| The Last Days of Pompeii | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Mario Bonnard Sergio Leone |
| Produced by | Paolo Moffa Lucio Fulci |
| Written by | Sergio Corbucci Ennio de Concini Sergio Leone |
| Based on | The Last Days of Pompeii by Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
| Starring | Steve Reeves Christine Kaufmann Fernando Rey |
| Music by | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino |
| Cinematography | Antonio L. Ballesteros |
| Editing by | Eraldo Da Roma Julio Peña |
| Studio | Cineproduzioni Associate (Italy) Procura (Spain) Transocean (Germany) |
| Distributed by | United Artist (USA) |
| Release date(s) | November 12, 1959 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | English |
The Last Days of Pompeii (1959) (Italian: Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) is an Italian sword and sandal action film, starring Steve Reeves, Christine Kaufmann and Fernando Rey, and directed by Sergio Leone. Mario Bonnard, the original director, fell ill on the first day of shooting, so Leone and the scriptwriters finished the film.
The film is characterized by its CinemaScope framing, an lavish look, and is one of the many films produced during the 1960s as part of the "peplum" sword and sandal craze, originally launched by Pietro Francisci's 1958 film Le fatiche di Ercole, released as Hercules in the United States by Joseph E. Levine.
The film is also interesting as an early example of Leone's work, which would soon become internationally popular with his series of spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood. In his use of widescreen, as well as his penchant for colorful violence and outlandish plot twists, Leone displays a visual flair that would soon propel him to directorial fame.
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Glaucus, a centurion returning to his home in Pompeii after a spell in Palestine, arrives on the edge of town just in time to see Ione, the beautiful daughter of the city's Consul, lose control of her chariot. Glaucus saves Ione's life and then heads into town to see his father. On the way, Glaucus intervenes in defense of a thief named Antonius, who is being severely punished on orders given by Gallinus, a Praetorian Guard. Once he arrives at his father's house, Glaucus discovers that it has been looted and his father murdered but a band of ruthless hooded thieves who have been terrorizing the city always leaving a cross painted on a wall as a calling card. Glaucus vows revenge against the killers.
In order to convince the Emperor that the mass murders are not a sign of trouble, Ascanius, the Consul of Pompeii, orders a city-wide festival. In the streets, Antonius rolls a drunken soldier and steals his pouch. The pouch contains a ring that belonged to Glaucus' father and a black hood identical to that worn by the band of killers. Antonius brings the ring to Glaucus' friend Marcus, who follows the suspicious soldier to Pompeii's Temple of Isis. But before Marcus can tell anybody what he has discovered, he is killed by Arbaces, the High Priest of Isis, and his body is left to be found with a Christian cross carved into it.
During the festival Glaucus takes out his anger by getting drunk and crashes a party at Ascanius' house. There, the disreputable Praetorian Guard Gallinus tries to rape Nydia, Ione’s blind slave, much to the amusement of the crowd. Glaucus defends Nydia, easily defeating Gallinus in a fight. The next day Marcus' funeral is held, with Glaucus and Antonius in attendance. After the ceremony, Antonius reaffirms his anti-Christian prejudices. But Nydia is a Christian, and she tries to tell Antonius that he should attend a secret Christian gathering to find out how good the Christians really are. However is Gallinus who hears her plea. Gallinus is in charge of persecuting Christians and, with this piece of information, that night all the Christians are rounded up and imprisoned. The leader of the Christians is tortured with his followers. They are condemned to death accused of the crime wave that have affected Pompeii.
