Other Titles • Alexander the Great • Alexander der Große (1956)
Synopses for Alexander the Great (1956)
1.
Large-scale spectacle about the young warrior who conquered the world.
Although he died at only 33, Alexander the Great had already swept over every extant nation with his forces, placing them all under his rule. "Alexander the Great" explores his childhood, his romances, and his military successes, recreating the violence of ancient hand-to-hand fighting, and the splendor of rich ancient courts.
2.
Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom and a cast of thousands bring history to life with this "spectacular" (The New York Times) and "unusually beautiful movie" (New York Herald Tribune) about the legendary conqueror.
3.
Richard Burton stars in Alexander the Great, a middling entry in the 1950s CinemaScope epic cycle. The film boasts excellent production values and a fine cast--including Frederic March, Claire Bloom, Harry Andrews, Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing and Michael Hordern--but it rarely comes to life other than as a big fat ancient Greek wedding of the talents of Burton and Bloom. They strike real dramatic sparks together, so much so they would be reunited in Look Back in Anger (1958) and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965).
The film's failures must be laid at the feet of writer, director and producer Robert Rossen, who never before or after helmed anything remotely on this scale; his best work would follow with the intimate The Hustler (1961). Rossen simply shows little sensibility for the epic, staging lavish but brief and rather pedestrian battles and somehow drawing from the usually mesmerising Burton a performance lacking the charisma essential to a great military commander. Burton fans can enjoy him at his epic best as Marc Anthony in Cleopatra (1963).
On the DVD:Alexander the Great is presented anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, although the picture is still obviously cropped at either side of the screen throughout. The print is very variable, in places quite grainy and soft with some serious flickering blotchiness, but otherwise it has strong colours, detail and contrast. The sound is primitive stereo. The only extra is the theatrical trailer, effectively presented in anamorphic 2.35:1. --Gary S. Dalkin
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