★ 6 / 10
This is essentially a story all of it's
CinemaSerf
This is essentially a story all of it's own. Though history forms the basis of the subject, Richard Burton's depiction strays quite wilfully from any of the…
This is essentially a story all of it's own. Though history forms the basis of the subject, Richard Burton's depiction strays quite wilfully from any of the more established legends that are Alexander of Macedonia - or it just chooses to create a completely new one. Frederic March is good as his borderline megalomanic father Philip. with whom Alexander has a love/hate relationship as is Danielle Darrieux - his glamorous, and equally enigmatic mother Olympias who is constantly filling her son's head with tales of his divine origins. The tale leads us on a colourful adventure through his life without much subtlety, artistry or style - indeed Burton is pretty wooden throughout. To be fair, he has little by way of good dialogue to work with and although the assembled cast is impressive, they rarely work together well enough to create anything like a sense of peril, achievement or anything much, really - with Stanley Baker and Clare Bloom as the Persian Princess Barsine proving to be casting at it's most curious. As you'd expect, the budget wasn't meagre and the craft elements are stunningly produced; costumes, scenery and the battle scenes are all staged well with plenty of action. It's far too long however, and the chances to develop the more historically interesting facets of their characterisations are pretty much all missed. Just goes to show that money isn't everything...
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★ 6 / 10
_**Alexander’s conquests from Greece through the Persian Empire**_
Wuchak
_**Alexander’s conquests from Greece through the Persian Empire**_ After being tutored by Aristotle (Barry Jones), Alexander (Richard Burton) takes over the…
_**Alexander’s conquests from Greece through the Persian Empire**_
After being tutored by Aristotle (Barry Jones), Alexander (Richard Burton) takes over the Macedonian throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 after his father is assassinated (Fredric March). Over the next 13 years he, amazingly, conquers the Persian Empire and heads into India before finally turning back. Claire Bloom plays Alexander’s mother while Peter Cushing appears as General Memnon, who defects to Persia. Teresa del Río is on hand as Alexander’s wife acquired in Bactria.
“Alexander the Great” (1956) debuted 48 years before Oliver Stone’s 2004 rendition. It’s better than what I expected for such an old, obscure film, but not great like, say, “Ben-Hur” (1959) mainly because the brooding story is more tedious than compelling. There’s a lot of Shakespearean posing and talking, which will turn off some viewers.
However, I like the doomy, heavy air, which is augmented by the score (that no doubt inspired doom metal bands fifteen years later), as well as Burton’s forceful presence (people claim that he was too old for the part, but not really since he was 30 during shooting and the real Alexander died one month shy of 33). I expected the ambiance to be lusher, yet the colors are surprisingly muted.
This one spends so much time in Greece/Macedonia to the point that the conquest of the Persian Empire seems like an afterthought and India is barely mentioned (if at all). Nevertheless, there’s enough to appreciate here for those interested in the topic. Speaking of which, I suggest reading up on Alexander a little bit before viewing so you can grasp the main characters and the basics of what’s going on. I also suggest watching the 2004 version and comparing the two.
The film runs 2 hours, 16 minutes, and was shot entirely in Spain.
GRADE: B-
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★ 6 / 10
A Nutshell Review: (DVD) Alexander the Great
DICK STEEL
I borrowed this movie with one intent, and that is to see how the subject material was handled in the 50s, compared to the most recent interpretation by Oliver…
I borrowed this movie with one intent, and that is to see how the subject material was handled in the 50s, compared to the most recent interpretation by Oliver Stone, who gave us an Alexander with Colin Farrell complete with his hair dyed blonde. And while I was lamenting the fact that there were only 2 war scenes on a massive scale included in that version, the hype that surrounded the story of a conqueror seemed to have made way for Stone's very queer depiction on the bisexuality of Alexander, especially with the camera adopting his POV and gazing ever so lovingly at the male species, countless of times until you want to throw up. I guess subtle is never in Stone's books.Now this version written and directed by Robert Rossen (who also gave us the original Hustler) did away with all that sexuality issues, and neither did it find any need to have gratuitous nudity in watching Alexander make love (in Stone's version, Rosario Dawson went nude in her role as Roxane). Then again it was made about 50 years ago. Anyway, what I found to be a major disappointment, were the battle scenes. Yes, it might be terribly dated by now, and sadly didn't survive the test of time. At certain scenes and angles, it's akin to old martial arts movies, where enemies just circle around you, waiting for their choreographed moves to be executed, or worse, if you pay attention to characters in the background, they surely aren't moving like ferocious warriors, choosing instead to mull around!Also, we only get one major battle sequence in Alexander the Great, which made the foray into India in Stone's Alexander look like bonus material. In fact, this version took some time to establish key characters, and began with Alexander's father King Philip's (Fredric March) conquests first, interrupted by the birth of his son, and the prophetic signs under which he was born. It took almost 30 minutes before you see any semblance to a fight, and almost one hour before Richard Burton finally takes over the mantle and seeks out his destiny as one of the greatest known world conquerors of all time. However, the film felt like it was in two arcs, the first which dwells on the internal bickering within Greece with its many factions, and the plotting between mother Olympias (Danielle Darrieux) and King Philip, each wanting to win over Alexander's loyalty for their own political purpose. In this version though, which harped on Darrieux's appearance in the credits, I thought she made Angelina Jolie look more formidable in the role. At least Jolie was dripping with evilness and cunning, compared to the more subdued Darrieux.The latter half dealt with Alexander's conquests through Asia, though most of the facts were glossed over. It was too little too late as most of which are told using montage, intertitles and narration, which made it look like a rush job to end it. While Stone's movie had focused a fair bit over Alexander's obsession with being the Son of God and his increasing obsession over himself and his glories, this version again made those themes look superbly examined in Stone's version. However, one thing's for certain, Richard Burton, even with the horribly blond hair which looked like a wig, was indeed a lot more charismatic and believable than Coliln Farrell. And that also meant when Burton was wearing the horrendous full faced helmet so that the stunt guy can take over!All in all, a pretty decent effort in telling the story of Alexander the Great, however as mentioned, it didn't really stood up to the test of time.
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my goat was albanian