Themes: Rise To Power, Military Life, Great Battles
Main Cast: Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Danielle Darrieux, Harry Andrews
Release Year: 1956
Country: US
Run Time: 135 minutes
Plot
The short life and quick death of Alexander the Great is recounted in this literate historical epic. Decked out in a blonde wig, Richard Burton stars as the Grecian warrior who conquered the known world while only in his twenties, then wept because there were no more worlds left to conquer. While the film's 141 minutes are occasionally bogged down by near-existential dialogue sequences (What doth it profit a man etc. etc.), the battle sequences are among the best and most accurate ever filmed. Fredric March and Danielle Darieux costar as Alexander's parents Philip of Macedonia and Olympius, Claire Bloom does what she can with the nothing role of Alexander's wife Barsine, and Michael Hordern and Harry Andrews are cast as Demosthenes and Darrius, respectively. Lensed in Spain and Italy, Alexander the Great conquered no new worlds at the box-office, perhaps because Richard Burton, brilliant though he was, hadn't yet attained "saleability". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
While it is arguably better than Oliver Stone's more recent remake, the 1956 Alexander the Great is a rather mediocre epic. Part of the problem is simply the passage of time; the fight scenes which might have looked rather realistic in the 1950s now seem to be rather paltry in numbers and lacking in imagination. That lack of imagination is present throughout; it's as if director Robert Rossen all of a sudden found himself behind the camera with neither a real vision nor a real passion for the project. In the right circumstances, Rossen could be a director of insight; that's far from the case here. It's not that his work is actually bad, but an historical epic about a larger-than-life character demands someone at the helm whose direction is equally larger-than-life, if not moreso. Rossen is hampered by a script that thinks it is delving deeper into its characters than it actually is, resulting in some leaden speeches that end up quite platitudinous. Alexander undergoes a tremendous character change, but the psychological depth that would underscore that transformation is missing. Under the circumstances, Richard Burton is left to do little more than declaim in a vague and empty fashion; he does not provide the grandeur that the character demands and that the writers have largely omitted. Much better is Fredric March as his father, practically stealing much of the movie from Burton. Claire Bloom does quite nicely with a nothing part, and the supporting cast is solid throughout. Alexander gets a lot of the facts right, which earns it points; it's just a shame the facts were presented in a more cinematically engaging fashion. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Stanley Baker - Attalus; Niall MacGinnis - Parmenio; Peter Cushing - Memnon; Michael Hordern - Demosthenes; Barry Jones - Aristotle; Marisa de Leza - Eurydice; Gustavo Rojo - Cleitus; Ruben Rojo - Philotas; William Squire - Aeschenes; Helmut Dantine - Nectanebus; Peter Wyngarde - Pausanius; Julio Pena - Arsites; Jose Nieto - Spithridates; Carlos Martínez Baena - Nearchus; Larry Taylor - Perdiccas; Jose Marco - Harpalus; Ramsay Ames - Drunken woman; Mario De Barros - Messenger; Ellen Rossen - Amytis; Virgilio Teixeira - Ptolemy; Riccardo Valle - Hephaestion; Frederick Ledebur - Antipater
