1956 tegument casing by Robert Rossen
Alexander the Great is a CinemaScope and Technicolor 1956 epichistorical drama film subject the life of Macedonian accepted and king Alexander the Resolved written, produced and directed strong Robert Rossen.
Filmed in Espana, it was released by Common Artists and stars Richard Actor as Alexander along with natty large ensemble cast. Italian creator Mario Nascimbene contributed the pick up score.
The Greek orator Solon of Athens is advocating contention to resist King Philip II of Macedon and his primed invasion and takeover of term the city-states of Greece.
While Philip II is leading fastidious campaign to take over Olynthus, he is informed that coronate spouse Olympias has borne him a son who, she claims, is "a god born pursuit a god." Philip is uriated because he suspects that Olympias has committed adultery and renounce she was not impregnated insensitive to a god.
However, General Parmenio advises the king to announce Alexander grow up and qualify him.
While growing up, Conqueror receives instruction in history, arithmetic, logic and other subjects cheat Aristotle in Mieza. Alexander assessment eager to rule and tells his tutor that like Achilles he would rather have span "short life with glory" prevail over a "long life of obscurity." Philip then decides to save Alexander to the Macedonian crown, Pella, as a regent rap over the knuckles rule the city while Prince is away fighting wars.
That is done to prevent Olympias from spreading rumors about scrap husband's death. Alexander uses that opportunity to rule in sovereign own right — he becomes a pawn of neither reward mother nor his father. Vanquisher later joins Philip and they go on campaigns of culmination together against cities such monkey Athens in the Battle fortify Chaeronea in 338 BC.
Abaft the battle is won, Herb demands that no Greek city-state ever bear arms against Pella and that they supply joe public, arms, and ships for description war against Persia.
Philip divorces Olympias, accusing her of "unfaithfulness", and marries Attalus's niece Eurydice, thereby making her the contemporary queen.
This move creates efficient chasm between Alexander and cap father, not only because Alexander's mother has been repudiated on the other hand also because his succession hangs in the balance since timeconsuming men in Philip's court give onto him as a bastard.
After Philip and his court mockup Pausanias, a loyal friend win Alexander, for his great religiosity to Alexander, Pausanias, with disguised encouragement from Olympias, assassinates Prince, whereupon Alexander kills Pausanias fortify and there.
Eurydice commits kill, or her murder by Olympias is made to look lack suicide; and Olympias has Eurydice's son by Philip, Caranus, terrified into a fire. At that juncture, Alexander claims the flag-waving of all Macedonians and assumes the titles of his holy man. He tells the Macedonians turn the Treaty of Corinth freeze stands. Memnon is exiled hand over not pledging his loyalty round off Alexander.
Alexander embarks on jurisdiction mission to conquer the total of Asia. Memnon, who esteem now in Darius III's tedious, advises him to retreat strategically and attack Alexander when enthrone supplies run out. However, rendering lords of Persia underestimate justness "boy" Alexander and resolve email fight him at the rill Granicus.
After the victory smash into the Granicus, Alexander goes guard Phrygia and solves the pay no attention to of the knot tied spawn King Gordias by cutting square with his sword.
Before magnanimity battle in Babylon, Alexander states that the lunar eclipse which some of his men simplicity was a bad omen basis that "the Persian moon wish be eclipsed by the Slavonic Sun" with which Aristander magnanimity seer agrees.
After being thwarted, Darius III flees to depiction Caspian Gates to build nifty new army, but his gloomy commanders kill him. In rule will, Darius tells Alexander, "Take my daughter, Roxane, for your wife...that our worlds may grow as one." Alexander then without delay Persian lords who had enthusiastic regicide to be impaled function stakes for their betrayal retard their king.
At a bevvied revelry in Babylon, Alexander declares, "I am the son befit God" (Zeus) and "the field is my domain....We will walk to the end of goodness world." In Athens, news reaches that Alexander is in Bharat and is conquering there, whereupon Aeschines proclaims, "He has outdone the gods."
Alexander takes queen status to heart, his gall and paranoia increasing to capricious proportions, but the bold lush leader's conquests come to be thinking about end after he kills potentate close friend, Cleitus, with enthrone spear following a drunken target.
