Colossus of Rhodes (1961 R95) French Petite Poster

The first film to give Sergio Leone a directing credit, this widescreen epic (in Supertotalscope) is graced with amazing sets and a rousing score from Angelo Francesco Lavagnino – Othello (1951) and Chimes at Midnight (1965) for Orson Welles. Rebellion, earthquake, being thrown into the arena to certain death, the film suffers rather from being over-convoluted, and bounces from long fight scene to long dialogue scene with little in between. But the staging is often impressive, particularly in quieter scenes, where Leone’s swooping, shifting camerawork gives a foretaste of his bravura style to come.

Rory Calhoun - some 20 years from Farmer Vincent’s Fritters in Motel Hell (1980) and Kit Carson in Angel (1984), is a hawkfaced hero, wooing Lea Massari, who’d just come off Antonioni’s L’Avventura (1960), but never seemed to find the film that would establish her as a star.

Artist: 'B'

Condition: VERY GOOD / FINE

Cast: Rory Calhoun, Lea Massari, Georges Marchal, Conrado Sanmartin, Angel Aranda, Mabel Karr