FredCDobbs Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 This film was shown a few days ago and has the great classic stars Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, Angela Lansbury, George Sanders, Henry Wilcoxon, and a young Russ Tamblyn in it. It received 2 Academy Awards and 4 other nominations. It will be on again in February. I saw this in a theater when it was first released back in ?49 or ?50. We didn?t have ?wide screen? back then, but larger theaters had ?big screens?, and this was in Technicolor, and on a big screen it was quite a sight to see back then. Lamarr and Lansbury were so beautiful, and Samson was so strong and handsome. Sanders was his usual skeptical and cynical self. Wilcoxon was his usual strong ancient-soldier type The toppling of the temple at the end of the film was fantastic. I couldn?t see any matte lines or blue-screen bleed-over. The big stones seemed to fall at just the right rate, as if they weighted dozens of tons each. This was one of the best special effects sequences of any movie I?ve ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I've seen it over the years. I think it's Hedy's best performance. In her autobiography, she writes that she loved doing it, and it shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I only caught part of it, but I will look forward to seeing it in February. I was surprised to see Russ Tamblyn in the cast. Ms. Lamarr looked ravishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineSage_jr Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 DeMille was really unhappy with Mature after he'd been cast as Samson. The director though he was too fat, too unco?rdinated, and afraid of anything and everything. Of course, the quality of the script left a lot to be desired, too, C.B. and whose fault was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks for the info. I think this might have been Victor Mature?s best film. At least, it?s my favorite with him. In Samson and Delila, they seemed to speak more natural modern English (than the actors later did in "The Ten Commandments"), and I thought of them more as real people. I felt sorry for Samson when he picked two lousy dames in a row. Semadar was sneaking around behind the curtains with Prince Ahtur, and Delilah was fooling around with The Saran of Gaza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcco44 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 demille had some nice things to say about lamarr and mature in his autobiography. demille's films are great crowdpleasers, even after all these years, my hat's off to him. this film is also one of my favorites.... i saw it once at a revival theater in the '80's, with a huge crowd that was really into it... yelping, clapping and talking back to the screen.... they were really pro- delilah, demille had them hooked!! you should have heard them when lamarr & mature have their final showdown before he's blinded and she goes: "i would have loved you with a FIRE that would have made all other loves feel like ICE. i would have gone to egypt, gone anywhere, lived only for YOU. but one call from that milk-faced danite LILY, and you go WHINING at her HEELS. NO MAN LEAVES DELILAH!" i tell you the audience WENT WILD........ delilah (and lamarr) has to be the best biblical spectacle heroine/seductress EVER...... she's twisted to the end, even though she truly loved samson. all others --hayward, turner, mayo, collins, taylor's cleo, lollobrigida, that chick in 'the egyptian' '54 ... all are weak characters....... only nefretiri (anne baxter!) in 'the ten commandments' '56 offers as crafty and compelling a seductress.......in another demille film, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 "...i would have loved you with a FIRE that would have made all other loves feel like ICE. i would have gone to egypt, gone anywhere, lived only for YOU..." Can you imagine saying those words to someone, or anyone saying that to YOU? And yet Samson loved another girl. Love Mature. And Hedy...she is beyond beyond beautiful...but there's a whole thread for her extolling her beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineSage_jr Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Mature is much, much better in KISS OF DEATH and THE ROBE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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