It's been a disappointing season for "Sword and Sandal" movies.
Wrath of the Titans, John Carter,Conan, and the Immortals have all underperformed at the box office and suffered a lack of audience enthusiasm.There is still hope that DVD releases may make up for a lackluster theater run. There are examples of earlier entries into the genre that were box office busts in their time, but later achieved acclaim from the critics and a new status as cult classics. One good example starred an actor who only recently was recognized for his craft and perseverance.
After more than half of a century, Christopher Plummer has at last been awarded with his first Oscar. He won it for his supporting role in "Beginners" as Hal Fields, a museum director who comes out of the closet after his wife dies.
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Mr. Plummer has had a long, rich career with many memorable roles , including the patriarch of the Von Trapp family in "The Sound of Music" More recently, he co-starred in Heath Ledger's last film,"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". He received great reviews for his voice work in the Pixar Studio film "Up!".
My favorite film of Plummer was the 1964 production of "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire". This was an epic undertaking during the days that producer Samuel Bronston was transplanting a substantial bit of Hollywood into the country of Spain. The Franco regime was making efforts to polish it's image after the stain of associations with Mussolini and Hitler. Refer here to Pablo Picasso's "Guernica , a mural of a town in Spain sacrificed to test the new air force of the Nazi's.
Franco found a way to sweeten the pot by having movie producer Bronston become a middleman in the importation of oil into Spain!. After the critical and monetary success of the Charlton Heston vehicle,"El Cid", the profits were rolled over to make another blockbuster. Outside of Madrid, a full scale replica of Rome was built and thousands of mounted policemen and soldiers were made available for the battle scenes. No efforts were spared in achieving authenticity of the armor and costumes.
Christopher Plummer played the part of "Commodus" which was revisited years later by Joachin Phoenix in the remake,"Gladiator". Richard Harris, who was first chosen to play "Commodus' in "Empire" ended up in "Gladiator" as Marcus Aurelius! Evidently it's a small world.
Despite the lavish budget for "Empire", several factors contributed to the failure of the film to reach it's expectations. Charlton Heston passed on the lead role amid rumors persisting that he had disagreements with his leading lady from "El Cid", Sophia Loren.
The leading male role went to Heston's co-star from "Ben Hur". Stephen Boyd who was a capable actor.Unfortunately he was no "Moses" like Charlton. Who can forget the parting of the Red Sea in "The Ten Commandments"? Additionally, Miss Loren 's costumes were toned down quite a bit from her previous film, failing to highlight some of her most valuable assets. What was authentic for the time period was not sexy according to Hollywood standards. Don't forget that the U.S.A. was in mourning over the death of it's vigorous young President when this film was released.This convoluted and dark film was not what was needed to lift their spirits.
Also on hand for the impressive debacle was Alec Guinness, as Marcus Aurelius, foreshadowing the personality of the saintly Jedi Master of Star Wars fame. Just for good measure, the cast also included Omar Sharif and James Mason, of "Doctor Zhivago" and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Beneath the Sea". Christopher Plummer was a stand out in an impressive cast with his mad and decadent heir to the throne.
" Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire " was a huge financial disaster that bankrupted almost everyone involved in the financing.. The credit rating of Pierre DuPont was temporarily damaged, making him a sworn enemy to Samuel Bronston.. Bronston and his studio in Spain never recovered, although the ruins of the Roman set were a landmark visited by tourists for years.
"Rise and Fall" did receive respect from the critics and many considered this to be Christopher Plummer's best role, until now. His movies are numerous enough to have a film festival . It's good to see someone who has persisted get the accolades that have been deserved for such a long time. So maybe one of the box office duds from this season will rise again. Until then, visit your video store or library to see how a sword and sandal mega-production should look.