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:

Surging Spectacle and Savagery Overwhelms the Screen With Passion and Violence! Cast of Thundering Thousands!

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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

The mighty Quinn

The script is admittedly very badly written but it follows roughly Attila 's biography.Of course ,as it is a 75 min movie,many moments are passed over in silence but all that concerns the main characters is accurate: the brother was slain by Attila and his German vassals ,Honoria tried to forge an alliance with him,(but her brother locked her into a convent),and yes,the pope found the right words to stop the conqueror.He had previously failed in front of Paris ,reportedly with a little help from Saint Genevieve ,a woman of God who urged the Parisians to resist.

The film suffers from an international ill-assorted cast:an American (Quinn) ideally cast as the bar bar,an Italian (Sophia Loren) which made sense,but also a Greek thespian (Irene Pappas) plus three French actors :Henri Vidal cast as the noble loyal hero- a character not unlike the legionnaire he played in "Fabiola"-,who was formerly Attila's good friend (?),Claude Laydu who gives a passable performance of an effeminate fearful emperor ,probably influenced by Peter Ustinov's masterful portrayal of Nero in Mervyn Le Roy's "Quo Vadis" ,Colette Régis,an obscure actress plays his mother ,an over possessive one of course.

Also handicapped by a last scene which verges on Christian propaganda -the last picture is revealing-,the film is to recommend only for Quinn's fans.