The Colossus Of Rhodes casts American expatriate actor Rory Calhoun as an Athenian warrior visiting Rhodes for a bit of R and R from the wars back on the Greek mainland. But no sooner does he get there than he's hip deep in Rhodesian politics with two factions trying to overthrow King Roberto Camardiel. One are the freedom fighters led by Georges Marechal with whom Calhoun throws his lot with. The other is a group led by prime minister Conrado San Martin who has smuggled in Phoenician soldiers in the guise of slaves and he's got them hidden in the city catacombs awaiting a propitious moment to strike.
The king is having some good reason to celebrate what he thinks is the apex of his regime symbolized by the construction of what became known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Colossus Of Rhodes is this statue of Apollo astride the entrance of the harbor and like the arch in St. Louis is hollow. Unlike the arch it's also a weapon of war keeping folks in and out of the harbor at the bidding of who controls the Colossus.
In actuality the Colossus was not hollow it was a statue and most likely did not set astride the harbor entrance. If it had been when the earthquake that destroyed it after about one hundred years it would have fallen in the harbor and blocked it for years. It was quite the engineering feat whether it was the real colossus or the special effects in this film.
Sergio Leone made his directorial debut and this was before he started doing the spaghetti westerns for which he became famous. As a Peplum film, The Colossus Of Rhodes is above the average. I remember seeing it in theaters back in 1961 and it was quite the marvel back then for a 14 year old.
The king is having some good reason to celebrate what he thinks is the apex of his regime symbolized by the construction of what became known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Colossus Of Rhodes is this statue of Apollo astride the entrance of the harbor and like the arch in St. Louis is hollow. Unlike the arch it's also a weapon of war keeping folks in and out of the harbor at the bidding of who controls the Colossus.
In actuality the Colossus was not hollow it was a statue and most likely did not set astride the harbor entrance. If it had been when the earthquake that destroyed it after about one hundred years it would have fallen in the harbor and blocked it for years. It was quite the engineering feat whether it was the real colossus or the special effects in this film.
Sergio Leone made his directorial debut and this was before he started doing the spaghetti westerns for which he became famous. As a Peplum film, The Colossus Of Rhodes is above the average. I remember seeing it in theaters back in 1961 and it was quite the marvel back then for a 14 year old.