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Land of the Pharaohs

6.9

3,780

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Original title

Land of the Pharaohs

Year

1955

Running time

105 min.

Country

United States

Director

Howard Hawks

Screenwriter

William Faulkner, Harry Kurnitz, Harold Jack Bloom

Cast

Music

Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography

Lee Garmes, Russell Harlan

Producer

Warner Bros

Genre

Adventure | Historical. Ancient Egypt. Architecture

Synopsis

In ancient Egypt the Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) is obsessed with acquiring gold and plans to take it all with him into the "second life". To this end he enlists the aid of Vashtar (James Robertson Justice), an architect whose people he has enslaved in Egypt. The agreement is to build a robber-proof tomb in exchange for the slaves' release, although Vashtar will have to die when the pyramid-tomb is finished to preserve the secret of its construction against tomb robbers. During the years that the pyramid is being built, the pharaoh demands tribute from all the territories. Nellifer (Joan Collins) is the princess and ambassador of the tributary province of Cyprus. Nellifer says that her province is poor and cannot afford to pay the tribute of grain—so she offers herself to the pharaoh instead. Nellifer becomes the pharaoh's second wife.

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Critics' reviews

"When the viewing senses begin to dull from the tremendous load of spectacle, the script and Hawks' direction wisely switch to sex and intrigue."

Variety Staff: Variety
"A flop in its day despite France's rhapsodic reaction, but a movie I've always loved even before its knockout finale, which even detractors admit redeems a lot"

Mike Clark: USA Today
"This saga of the building of a colossal pyramid 5,000 years ago is staged on the creaky foundation of a tale of palace intrigue that must have been banal even in the First Dynasty."

A.H. Weiler: The New York Times
"Fairly awesome if you can get beyond the clunky dialogue"

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Chicago Reader
"Joan Collins and her pointy bras are a hubba-hubba hoot"

Entertainment Weekly
"Joan Collins is the only person in this film who seems to be enjoying the fact it's a big camp mess."

Alex von Tunzelmann: The Guardian
"Hawks used more than 10,000 extras and handled the DeMille-type hordes well enough. The problems arose in the shooting of the small moments, the times when actors had to speak to each other."

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