Samson & Delilah (B+ or 3/4 stars)
1950's 'Samson & Delilah' is Cecil B. DeMille's larger-than-life retelling of events of the Old Testament (passages of Judges 13-16). Set in 1,000 B.C., we see early on that Danite Hebrews have been enslaved for the last 40 yrs. by the dominant Philistines. The narrative has Samson (Victor Mature), a super strong Danite, rejecting the love of the sweet Miriam (Olive Deering), & going off with the forbidden Semadar (Angela Lansbury), a Philistine noblewoman and the older sister of Delilah (Hedy Lamarr). Saran of Gaza (George Sanders), the 'Lord of the 5 Cities', is impressed when Samson kills a lion with his own bare hands & grants the Hebrew permission to marry Semadar - even though they share different faiths. Everything seems well & good at their wedding ceremony ...
But a betrayal occurs & innocent Semadar is killed when her people attack Samson as a blood enemy. Samson retreats to the hills, where he's hidden by his fellow Hebrews. Meanwhile, seeking revenge for her sister's death & the destruction of her palace, Semadar's younger sister Delilah (who was romantically led-on by Samson, then rejected by him) woos Samson in hopes of discovering the secret to his God-like strength; thus enabling her to destroy him. When she discovers that the source of his God-like strength is in his long locks, Delilah gets Samson to drink a slumbering potion, then cuts his hair off while he sleeps. She delivers the helpless Samson to the Philistines, ordering that he be put to work as a slave 'til the end of his days. Blinded & humiliated by the Philistines, Samson becomes a shell of his former self. But ultimately, Samson's faith in his God gets him through his tough time; setting the stage for the rousing climax in the Philistine temple.
Performance-wise, Victor Mature is a bit rigid as Samson, but he has his cocky/playful/heroic moments, & he certainly looks the part of the Hebrew heavyweight hunk. Funny enough, I read that film critic Dilys Powell once said of Mature, "(it's) the only epic film in which the hero had bigger tits than the heroine" {haha}. In ways, he reminds me of another leading man of the time, Robert Taylor. Both men cut a certain manly-man image, yet both also lacked a good deal of onscreen charisma. Now Hedy Lamarr ... she's quite different. Bejewled in gorgeous gowns, this silver screen siren gives a seductive, wicked edge as our temptress, Delilah. George Sanders is endearingly haughty as the empirical Saran of Gaza. And Angela Lansbury gives a delicious little performance as tragic Semadar.
Best known for his spectacular Biblical stories & other extravaganzas (The Ten Commandments, King of Kings, The Greatest Show on Earth) Cecil DeMille puts the emphasis - as he always does - on spectacle, opulence, Technicolor cinematography, large sets, vast numbers of extras, savage battles scenes, religious musings, & lustful romance. Allllll of that is here, and then some. And the movie is noteworthy for its climactic destruction of the Philistine temple. The script, well, it's merely okay; telling an abbreviated biblical story in which wit & historical accuracy are at a premium. This film was never going to be gunning for screenwriting accolades. No, as mentioned, 'Samson & Delilah' is just another one of DeMille's big, entertaining (mileage will vary on your IDEA of entertaining) Biblical epics that he relishes making. Incidentally, this film was a crowd fave at the 1950 box office; making it one of Paramount studio's highest-grossing films to date.
But a betrayal occurs & innocent Semadar is killed when her people attack Samson as a blood enemy. Samson retreats to the hills, where he's hidden by his fellow Hebrews. Meanwhile, seeking revenge for her sister's death & the destruction of her palace, Semadar's younger sister Delilah (who was romantically led-on by Samson, then rejected by him) woos Samson in hopes of discovering the secret to his God-like strength; thus enabling her to destroy him. When she discovers that the source of his God-like strength is in his long locks, Delilah gets Samson to drink a slumbering potion, then cuts his hair off while he sleeps. She delivers the helpless Samson to the Philistines, ordering that he be put to work as a slave 'til the end of his days. Blinded & humiliated by the Philistines, Samson becomes a shell of his former self. But ultimately, Samson's faith in his God gets him through his tough time; setting the stage for the rousing climax in the Philistine temple.
Performance-wise, Victor Mature is a bit rigid as Samson, but he has his cocky/playful/heroic moments, & he certainly looks the part of the Hebrew heavyweight hunk. Funny enough, I read that film critic Dilys Powell once said of Mature, "(it's) the only epic film in which the hero had bigger tits than the heroine" {haha}. In ways, he reminds me of another leading man of the time, Robert Taylor. Both men cut a certain manly-man image, yet both also lacked a good deal of onscreen charisma. Now Hedy Lamarr ... she's quite different. Bejewled in gorgeous gowns, this silver screen siren gives a seductive, wicked edge as our temptress, Delilah. George Sanders is endearingly haughty as the empirical Saran of Gaza. And Angela Lansbury gives a delicious little performance as tragic Semadar.
Best known for his spectacular Biblical stories & other extravaganzas (The Ten Commandments, King of Kings, The Greatest Show on Earth) Cecil DeMille puts the emphasis - as he always does - on spectacle, opulence, Technicolor cinematography, large sets, vast numbers of extras, savage battles scenes, religious musings, & lustful romance. Allllll of that is here, and then some. And the movie is noteworthy for its climactic destruction of the Philistine temple. The script, well, it's merely okay; telling an abbreviated biblical story in which wit & historical accuracy are at a premium. This film was never going to be gunning for screenwriting accolades. No, as mentioned, 'Samson & Delilah' is just another one of DeMille's big, entertaining (mileage will vary on your IDEA of entertaining) Biblical epics that he relishes making. Incidentally, this film was a crowd fave at the 1950 box office; making it one of Paramount studio's highest-grossing films to date.