Glaucus and Ione have fallen in love, but convinced that the Christians have been falsely accused, he heads towards Herculanum to intervene in their favor with Ione's father, who has left Pompeii. On his way, Glaucus is ambushed by the hooded men. He survives the attack arriving injured to Ascanius's retreat. Meanwhile, Antonius follows Marcus' killer to the temple of Isis discovering that the men in the hooded masks are working under Arbaces's orders. Antonius arrives to Herculenum and informs Glaucus and Ascanius of his discovery. As proof he tells them that the treasures stolen from the citizen of Pompeii are hidden in the temple of Isis. Once back in Pompeii, Antonius recruits the help of Helios and Caios, Glaucus's army friends. At the temple of Isis, Glaucus fights off both Arbaces and Gallinus, but he is thrown into a secret ditch and finds himself in a waterlogged underground chamber wrestling with a crocodile. He wins the fight and escape the trap. Julia, the Consul's Egyptian mistress, is in fact the mastermind behind the crimes of the black hooded men and Gallinus and Ascanius dirty dealing. They are raising funds to finance an uprising against the Roman Empire. She confesses this to Ascanius and stabs him, blaming Glaucus for the killing. Accused of murder, Glaucus is imprisoned near the Christians. Ione tries to come into his defense but since she has converted to Christianity, she is also sent to prison. The Christians are tossed into the arena to be devoured by lions, but Glaucus manages to pull his chains from out of a lump of rock stabs the lion and spears two gladiators sent to kill him. A band of bow-men, including Antonius and Glaucus's friends, arrive wearing masks and attack those who had condemn the Christians. Opening fire on the royal box, they kill Gallinus with their arrows. When the city troops arrived to stop them, Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupts. In the mayhem every one tries to escape the eruption. Julia and Arbaces are crushed at the temple of Isis by the falling masonry while trying to retreat their treasure. Nidya dies in Antonius arms killed by falling debris. Glaucus swims through a burning harbor. With Ione, he survives Pompeii's destruction sailing towards open sea.
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The 1959 film The Last Days of Pompeii was the eight cinematic version of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name. First published in 1834, the novel became a bestseller helped on its release by the eruption of Vesuvius just before publication. The novel was a fictional account of the events surrounding the eruption of Vesuvius that buried the Roman city of Pompeii in AD 79. It was an example of a widespread English fascination in the 1830s with great natural catastrophes and the moral lessons to be learned from then. There has been many films adaptations of the Pompeii legend, but most of them have not followed Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel. The story of Pompeii’s destruction was one of the most popular topics of early Italian cinema and was filmed several times during the silent movie era. It has only been filmed once as a Hollywood epic, although in 2007 Roman Polanski was attached to a new film project, based on a Robert Harris novel set in the city - a project that has not advanced any further. The 1984 television film is the only version so far to have closely followed the original Bulwer-Lytton’s novel.
The film was very loosely based on the novel, bearing only a passing resemblance to the English author's The Last Days of Pompeii. Many of the main characters are present and named - notably Glaucus, Arbacès, Ione and Nydia - but the storylines around them are largely changed and many elements are left out. The team of five credited writers, including Sergio Corbucci, Ennio de Concini, Sergio Leone and genre regular Duccio Tessari instead weave a new story around persecuted Christians. The religious aspect of the story was a result of the film been underwritten by Opus Dei. It was also an attempt to cash in on the popular Biblical Epic market.
The Last Days of Pompei was Steve Reeves first film since gaining international fame as the character Hercules. Reeves, cleanly shaven this time around, has the main role of Glaucus, a Roman centurion. Reeves injured his shoulder while making this film when he drove a chariot into a wall, though no such scene made it into the body of the movie. This injury effectively put an end to his bodybuilding career, as well as ultimately forcing his early retirement from the movie business a few years later after A Long Ride from Hell. The female lead is played by Christine Kaufmann, who was only 14-year-old at that time. She would later become the second of Tony Curtis' six wives (incidentally, Spartacus himself Kirk Douglas was the best man at the wedding). The respected Spanish character actor Fernando Rey - known for The French Connection - appears as the villian high priest. He was a few years away from making his name with Luis Buñuel. Barbara Caroll (Goliath contro i giganti (1961)) plays the blind slave Nydia, while fans of that later film should also recognize Spanish actor Ángel Aranda as the young Antonius. Mimmo Palmara was already a genre regular, having appeared in both Hercules films with Reeves. He has the role of the Praetorian guard Gallinus. Anne-Marie Baumann, who only had a brief career in films, plays Julia, the Council’s Egyptian concubine. Each of the contributing production companies insisted on a name above the title to represent and protect its investment.
Credited director Mario Bonnard worked in the preproduction of the film, but was replaced by assistant director Sergio Leone after falling ill during the early days of the shoot. Leone, by coincidence, also stpped in once before to help finish another film directed Mario Bonnard titled “Hanno rubato un tram”. An Italian, Spanish and West German co production, the film was largely founded by Procura of Madrid, and United Artist distributed it worldwide. The film was shot in the Andalusian countryside, with most of the interiors filmed in Madrid.