Helen of Troy (1956)

Such a frustrating disappointment

best movie i've ever seen.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Another sword 'n sandals epic from the 50s, that I'd never heard of till Turner Classic Movies. Agree with everyone's sneers at the wooden blondies in the starring roles and gay ignorance of the immortal story of Homer's. What I dislike the most was the rotten parody of Hector's farewell to Andromache, the most moving passage in the whole epic. The baby son (about a year old in Homer, around five in the movie) is frightened by "the fierce plume that nodded from (Hector's) helmet." A real prince of five would have no fear of helmets: ( Alexander killed his first man when he was twelve), nor would his father say anything like "may he never need one." Homer has Hector laugh and dandle the baby saying, "may he be a great hero, a better man than his father." They also leave out the parting comment of wise Andromache "as far the host, place them by the fig tree, where the wall is weakest." There actually is such a weak spot in the excavated walls of Bronze Age Troy.

Now first of i am not a fan of Greek stories the only ones that i like is this one , Walt Disney's Hercules; and Pompeii.Beginning with this movie i was going into it with the intention of hating it.But boy did this one surprise me.I didn't even catch on that this is the story of the Trojan horse i realized it first when the wooden horse showed up on the screen.That aside the love story that's inter wined is perfect Rosanna podesta and Jack sernas was a perfect cast even though their voices were dubbed seeing that both of them are french.That aside this is remarkable movie.Give it a try and you will fall in love.

Now over fifty years old, this almost epic film pales in comparison to other more notable sword and sandal movies. The scale of the film cannot be faulted, hundreds of extras & huge lavish sets are evident, while the piece is given a well regarded director in Robert Wise to chart its course.However, the problems with it are many. First off is that the film is terribly pedestrian for the first hour, a tepid script fails to engage and at times is unintentionally funny. Then there are major cast issues. Taking the leads of Paris & Helen are Jacques Sernas & Rossana Podestà respectively. They look the part, both of them undeniably pretty, but neither of them can act for toffee. Filmed in Rome, Italy, it begs the question on if the casting director walked around Lazio and picked the two blondest people available for the roles! In support of the Blondie's are a host of usually fine performers, Cedric Hardwicke, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Harry Andrews, Torin Thatcher & Robert Douglas. A mixture of actors either too old for their roles, poorly written, or in the case of Douglas, an underused important character (Agamemnon).Shifting away from the awful back projection work, the action sequences fair much better. There's enough here in the second hour to please the sword & sandal fan. But if it's enough to make this a safe recommendation to the potential first time crowd? Well I wouldn't stake my life on it you know! It's a genre I personally love, so I wondered why I hadn't heard about it long before now? After viewing it it became evident why, it's just not any good. A generous 4/10 from me for the siege of Troy action construction, the stunt work throughout and for Baker's moody show as Achilles.

This is an impersonal movie,coming from someone as talented as Robert Wise ,who seems less comfortable in the sword and sandal genre than he is in the musicals ("West Side Story" ),the fantasy and horror movies ("The haunting" 1963!)or mainly the film noir ("odd against tomorrow" "I want To live" "the set up").He is not helped by an heterogeneous cast including Italian Rossana Podesta (Wise found her in Fernandez's "La Red"(1954) in which she played half-naked most of the time:so the part was tailor made for her),French Jacques Sernas (and a brunette Brigitte Bardot in the priceless part of a devoted slave),English Stanley Baker as Achilles ,as tradition as it,as far co-productions are concerned.That said,Wise's Troy is certainly smarter than the 2003 version which had Achilles die during the storming of the city,just because star Brad Pit needed a longer part.The judgment of Pâris,which was passed over in the modern version,is also absent ,but the screenwriters found an interesting counterpart with the statues of the goddesses.Generally the Spartians look nasty,sinister-looking whereas the Troyans are good-looking,loyal,brave and virtuous.Best performance,IMHO,comes from Janette Scott as Cassandra who plays her game well in an underwritten part.Lavish film sets , good battles scenes and a story closer to Homer than the 2003 version .