Nefertiti, regina del Nilo (1961)

Director:

Fernando Cerchio

Writers:

John Byrne, Fernando Cerchio,

Stars:

Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Edmund Purdom

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeanne Crain	...	Nefertiti
Vincent Price	...	Benakon
Edmund Purdom	...	Tumos, Scultore
Amedeo Nazzari	...	Amenophis IV
Liana Orfei	...	Merith
Carlo D'Angelo	...	Seper
Alberto Farnese	...	Dakim
Clelia Matania	...	Penaba
Giulio Marchetti	...	Meck
Piero Palermini	...	Nagor
Umberto Raho
Luigi Marturano
Romano Giomini
Raf Baldassarre	...	Mareb (as Raffaele Baldassarre)
Adriano Vitale

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

peplum | ancient egypt

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

15 January 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

MAX Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Amenhopis IV changed his name to Akhenaten after converting to the worship of the Aton, and his capital was Akhet-Aton, not Thebes.

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Connections

Referenced in Stump the Stars: Ed Begley vs. Jeanne Crain (1963)

User Reviews

Italian Historical Epic

This is an unpretentious Italian Historical Epic film based on the figure of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti. The story is acceptable -don't look for historical accuracy- and deals with the romance of the queen to be with a poor sculptor and the dilemma she has to face when forced to choose between her love or duty. Locations, settings, colour and gowns are acceptable too.

Italians were fully dedicated to this kind of "B" epic productions in the early 60's and they often hired well known American or British performers -usually after their best years- in order to raise the level of these films and make them more suitable for international markets (Orson Welles, Broderick Crawford, Victor Mature and Basil Rathbone were among them).

Jeanne Crain was always a just correct actress, but she looks beautiful here as Nefertiti and you prefer to feast your eyes on her than to analyze her performance. Vincent Price -just before his deservedly successful association with Roger Corman in Poe's based horror stories- plays without effort a villainous high priest. The love interest of the queen is Edmund Purdom in his usual dull and wooden acting; I can't recall another actor that was given so many chances to reach stardom with -if not great- rather expensive products and failed ("The Egyptian", "The Prodigal", "The King's Thief" or later "The Yellow Rolls Royce"). He ended up in "B" European films and no more than that.

All in all, this is a movie to see if you like historical Epics but it surely won't make history in the genre.