Helen of Troy
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Original film poster
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Robert Wise directed Helen of Troy, an American-Italian-French epic based on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
The screenplay by Hugh Gray and John Twist, adapted by Hugh Gray and N. Richard Nash.
The music score was composed by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr, who shot the film in CinemaScope.
The film stars Rossana Podestà, Stanley Baker, Cedric Hardwicke and Jacques Sernas, with Niall MacGinnis, Maxwell Reed, Nora Swinburne, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Harry Andrews, Janette Scott, Ronald Lewis, Eduardo Ciannelli, Esmond Knight.
Sex symbol Brigitte Bardot plays Andraste, Helen’s handmaiden, her first film production shot outside France.
The film retells the story of the Trojan War in 1100 B.C., while including major changes from the Iliad’s storyline.
‘Paris of Troy sails to Sparta to secure peace treaty between the two city-states.
His ship is forced to return to Troy in storm after he has been swept overboard on the shore of Sparta.Paris is found by Helen, queen of Sparta with whom he falls in love. He finds Helen’s husband, king Menelaus, Agamemnon, Odysseus, Achilles and many other Greek kings debating whether to go to war with Troy. Menelaus, denied by Helen, sees that his wife and Paris are in love and plots Paris’ death.
Warned by Helen, Paris flees and, after they are nearly caught by the Spartans, takes Helen with him to Troy. Under the pretense of helping Menelaus, the Greeks unite, and the siege of Troy begins. Much blood is shed, with the Trojans blaming their plight on Paris and Helen until it turns out that the Greeks are solely after Troy’s riches.
The siege culminates in Greek victory through the legendary Trojan Horse. While trying to flee, Helen and Paris are cornered by Menelaus. Paris faces the king in single combat, but just as he wins the upper hand he is stabbed from behind, denying him a fair tria.
Helen is forced to return with Menelaus, but she knows that in death she will be reunited with Paris in Elysium.
Some ofthe battle scenes are vigorously staged, with a fine impersonation of that wooden horse, compensating for a rather banal dialogue.
The film was originally set to be made in 3-D, but, instead, it was done in WarnerSuperScope, using Warner’s new technique, and released in CinemaScope.
The scene of the Greeks’ initial assault on the walls of Troy features shots that imitate a sequence in the Persian attack on Babylon in D. W. Griffiths’ silent classic Intolerance. Some shots from this sequence would in turn be reused in the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts.
This project deviates from the original story, showing Paris as a hero and great leader, and the Greek lords as treacherous and opportunistic pirates exploiting Helen’s flight as an excuse to win the treasures of Troy.
Cast
Rossana Podestà as Helen of Troy
Jacques Sernas as Paris
Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Priam
Stanley Baker as Achilles
Niall MacGinnis as Menelaus
Robert Douglas as Agamemnon
Nora Swinburne as Hecuba
Torin Thatcher as Odysseus
Harry Andrews as Hector
Ronald Lewis as Aeneas
Brigitte Bardot as Andraste
Marc Lawrence as Diomedes, ruler of Aetolia
Maxwell Reed as Ajax, Prince of Salamis
Robert Brown as Polydorus
Barbara Cavan as Cora
Patricia Marmont as Andromache
Guido Notari as Nestor
Tonio Selwart as Alephous
George Zoritch as Singer
Esmond Knight as High Priest
Terence Longdon as Patroclus
Janette Scott as Cassandra
Eduardo Ciannelli as Andros
Credits:
Directed by Robert Wise
Written by Hugh Gray, N. Richard Nash, John Twist, based on Iliad, poem
by Homer
Narrated by Jack Sernas
Cinematography Harry Stradling
Edited by Thomas Reilly
Music by Max Steiner
Distributed by Warner
Release date: January 26, 1956 (US)
Running time: 118 minutes (US version)
Budget $6 million
Box office $3.2 million (US rentals)
