Attila (1954)

Attila, the leader of the barbarian Huns and called by the Romans "The Scourge of God", sweeps onto the Italian peninsula, defeating all of the armies of Rome, until he and his men reach the gates of the city itself.

Director:

Pietro Francisci

Writers:

Ennio De Concini (original story and screen play), Frank Gervasi (story and dialogue revision)

Stars:

Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Henri Vidal

Cast

Credited cast:
Anthony Quinn	...	Attila (as Anthony Qvinn)
Sophia Loren	...	Honoria
Henri Vidal	...	Aetius
Claude Laydu	...	Valentiniano Caesar
Irene Papas	...	Grune
Colette Régis	...	Galla Placidia
Ettore Manni	...	Bleda, brother of Attila
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Onegesius, counsellor to Attila (as Eduardo Cianelli)
Georges Bréhat	...	Prisco
Christian Marquand	...	Hun Leader
Guido Celano	...	Capo della tribu / Tribe Chieftan
Aldo Pini	...	Dominicus
Marco Guglielmi	...	Kadis
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Antonio Amendola
Richard Bakalyan

Storyline

The king of the Huns, whose hordes from various tribes and allies have been sweeping the Asian steppes and both Roman empires, dies, leaving the throne to two sons. Bleda, tired of war and hungry, bloody campaigns, wants to settle as allies of Rome in peace, his brother Attila believes only in the power of the sword. Roman general Aethius, who knows the Huns well as a result of former hostage exchanges, fails to get a true peace but buys a shaky one promising doubled tribute. The court of weakling emperor Valentinianus, moved north from Rome to Ravenna, where the true ruler is empress-mother Galla Placidia, widow of a barbarian king, refuses the terms and imprisons Aethius, who still refuses to seize power with Valentinian's sister Honoria. The ambitious princess now offers her hand and the empire as dowry to Attila, just what Bleda hoped for. Scorning peace, Attila has popular Bleda murdered during a hunt, and persuades the hordes to march with him on the empire. While clueless, ...

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Plot Keywords:

hun | barbarian | conqueror | ancient rome | horde | 

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Taglines:

See the Hun Hordes Storm Out of Asia to Crash Head-On Into the Vaunted Roman Legions!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

17 May 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Attila

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Budget:

ITL 450,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Cinématographique de France, Lux Film, Producciones Ponti-de Laurentiis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min (video release) 77 min 80 min 77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anthony Quinn worked on La Strada (1954) simultaneously with this movie. He remarked that it had a much smaller budget than the Attila epic, but considered it a much better film.

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Connections

Referenced in Barnum of Baltimore: The Early Films of Joseph E. Levine (2015)

User Reviews

Passable Peplum with Sophia's Pulchritude

After starring in La Strada Anthony Quinn went on to do two more films while in Italy, Ulysses where he supported Kirk Douglas and Attila where he starred as the bloodthirsty Hun chief who nearly conquered Rome. This one is possibly the least of the three.

Attila as Quinn plays it is one dude who only really gets his Mojo going with some hand to hand combat. The Huns have a treaty with Rome and to show how times have changed, the Romans pay them tribute to not attack. But in his view of things that is not quite a legitimate way for conqueror to do things. Quinn who co-rules with brother Ettore Manni murders Manni and puts the Huns on a war footing.

But Rome by 450 AD has grown soft and futile and ruled by a kid Emperor with Mom issues. The Dowager Empress is French actress Colette Regis and her idiot son is Claude Leydu. She also has a daughter played by Sophia Loren in an early role and Sophia is out to use her considerable charms to cut her own deal with Attila. But she doesn't realize that Quinn just ain't interested when he can go out run people through with sword and lance.

To General Henri Vidal comes the disagreeable task of saving this worthless bunch. And there is also the Pope who as legend has come down to us got the deed done, but only temporarily.

Attila is a film I saw half a century ago on WOR TV in New York on Million Dollar movie. Could not appreciate the color on our black and white TV set at the time. I could also not appreciate Sophia Loren who's half the reason for seeing this film.

It's passable Peplum, not down to the level of Maciste or Hercules later on. But not one of Anthony Quinn's better remembered films.