward happened to the King. He leads the young woman out into the desert. Herod's pleas to Augustus are successful and he returns to his palace. His son, Antipater, informs Herod that Aaron has betrayed him.

Plot Keywords:

King | Roman | Judea | Palace | Desert

Cast

Edmund Purdom	...	Herod
Sylvia Lopez	...	Miriam
Massimo Girotti	...	Octavius
Sandra Milo	...	Sarah
Elena Zareschi	...	Alexandra
Ettore Manni	...	Aaron
Corrado Pani
Alberto Lupo
Arnoldo Foà
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Renato Baldini
Carlo D'Angelo
Enzo Fiermonte
Enrico Glori
Valeria Gramignani
Sylva Koscina
Diego Pozzetto

Also Known As:

Herod the Great (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Finland:K-16

Company:

Comptoir Français de Productions Cinématographiques (CFPC)

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 28396 delivered on 30-12-1958.

Quotes:

Herod: Aaron, I can let you die quickly, or I can keep you alive so that you will curse the woman who brought you into this world.

Good Epic of Betrayal and Revenge

When Marco Antonio is defeated by his enemies, his former allied King Herod of Judea (Edmund Purdom) travels to convince Augustus to support his government by the Romans. He makes his chief commander and friend Aaron (Alberto Lupo) swear that he would kill his beloved Queen Miriam (Sylvia Lopez) if he died. When Herod is arrested by the Romans, one of his men returns to Judea and lies, telling that he was killed by the Romans. However Aaron is not able to keep his promise and Miriam stays alive. When Herode returns to his palace, his son Antipater, poisons Herode with the lie that Aaron has betrayed him and had an affair with Miriam. The madness of Herode destroys his friends and his kingdom.

"Erode il grande" is a good epic of betrayal and revenge in a nest of snakes. The theatrical performance of Edmund Purdom is very exaggerated and quite ridiculous in the love scenes with Sylvia Lopez, but in the rest of the movie he works well. The character of Antipater seems to be inspired in Iago of Shakespeare's Othello. Unfortunately the DVD released in Brazil by the distributor London Films is horribly dubbed in English, and the quality of the image is awful. But this movie is a worthwhile entertainment if the viewer disregard the previously mentioned problems. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Herodes o Grande" ("Herode The Great")