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Alex Minotis, Dewey Martin, Jack Hawkins, James Robertson Justice, Joan Collins

Nobody knew how a Pharaoh talked! That's how producer/director Howard Hawks explained some of the sillier dialogue exchanges in the William Faulkner-Harry Kurnitz-Harold Jack Bloom script for Hawks' L...( read more  read more... )and of the Pharaohs. Extravagantly produced with a cast of seeming millions (actually there were some 10,000 extras), the film speculates on the circumstances surrounding the construction of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Jack Hawkins plays the Pharaoh, who orders enslaved architect James Robertson Justice to build a magnificent, thief-proof tomb for him. At first, the people of Egypt willingly pitch in to construct the huge pyramid. But as the years roll by and the work shows no signs of abating, the Pharaoh begins relying upon forced labor from lands he has conquered. He also plunders the coffers of his neighboring countries. Cyprus can't pony up the necessary gold, so the country sends luscious Joan Collins (complete with a jewel in her navel) as a present for the Pharaoh. Fascinated by the spitfire Collins, the Pharaoh makes her his second wife. What he doesn't know is that Collins is just as much a predator as she would be in the TV series Dynasty. Hoping to gain all of the Pharaoh's kingdom and the riches therein, she stage-manages her husband's death. After the funeral procession, the Pharaoh is sealed in his tomb by a series of sand-operated weights, levers and pulleys (this speculation as to how the Pyramids were closed is the most fascinating part of the film). Collins watches in barely controlled glee; she isn't yet privy to the Egyptian custom of entombing the Pharaoh's widow alive, along with her husband's body--but she soon will be.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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56% liked it

243 ratings

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71% liked it

7 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Release Date: June 24, 1955

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Flixster Reviews (24)

  • constanzaboutter
    August 29, 2009
    constanzaboutter
    Spectacular epic tale, moves along at a stately but never sluggish pace, the cracking script scattered with lovely moments, most notably the grim finale when Joan Collins' campy evil character gets her ironic bittersweet come-uppance. With sets by Trauner and camerawork by Lee Ga...( read more)rmes, it looks great. Drama on an epic scale, and certainly one of the best epics.
  • ThatCodyGuy
    July 25, 2009
    ThatCodyGuy
    Screenplay by William Falkner!!! You have to see the young Joan Collins whipped and tortured.
  • Ghw12158
    June 14, 2009
    Ghw12158
    good stuff escapisit stuff

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