A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.
- Kyra
- (as Luisa Boni)
- Egyptian Architect
- (uncredited)
- Captain of the Guard
- (uncredited)
- Dancer at the Party
- (uncredited)
- Priest
- (uncredited)
- Nabuna, Nellifer's Bodyguard
- (uncredited)
- Bit Part
- (uncredited)
- Mea
- (uncredited)
- Dancer at the Party
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie was Producer and Director Howard Hawks' first commercial failure. It caused him to take a break from directing and travel through Europe for a few years. His next movie, Rio Bravo (1959), was the longest break between two movies in his career.
- GoofsIn the opening scene the pharaoh is described as a descendant of the sun god Amon / Amun. But during the Old Kingdom the the sun god was Ra. Amun only rose to prominence, and merged with Ra, as Amun-Ra, during the Middle Kingdom, some thousand years later.
- Quotes
Vashtar: Listen to them, Vashtar! This is a funeral, but they're not sad. They almost seem as if they're happy
Vashtar: The life they hope for in the future seems to mean more to them than their present life.
Vashtar's servant: I wonder if any of them ever saw or spoke to someone living in the future.
Vashtar: I don't think so, Mikka.
Vashtar's servant: I'd rather enjoy this life. Mind you, the wine in the grave sounds like a good idea, but how do I know I'll be thirsty?
- ConnectionsEdited into The Story of Mankind (1957)
Hawks's movie has one of the best ,most impressive and terrifying ending I know.These last pictures are a riveting tour de force with an editing to rival the best of Lang or Welles.The story spreads over fifteen years ,which is long for a relatively short work.Hawks was obviously more interested in his villains (Hawkins and Collins) than the heroes(the architect slave (Justice),his son and his people:both are fascinating.The pharaoh's dream of eternity is selfishness itself disguised as religion.To be buried with his riches to be able to enjoy them in his second life paradoxically seems a pagan attitude;the architect ,in direct contrast to him,is a slave who 's got nothing and he did not believe in life after life:it might make think of a Jew but neither him nor his people seem to have a religion,which is a very original move for a peplum (in Curtiz's "the Egyptian" ,the precedent year,the same went for the hero Sinouhe:these are the only examples in an epic).Hawks might have been influenced by Lang's wife's screenplay "das Indische Grabmal" ,which Lang finally took to the screen in the late fifties but which was filmed by others before him.Do not let the Faulkner reference fool you.He reportedly wrote half a page of script which can be summed up as follows:"Pharaoh pays a visit to the pyramid while the workers are sweating blood to get it done and he asks "how 's the work coming on?".
Nellifer is Joan Collins at her bitchiest: a greedy woman,who had already problems with dynasties.Unlike pharaoh,she wants to have her cake and eat it.Her acting is pure camp ,which fits the character like a glove.Her fate will make your hair stand on end.
Hawks makes a wonderful use of the cinemascope , when he displays a cast of thousands and when he directs his characters in the confined atmosphere of the pyramid.He succeeds in creating a sublime contrast between the dark subterranean of the grave and the luminous blue sky of the desert,particularly in the last sequences ,I say it again,among the very best of the fifties cinema.
- dbdumonteil
- May 19, 2004
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs
- Filming locations
- The Unfinished Obelisk, Aswan, Egypt(Quarry scenes)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,900,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1