The Last Roman (1968)
"Kampf um Rom I" (original title)

Cethegus, capo della nobiltà romana, viaggia verso Bisanzio per raggiungere Giustiniano, in attesa di marciare contro i Goti, guidati da Narses. Cethegus vorrebbe ottenere la vittoria su ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writers:

David Ambrose (additional dialogue), Felix Dahn (novel),

Stars:

Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, Sylva Koscina

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Laurence Harvey	...	Cethegus
Orson Welles	...	Emperor Justinian
Sylva Koscina	...	Empress Theodora
Harriet Andersson	...	Mathaswintha
Honor Blackman	...	Amalaswintha
Robert Hoffmann	...	Totila
Michael Dunn	...	Narses
Ingrid Boulting	...	Julia (as Ingrid Brett)
Lang Jeffries	...	Belisarius
Florin Piersic	...	Witichis
Emanoil Petrut	...	Teja
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Hildebrand
Dieter Eppler	...	Thorismund
Ewa Strömberg	...	Rauthgundis
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mircea Anghelescu	...	Aligern

Storyline

Cethegus, capo della nobiltà romana, viaggia verso Bisanzio per raggiungere Giustiniano, in attesa di marciare contro i Goti, guidati da Narses. Cethegus vorrebbe ottenere la vittoria su entrambi i fronti della battaglia, per potere ottenere il predominio ed il controllo di tutto l'impero.

---

Plot Keywords:

ancient rome | female nudity | 6th century | epic | based on novel

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany Italy Romania

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1968 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Last Roman

Filming Locations:

CCC-Studios, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

CCC Filmkunst, Documento Film, Studioul Cinematografic Bucuresti

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 83 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in In the Heat of the Sun (1994)

User Reviews

THE LAST ROMAN (Robert Siodmak, 1968-9) **1/2

In view of its imposing credentials, I had been looking forward to watching this one for some time; though I only managed to catch the condensed version of the two-part epic - shown on Italian TV as part of an Orson Welles marathon on Easter Sunday - it's still a worthwhile and enjoyable film of its type: choppily edited and disjointed in narrative, to be sure, but hardly incoherent. Incidentally, Welles participated in two other butchered spectacles around this time - THE BATTLE OF NERETVA (1969) and WATERLOO (1970); thanks to his larger-than-life persona, the heavy-set thespian was a regular feature of historical epics during the genre's heyday.

THE LAST ROMAN proved to be celebrated director Siodmak's final film: perhaps not the ideal swan-song for him as, apart from Honor Blackman's nasty bath-tub murder, there's little evidence of (or opportunity for) his trademark stylistics. In fact, I'd say that the film bears more the imprint of its producer Arthur Brauner - an expert in exotic exploitation (witness the very discreet, but entirely gratuitous, use of nudity) who had also been the force behind Fritz Lang's last films and would soon collaborate on a number of Jess Franco pictures. Nevertheless, this particular effort abounds in battle sequences that are moderately well-staged - and the plot is so replete with double-crosses, murders and switched allegiances that the viewer's full attention is required throughout; another typical asset of such films is the score and Riz Ortolani provides a serviceable one here.

Apart from the aforementioned Orson Welles and Honor Blackman, the cast is an eccentric mix of international and "Euro-Cult" stars - Laurence Harvey, Sylva Koscina, Michael Dunn, Harriet Andersson, Robert Hoffmann, Ingrid Boulting, Ewa Stroemberg, Lang Jeffries and Friedrich Ledebur; though mostly working below-par, none are especially demeaned by their role in the film (excepting Harvey's embarrassing hairstyle).

In the end, I'd love to check out the full-length version of STRUGGLE FOR ROME (as the original title of this German/Italian/Romanian co-production translates to) someday - but the possibility seems very remote at this stage...