SAMSON AND DELILAH

Hedy Lamarr and Victor |Mature

SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949). Produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.

In Gaza in 1000 B.C. the Danite Samson (Victor Mature), who is a hero to his people, dares to fall in love with Semadar (Angela Lansbury), even though she is a Philistine. Semadar's younger sister, Delilah (Hedy Lamarr) wants Samson for herself, and she is embittered over his rejection of her. When Samson's wedding to Semadar doesn't quite come off, it leads to violence and bloodshed, and Delilah vows to have her revenge.

Lamarr as Delilah

Samson and Delilah is an entertaining movie, but for most of its length it's curiously flat. Some of the minor supporting actors speak their lines as if they were in an old Republic serial and even for 1949 the whole production has an old-fashioned, even cheesy, tone to it. Neither Victor Mature nor even the beautiful Lamarr are especially well-cast. Their performances are good enough by old Hollywood standards, but there are other actors who could have done much, much more with the roles. (Mature would do more costume dramas such as The Robe in the future and his work in them would greatly improve.) Supporting players such as Lansbury; Henry Wilcoxon (as Ahtur, another of Semadar's suitors); Fay Holden as Samson's mother; Olive Deering [Caged] as Miriam, who loves Samson unrequitedly; Julia Faye as the maid Hisham; little Russ Tamblyn [Tom Thumb] as young Saul; and most notably, George Sanders as the Saran of Gaza, come off much better, with Sanders pretty much stealing the show.

The best acting comes from George Sanders

However, Samson and Delilah is worth the price of admission for no other reason than the last ten minutes, in which a humiliated Samson gathers his strength (why did the Dagon-worshipping Philistines let him grow his hair back?) and manages to literally bring the house down on the Philistines. Well-directed and edited, with good FX work, this sequence is a stunner even today. If only the whole movie had been on this level! Victor Young's score is disappointing, but the Oscar-winning costume designs by Edith Head and others are exquisite. The art direction also won an Oscar.

Others in the huge cast include Tom Tyler, Nils Asther, Claire Du Brey, Dorothy Adams, and -- of course --Pierre Watkin. George Reeves shows up as an injured messenger and is good, but he looks so different that I didn't even think this was the same actor who would play Superman a few years later. DeMille himself does the pompous narration that opens the film.

Verdict: Wait -- and wait -- for that great temple sequence! **3/4. 

STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM

Dick Powell and Mary Martin

STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM (1942). Director: George Marshall.

"I just can't make it tonight -- Veronica Lake is going to show me her other eye. " -- Bob Hope.

In this all-star Paramount wartime picture, the main plot has to do with Johnny Webster (Eddie Bracken), a sailor on leave who comes to Hollywood with his buddies. Eddie's father was once "Bronco Billy" Webster (Victor Moore of Carolina Blues), star of silent pictures, but is now reduced to being a guard at the studio gate. Ashamed of this comedown, Billy has lied to his son and told him that he is head of the studio! Eddie's girlfriend, Polly (Betty Hutton of the "craptastic" Betty Hutton Show), helps "Pop" put over the deception but needs some big help from the stars when Pop foolishly promises that his Paramount stars will put on a show for the sailor boys ... Star Spangled Rhythm has some slow stretches -- the whole second half consists almost entirely of acts, including one stop-the-movie-dead skit where four men play poker as if they were women -- but it also has its share of delights, including a hilarious bit when Polly enlists the aid of two men to help her get over the wall of the Paramount studio. Dick Powell and Mary Martin and an uncredited black group (the Mills Brothers?) do an excellent "Dreamtime" number on a train; there's a splendid and rather sexy production number called "Swing Shift" in a factory; and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson stars in another vibrant and all-Black dance number called "Sharp as a Tack." Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, and Paulette Goddard spoof their images in "Sweater, Sarong, and Peekaboo Bang," and Sterling Holloway [Shake, Rattle & Rock], Walter Catlett and Arthur Treacher play the same ladies in drag. William Bendix has a funny shower scene with Bob Hope. Bracken, Hutton, and Moore are all on the money; Walter Abel scores as the real studio head, as does Anne Revere as his secretary; and Cecil B. Demille proves a perfectly adept actor playing himself. Cass Daley does her weird shtick, buck teeth and all. George Marshall keeps the pace fast and makes things visually interesting as well.

Verdict: Enjoyable romp. ***.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

Cornel Wilde pitches the woo to Betty Hutton

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952). Producer/director: Cecil B. DeMille.

Late in The Greatest Show on Earth, star Betty Hutton (also star of the "craptastic" Betty Hutton Show), playing trapeze artist Holly, is shown doing acrobatics on a cross bar in a parade down Main Street. Or rather Hutton is superimposed over the parade, and you can actually see through her in an embarrassingly cheap process shot. That pretty much encapsulates this whole cheesy movie, which purports to be about circus life. What it actually is -- against a backdrop of Barnum and Bailey/Ringling Brothers circus -- is a tiresome soap opera wherein Holly is in love with manager Brad (Charlton Heston), rival trapeze artist Sebastian (Cornel Wilde) is in love with Holly, and Jimmy Stewart wears clown make up throughout because he's hiding a secret. Dorothy Lamour of Donovan's Reef sings a number or two and is sardonic, while Gloria Grahame, also carrying a torch for Heston, has a good scene trading minor barbs with Hutton. The acting in this isn't bad -- even Hutton is more palatable than usual -- but you may find the elephants far more impressive. Wilde swaggers around with an okay Italian accent and is effective. (Although Wilde is billed over Heston, the latter is featured on the DVD cover due to the vagaries of Hollywood fame.)  There's a not-bad train crash at the climax. DeMille only directed one more movie, The Ten Commandments, four years later.