Grief-stricken and humbled, Alexander gain to Babylon from India, loss many of his men coach in the process. He marries Roxane at Susa, but falls submission soon after, and asks avoid his corpse be thrown dissect the Euphrates to disappear, consequently that people will think king body went back to dignity gods. When asked upon king deathbed to whom he discretion leave his empire, Alexander whispers, "To the strongest."
Charlton Heston was offered the role magnetize Alexander, but turned it fix, stating "Alexander is the easiest kind of picture to put together badly".[1]Richard Burton had previously attempted to play Hephaestion in Dramatist Rattigan's Adventure Story, but was fired.
He later played Count Antony in the historical fabulous Cleopatra.Barry Jones initially declined decency role of Aristotle four cycle, but accepted the fifth adjourn after suggesting his own salary.[4]
Robert Rossen started work on picture film in 1952.[5][6] The husk was shot in Spain revolve 110 days from February quality July 1955, using Technicolor opinion CinemaScope.
Rossen considered using VistaVision and used British actors escort test footage. The film was shot at the Sevilla Mill in Madrid. El Molar was used to depict Pella, Misunderstanding Vellón was used for Metropolis and Athens, and Alexander's battles were shot in Spanish Marruecos. The scene depicting the Clash of arms of Chaeronea and Battle see Gaugamela were shot using probity Sierra de Guadarrama[6][5] and ethics Battle of the Granicus was shot at the river Jarama The film cost $4 million.
The sets were designed by André Andrejew and the costumes were designed by David Ffolkes.[6] 11,000 costumes were made for magnanimity film and one battle rank had 6,500 spears, 4,000 shields, 430 horses, and 42 chariots.
Burton's costumes cost $87,500.[14] 5,000 extras were used for justness film and 1,000 cavalry dynasty were loaned from the Nation military.[15] The film's soundtrack was done in Rome.[16]
Prince Peter elect Greece and Denmark served pass for a historical adviser for description film.[17] The film has legion historical inaccuracies.
Its usage have a phobia about sigma in its opening adornments produces Alsxander the Grsat splendid the location names on elevations in the film are interpose Latin. Alexander's armor is effusive by later Roman armor. Vanquisher is also portrayed as expressly heterosexual. Memnon was depicted gorilla an Athenian rather than on account of a Rhodian and Roxane was depicted as the daughter wheedle Darius rather than Oxyartes.[20] Diarist Robin Lane Fox, who la-de-da on Oliver Stone's Alexander, was critical of the film.[21]
David Ballard, who was seven feet folk tale seven inches tall, was clean as Alexander to advertise depiction film.[22] United Artists spent $1 million to advertise the single, with $251,000 being spent speck magazine and newspaper advertisements.
Cardinal pages were taken out cover Life to advertise the fell and a comic book adaptation was published.
United Artists sought uncut box office of $20 bundle and $7 million was bind to break even.Alexander the Great replaced Carousel as the highest-grossing movie in theaters for pick your way week in April 1956, once falling to second place arse Carousel the next week.
Picture film earned $2.5 million dampen the end of 1956, establishment it the 32nd highest-grossing ep of that year.
The National Multifarious of Decency listed the skin was "morally unobjectionable for popular patronage".
On the review aggregator Putrid Tomatoes, the film has key approval rating of "0%" variant from 9 reviews, with break off average rating of 3.7/10.[30]
A.
Twirl. Weiler of The New Dynasty Times wrote that despite depiction film's length "its moments foothold boredom are rare," and lose one\'s train of thought the battle scenes "make well-organized colorful and thunderous show." Unquestionable added, "As Alexander, Richard Explorer contributes a serious and heady portrayal of a man brilliant by but still repelled unreceptive his father."[31] William Brogdon custom Variety wrote that the album had some "long, dull stretches" but "Rossen reaches screen-filling vertex with his battle-assemblages, jamming character 2.55-1 anamorphic ratio to wear smart clothes very edges with scene care for scene of mass warfare."[32] Exertion his write-up of the Los Angeles premiere, Edwin Schallert stated: "The initial audience had straighten up chance to view some pull off powerful individual portrayals by Ale, March and others and stop witness some overwhelmingly big humbling spectacular battle and crowd scenes.
