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Reviews
The Prodigal (1955)
An Epic in Bad Taste
One of the biblical epics of the CinemaScope era. You can find some campy elements in "The Robe", "The Egyptian", "The silver Chalice" and all others. but this is the epitome of Kitch and bad taste. The decor of palaces and temples are in strong colors, mainly red, violet and gold, that makes your eyes blur. Also the costume in general (Carmen Miranda would love it), Worst of all is the script.In Samara, Lana runs a Las Vegas-like Casino, with poker tables, round cards, golden dices, and a phony roulette table. Also, a long line of "International hostess" (One of them a ¡Gheisa!) When Purdom goes to the dungeon, is saved for a fellow prisoner how is a barber-medicine man (like in medieval times). In the end, when Lana is forced to jump to a fire pool of the funny Moloch or Baal she worship, we, the audiences at the theatre, believe that the complete production should burn in flames for ever after.
Garden of Evil (1954)
This film is a must in DVD and in widescreen format
"Garden of Evil" was the first western filmed in the original wide screen format of CinemaScope and stereophonic sound.(The second was "River of no Return") both produced by Fox studios.The Mexican landscapes are excellent thanks to the superb photography and use of color. the score is also first rate by the great composer Bernard Herrmann. The lines of Gary Cooper are excellent, I fine example of the "Man with no name" type. Full of philosophic topics. Widmark and Hayward also ad magic to film. A traditional frontier western. Its a film made for wide screen, it deserves an excellent wide print with a superb stereo sound, like in the original. a must in DVD.
Adán y Eva (1956)
The worst sin is watch this movie
When the film opened in theaters in Mexico city, in 1957 I was a 10 year old kid, so the censors put me out of the line outside the theater. Then the film disappeared for more of forty years, because the leading lady Christianne Martel, former 1953 Miss France, after a very short career in Hollywood ended in the Mexican cinema and became very popular. Eventually she married a prominent Mexican politician, that baned all her films from exhibition, even in television. Suddenly last year, the film appeared in DVD. so I run to buy it. No nudity at all, all the time some plant or animal gets the closeup to protect the "private parts" from the camera. Some times Adam and Eve look like martians due to the rubber "leotards" that the couple wears in some scenes where no bush or object protect them. Bad taste, bad acting (If there is any) even car bored eastmancolor. Pedro Almodóver or John Waters will love the film if they had the chance to see it.
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
One of the best epic films in the history of cinema
Comapered with the "flat, blurry and poor" computer generated images of "Gladiator" this film is far superior in all aspects. Frist of all, the monumental scenario, and decor are matchless. The acting, specially Christopher Plummer, Alec Guinness, James Mason the alluring Sophia Loren, and the wonderful speech at the Senate by Frank Finlay. This is the kind of film that 70mm Ultra-Panavision format was made for. When opened in México city in his original format was an unforgettable experience.The superb score by Dimitri Tiomkin, the splendid cinematography of the film, like the encounter in a snowy landscape witting Comodus and Livio. The burial of Marcus Aurelius, Or the Grimm bacchanal with Loren crying about the end of the empire. not to mention the extraordinary battle scenes with the barbarians. Compared with the stupid same battle scene in "Gladiator" with roman catapults shoo-thing bombs with fungus smoke and blast hing like if they where WW2 thanks. I don't know how such bad made film like "Gladiator" was voted best film of the year
The Egyptian (1954)
the good and the bad in The Egyptian
There are many film now on DVD, but producers had forgotten some tittles of importance to many moviegoers. The Egyptian, along with El Cid and other favorites of the era of the wide screen, big budget epics had merit. Many people from my generation learn a lot about history of Egypt, medieval Spain and even the Incas, (The first time I heard from them was a very cheap adventure movie with Charlton Heston called The Treasure of the Incas), same happened to me with Egypt, or Rome seen many "bad" epics of the era. many production values, excellent use of color (The De Luxe color was more Brigit and sharp that the ordinary Technicolor), maybe the cast was wrong but in any case, the film did manèged to give us idea of the life in ancient Egyptin and was in a way the motor to go out and buy the novel, my Mika Waltari, one of the best, if not the best historical-novel ever published. Also oust anding was the superb score by Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann. I saw this film many times when I was a boy, it was not the big box office hit that Fox studios wanted to afther The Robe enormous hit, in CinemaScope and Stereo was a wonderful eye popping sp4ectacle. I have the Lasser Disc version.m the only way to see Ito its wdisescreen format. Soon i Hope will appeared.
Die Nibelungen, Teil 1 - Siegfried (1966)
A great film for the big screen
Saw this film when it came out in Mexico city, around Christmass of 1967. the tittle was "Whom the Gods Wishes to Destroy", subtitle "Los Nibelungos" (Spanish for "Die Nibelungen). If the first part was 91 minutes and the second part was 110, that makes 201 minutes. The complete version I saw was 195 minutes. I don't know how nearly 6 minutes of can damages any film, specially in the sixties when a film of tree hours or more was a norm. Also, the film opened at the Cine Manacar, one of those wonderful movie palaces of the era now long go, in a superb 70mm print, with 6 tracks stereophonic sound. and asset that i'm afraid no DVD or the best Home Theatre will cant match today. Yes the film is must for moviegoers. It's a pity not to see it the way was originally shown.