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Fabiola

  • 19491949
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
233
YOUR RATING
Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)
DramaHistory
In ancient Rome a love story blossoms between Fabiola, daughter of a senator, and Rhual, a Gallic gladiator. After Fabiola's father is killed, the Romans blame the Christians and the persecu... Read allIn ancient Rome a love story blossoms between Fabiola, daughter of a senator, and Rhual, a Gallic gladiator. After Fabiola's father is killed, the Romans blame the Christians and the persecution begins. Rhual confesses to being a Christian, is accused of the murder and sentenced ... Read allIn ancient Rome a love story blossoms between Fabiola, daughter of a senator, and Rhual, a Gallic gladiator. After Fabiola's father is killed, the Romans blame the Christians and the persecution begins. Rhual confesses to being a Christian, is accused of the murder and sentenced to fight to the death in the arena.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
233
YOUR RATING
    • Alessandro Blasetti
  • Writers
    • Nicholas Patrick Wiseman(novel)
    • Alessandro Blasetti(story)
    • Mario Chiari(story)
  • Stars
    • Michèle Morgan
    • Henri Vidal
    • Michel Simon
    • Alessandro Blasetti
  • Writers
    • Nicholas Patrick Wiseman(novel)
    • Alessandro Blasetti(story)
    • Mario Chiari(story)
  • Stars
    • Michèle Morgan
    • Henri Vidal
    • Michel Simon
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 5User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos18

    Fabiola (1949)
    Michèle Morgan in Fabiola (1949)
    Fabiola (1949)
    Massimo Girotti in Fabiola (1949)
    Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)
    Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)
    Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)
    Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)
    Massimo Girotti in Fabiola (1949)
    Michèle Morgan in Fabiola (1949)
    Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)
    Fabiola (1949)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michèle Morgan
    Michèle Morgan
    • Fabiola
    Henri Vidal
    Henri Vidal
    • Rhual
    Michel Simon
    Michel Simon
    • Senator Fabius Severus
    Louis Salou
    Louis Salou
    • Fulvius Petronius
    Elisa Cegani
    • Sira
    Massimo Girotti
    Massimo Girotti
    • Sebastian
    Gino Cervi
    Gino Cervi
    • Quadratus
    Sergio Tofano
    Sergio Tofano
    • Luciano
    Rina Morelli
    Rina Morelli
    • Faustina
    Paolo Stoppa
    Paolo Stoppa
    • Proconsul Manlius Valerian
    Carlo Ninchi
    Carlo Ninchi
    • Galba
    Franco Interlenghi
    Franco Interlenghi
    • Corvino
    Guglielmo Barnabò
    Guglielmo Barnabò
    • Antoniano Leto
    Aldo Silvani
    Aldo Silvani
    • Cassiano
    Silvana Jachino
    Silvana Jachino
    • Lucilla
    Umberto Sacripante
    • Funzionario dell'annona
    Goliarda Sapienza
    • Cecilia
    Virgilio Riento
    • Pietro
      • Alessandro Blasetti
    • Writers
      • Nicholas Patrick Wiseman(novel)
      • Alessandro Blasetti(story) (screenplay)
      • Mario Chiari(story) (screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      British Lion submitted the 97-minute US version to the British Board of Film Censors on 4 June 1951 and were given an "A" certificate, suitable for children if accompanied by an adult. Following a test run at the Savoy, Dublin from 31 August 1951 (which was reported to have broken the house attendance record), Fabiola's UK public premiere was held at the Grand, Southport from 13 September 1951. After further sneak previews in Jersey and Nottingham the film finally reached the capital on 30 November 1951 with a three-week run at the London Pavilion. British Lion used the original title "Fabiola" throughout the 1950s, but on 3 November 1960 New Realm re-submitted the film to the BBFC under a new title "The Fighting Gladiator and Fabiola," hoping to cash in on the Italian epic craze. However, only ABC's Empire in Longton seems to have announced the full, cumbersome title. Everywhere else shortened it to simply "The Fighting Gladiator." As such it continued to get sporadic showings up to the end of 1966.
    • Alternate versions
      Italian version runs 164 minutes; shortened (96 minutes) and re-edited English-dubbed version was released in the USA in 1951.
    • Connections
      Featured in Le viager (1972)

    User reviews5

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    The U.S. dubbed is FAR from fabulous!
    The U.S. version of this Italian-made spectacle (with three famous French actors in the leads!) had well over an hour trimmed from its two-and-one-half-hour plus length and the inevitable result is one of the most confusing mish-mashes imaginable. I defy anyone to make sense of it, especially as the final sequences unreel.

    Of course the dubbing is atrocious and the sound effects and music score suffer terrible desecration as well. It was quite lavishly produced (in black-and-white, alas!) and the costumes, by Veniero Colasanti, especially, are exceptionally well done. (His very professional work was featured in a trio of Samuel Bronston-produced epics some years later, "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," and "The Fall of the Roman Empire.") Over a dozen writers, credited and uncredited, had a hand in preparing a screenplay from Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman's monumental novel, and character motivations and dialogue, at least in the dubbed version, are something to ignore as the spectacle unfolds.

    The cool blonde beauty of Michele Morgan, in the title role, is put to good use, though she seems quite wooden, something that is usually said about a male hero in films of this type. Henri Vidal, as Rhual, is, in contrast, quite animated and acquits himself as well as can be expected amid the impossible machinations of the scenarists.

    A purveyor of off-beat and hard-to-find titles has this title available, culled from a less-than-perfect (to say the least) 16 mm print but it's worth a look if your taste runs to sword-and-sandal stuff set in ancient Rome with Christians in peril and Roman mobs lusting for their gruesome extermination.
    helpful•9
    1
    • gregcouture
    • Nov 13, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 1, 1951 (United States)
      • Italy
      • France
      • Italian
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Franco London Films
      • Universalia Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 36 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Mono

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