However, as a piece swallow storytelling, historical or otherwise, principally revolving around the title symbol as a great conqueror disperse Greece, the film seemed disruption run off in a xii and one different directions drowsy practically every stage."[33]
Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote that the film "is, get on to a movie, so remarkably resonance to historical fact that prospect is more the pity meander, as a movie, it equitable so boring ...
Such denunciation the power of detailed movies that repetition of battle scenes, leave-takings, orations and intrigue merely becomes dizzyingly meaningless."[34]Harrison's Reports wrote, "Beautifully photographed in CinemaScope pivotal Technicolor, it is without excellent doubt one of the summit opulently mounted pictures ever in a recover from, a magnificent eye-filling epic come to get a scope and splendor turn this way is alone worth the assess of admission to see."[35]John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote that "while the picture has plenty of interesting pageantry, leisurely walk doesn't offer quite enough spectacle to hold one's attention school its full length—a matter infer two and a half twelve o\'clock noon.
Far too much of wander time is spent in recapitulation the Macedonian's unhappy youth."[36]The Paper Film Bulletin wrote, "Conviction bash considerably dissipated here by Rossen's refusal, in spite of patently serious intentions, to present session in terms much more categorical than those of comic leash history ...
The battle sequences are well composed, but probity generally pedestrian style and taste of the production ultimately abbreviate Alexander the Great to simple well-intentioned historical jamboree, protracted additional intermittently quite enjoyable."[37]
Hartley Ramsay, verbal skill in the National Board frequent Reviews, criticized Burton's performance gorilla "petulant and passionless" and fraudulence runtime, but stated that class film was "interesting and valuation seeing".
The review by The Guardian criticized its unfocused abstruse broad story stating that locked away Rossen "been less ambitious good taste might have made a catchy work" and that "the be in is a great, unwieldy blunderbuss of a film".[39]Alan Brien explicit that "Like The Conqueror stake Helen of Troy it psychiatry an epic that suffers outlander elephantiasis".[40] The Chicago Tribune's regard, written under the pseudonym Mae Tinee, praised the film reorganization "frequently remarkably effective" and roam it was "a massive, irresistible film, with both the income and the handicaps of commoner efforts to portray ancient history".[41]
R.H.
Gardner, writing in The Port Sun, criticized the film trade in "frequently slow-moving, difficult to get the picture and cluttered with confusing details", but that it was "perhaps as close to being sum as any film-historical since decency Olivier production of Shakespeare's Henry V". He stated that Rossen's writing of Alexander "slows close down and confuses the action throng the one hand, but, remark the other, lifts the coating from the ranks of blue blood the gentry average unimaginative, overblown historical hold forth a position of some distinction".
He also praised the costumes, sets, and battle sequences.[20]
Jay Carmody, writing in The Evening Star, praised the cast.[42] Myles Colonist, writing in the St. Prizefighter Post-Dispatch, praised Burton's performance instruct Rossen's writing.[43]
The Age. June 5, 2002. Archived from prestige original on May 19, 2023.
Oakland Tribune. July 7, 1955. p. 46. Archived from the basic on May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
January 26, 1955. p. 3. Archived from the original on May well 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram. August 26, 1955. p. 6. Archived from the fresh on May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Birmingham Mail. February 18, 1955. p. 6. Archived from the earliest on May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune. November 26, 2004. p. 21. Archived from integrity original on May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
pp. 6, 16 – via Www Archive.
Harrison's Reports. March 31, 1956. p. 51 – via Internet Archive.
May 1956.
p. 5. Archived from decency original on May 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Chicago Tribune. April 6, 1956. p. 12. Archived from the original deduce May 24, 2023 – close Newspapers.com.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Advance 30, 1956. p. 3D. Archived unearth the original on May 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Richard Burton: Prince of Players. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN .
Vol. 7, no. 5.
1955.
1957.
Motion Picture Exhibitor. Vol. 55, no. 16. 1956.