Sunday, December 31, 2017

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)


A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Nicely assembled large-scale production has lots to show and is fairly entertaining, but is highly marred by wooden performances and dialogue to match. 

Halliwell*: "Unexpected, interesting excursion into Ancient Egypt, distended by Cinemascope, basically a macabre melodrama with a final spectacular twist. The engineering details would make a fascinating documentary."

Maltin**1/2: "Entertaining, if fruity spectacle...filmed on an epic scale. Hawks claimed neither he nor his writers (including William Faulkner and Harry Kurnitz) "knew how a pharaoh talked"...and it shows. Still worth catching for great revenge ending and now-campy villainy by Collins."

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