Most versatile of Golden Age Hollywood helmers (ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, THE SEA HAWK, THE SEA WOLF, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, CASABLANCA, a mere sampling of just his ‘38 to ‘42 output), Hungarian director Michael Curtiz was already well-known in Europe when he went to Austria for this quasi-Biblical epic, a gloss on THE TEN COMMANDMENTS/EXODUS story from adventure novelist H. Rider Haggard. For Curtiz, the film became his American calling-card, in spite of suppression by Paramount who were protecting C.B. DeMille’s TEN COMMANDMENTS/’23. But widely viewed within the industry, it made his rep. Astounding & ridiculous in equal measure, the impressive physical production is technically similar to DeMille, but with a more sophisticated design and a style that's more D.W. Griffith than DeMille, specifically the Babylonian sections of INTOLERANCE/’16. In Haggard’s telling, Egyptian Prince Sethi (Adelqui Migliar), fairminded heir apparent to the 80-yr-old Pharaoh, goes to Goshen to quash a Jewish slave revolt where he meets and falls for Merapi, The Moon of Israel (María Corda) in spite of being engaged to Pharaoh’s daughter. As things play out, Pharaoh dies at the news; Sethi’s cousin takes his place next to Throne and Royal Daughter; those pesky plagues run their course; first born die (Sethi’s, too!); the Princess will demand extermination of the freed Israelites; and everybody races to pass thru the temporarily parted Red Sea. Curtiz brings his usual vigor to the proceedings. But much has to be taken on faith as film elements are . . . uneven. (The best youtube edition isn’t so bad, but it’s been mastered as a small window within a letterbox, so sit close. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db94nsNHCyE), it’s worth squinting thru.)
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: It was a no-brainer for Warners to assign Curtiz to NOAH’S ARK/’28. OR: See the DeMille take on THE TEN COMMANDMENTS/’23 where the Biblical tale of Moses gives way to a parallel modern story. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/07/noahs-ark-1928.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/06/ten-commandments-1923.html
No comments:
Post a Comment