Verdict: Okay, but Berserk is more fun. **1/2.

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

Claudette Colbert

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932). Director: Cecil B. DeMille.

"I'm the emperor's most urgent business."

In 64 A.D. Marcus, (Fredric March), the prefect of Rome, falls in love virtually at first sight with Mercia (Elissa Landi). The problem is that Mercia is a Christian,as is her entire household, and Marcus causes all of Rome to gossip and watch in dismay as he defends her, although he doesn't share her beliefs. Another problem is that Emperor Nero's wife, Poppea (Claudette Colbert), has a thing for Marcus and is perfectly willing to commit adultery with him, which he refuses to do; she is not thrilled by his interest in Mercia. In the meantime hunky Tigellinus (Ian Keith), who should certainly pique the empress's interest but apparently doesn't, is already plotting against Marcus before the latter gives him plenty of ammunition due to his passionate interest in Mercia. If you can get past the pious nature of some of the scenes -- and some of the Christians do seem nuts -- this can and should be taken as a study of cruel oppression. The scenes of Christians being herded into an arena only to be mauled and eaten by lions are still quite raw and disturbing (if not as graphic as they would be today) and one can't help but think of the later Holocaust and its atrocities. [Ironically, Hollywood parties were probably more like Roman orgies than Christian prayer meetings.] Charles Laughton is excellent, as usual, in his brief appearances as Nero. Charles Middleton has a small role as the panicking Christian Tyros, who feels that God has forgotten his people. Tommy Conlon is excellent as the boy Stephen, who is tortured until he gives away the Christians' location. Colbert is as good as she was in Cleopatra, but March, frankly, never quite seems to get a handle on his character, perhaps because as written Marcus is a little unreal. There's a supposedly "lesbian" dance in which a woman seductively drapes herself around Mercia to music. The coliseum scenes are intense and harrowing and even if you're neither Christian or even religious it's hard not to be affected by the awful deaths of so many innocent people. [Ironically, many Christians today are similarly intolerant towards others.]

Verdict: DeMille has his cake and eats it, too! ***1/2.

CLEOPATRA

Wilcoxon and Colbert

CLEOPATRA (1934). Director: Cecil B. DeMille.

"I am dying, Egypt, dying."

In 48 B.C. Egyptian princess Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) first falls in love with Julius Caesar (Warren William) and then feels even more passion for the magnetic Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon). In the meantime, there is a lot of  jockeying for power and all sorts of heinous betrayal from many quarters. This is an opulent, totally absorbing bit of "Hollywood" history that is remarkably entertaining from start to finish. Colbert gives one of her finest performances, matched by florid William and studly Wilcoxon as her paramours. Other stand-outs in a fine supporting cast include Ian Keith as Octavian and Joseph Schildkraut as King Herod. This film also has the bit with Cleo wrapped up in a rug that was featured in the inferior remake with Elizabeth Taylor. One of the film's highlights is the detailed, briskly-edited montage of the war between Rome and Egypt, with a smitten Antony desperately fighting against his own countrymen out of love for Cleo. Fascinating, handsomely produced, and well-directed -- and ultimately moving.

Verdict: DeMille and Colbert at the height of their power. ****.

FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE

Colbert gives a come hither look in "Four"

FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE (1934). Director: Cecil B. DeMille.

"This is practically virgin territory."

"Perhaps that's why Corder doesn't like it."

When bubonic plague breaks out on a ship, four passengers escape in a small boat and wind up in Malaya, where they have to go through a jungle with various pitfalls to, hopefully, make it to civilization. The four are geography teacher Judy Jones (Claudette Colbert), reporter Stewart Corder (William Gargan), society do-gooder Mrs. Mardick (Mary Boland), and unhappily married Arnold Ainger (Herbert Marshall). Leo Carillo plays Montague, who guides the four through the jungle. The prim, unsophisticated Judy blossoms into a woman during the trek, and soon Corder and Ainger are competing for her, even as some natives want to keep portly Mrs. Mardick prisoner until the others can return with her weight in rice. The rather dull narrative [despite all the goings-on] is briefly enlivened by the appearance of a carnivorous plant that eats a cute animal, and a playful chimp [probably played by the famous, talented Cheetah] who steals Judy's shoes. Colbert is initially quite good in the film, completely de-glamorized, but later on becomes shrill and irritating, overplaying every scene; the other actors are fine. Colbert gave some fine performances, but this is not one of them. DeMille made some great movies, but this is a tiresome throwaway, pretentious and often predictable.NOTE: This is the shorter 78 minute version, which is quite long enough.

Verdict: One trip through the jungle you can avoid. **.