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 - Counselor 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 | character name as title | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1962 Embassy Pictures reissued this in the US on a double feature with Hercules (1958) (English title: "Hercules" starring Steve Reeves) with the tag line "The Mightiest Men In All The World! The Mightiest Show In All the World".

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Crazy Credits

Although this was an Italian co-production shot in Italy, Eduardo Ciannelli's name is misspelled in the credit.

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Connections

Featured in Biography: Sophia Loren: Actress Italian Style (1997)

User Reviews

Hun, they shrunk the story

An early sword-and-sandal epic from Italy casts Anthony Quinn as Attila the Hun, with dialog that sounds as though it came from a kung fu movie. "Attila" is probably most noticeable as an early appearance of Sophia Loren (she plays Honoria, who marries the vicious warrior). Otherwise, it's the sort of movie that belongs on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". At this point, I have serious doubts as to whether its even possible to make a good movie about a historical figure from that long ago. Maybe they just work best as spoofs in the vein of "Life of Brian".

Anyway, this is certainly the sort of flick that should be of interest to bad movie buffs. Not terrible, but that year, Anthony Quinn starred in one of Italy's greatest films: "La strada".

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

17 May 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Attila

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Budget:

ITL450,000,000 (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