The valley of the kings
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The valley of the kings |
| Original title | Valley of the Kings |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1954 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Pirosh |
| script | Robert Pirosh, Karl Tunberg |
| music | Miklós Rózsa |
| camera | Robert Surtees |
| cut | Harold F. Kress |
| occupation | |
| |
The Valley of the Kings (Original title: Valley of the Kings ) is an American adventure film with Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker from 1954.
action
The American Ann Barclay Mercedes travels to Cairo around 1900 to take part in an archaeological dig. Her recently deceased father, a renowned archaeologist, had spent his life looking for a tomb that could provide evidence of the authenticity of the Old Testament story of Joseph's stay in Egypt . With the help of the expedition leader, Mark Brandon, Ann wants to continue her father's search. She shows him a golden statuette from the 18th dynasty , on which Mark recognizes the inscription of Pharaoh Rahotep , whose grave has not yet been officially discovered. According to Ann, her father bought the statuette in London along with other antiques smuggled out of Egypt . Mark agrees to help the beautiful Ann, but is disappointed when he learns that Ann is already taken and that her husband Philip will also arrive in Cairo shortly.
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Ann then goes to the antique dealer Valentine Arko, hoping that he can get her more objects from Rahotep's grave. Back at the hotel, Ann and Mark meet Philip, who has already done his own research in the city. Father Anthimos finally suggests that the three researchers accompany him to St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai . There, Mark and Ann find clay tablets in a tomb, suggesting that Rahotep's tomb is in the Valley of the Kings . However, the search on site remains unsuccessful. In Luxor , Ann meets Arko again, who wants to tell her where Rahotep's grave is for a fee. He tells her about a man named Campos who has since been murdered. Many years ago he got too much wealth overnight by smuggling valuables from Rahotep's grave abroad. Arko suggests Ann to contact Campos' former expedition leader, who is in the village of El Tabor. However, he also warns them of Hamed Backhour, the mastermind behind a large smuggler's ring. That same night, Arko is murdered by Backhour. As it turns out, Philip is doing common cause with Backhour. Since Backhour only wants to give him a ten percent profit on the smuggled goods sold, Philip draws his pistol and threatens to report to the police of Backhour's murder of Arko if he does not receive half of the objects from Rahotep's grave.
The next day Mark, Ann and Philip travel with a group of excavation workers, including Backhour, through the desert to El Tabor. On the way they get caught in a violent sandstorm. Mark and Ann are separated from the others and then meet the nomadic tribe of the Tuareg , among whom Campos' former leader Salah is. He doesn't believe Mark and Ann that they want to find Rahotep's grave for scientific reasons. According to Tuareg law, the only way Mark can prove that he is telling the truth is by fighting Salah in a fight. Mark emerges victorious, but spares Salah's life. Later that evening, Mark and Ann become aware of their feelings for each other and they kiss.
The next morning, Salah leads Mark and Ann to an ancient temple. Mark concludes that Rahotep's actual tomb is elsewhere, but that the temple served as a hiding place for a gang of thieves who had looted the tomb more than a thousand years ago. When Mark examines the walls of the temple more closely, he finds Backhour's body and a secret passage that leads him to Philip, who is now threatening him with his weapon. There follows a fight between the two men, in which Philip ultimately falls down an abyss. Dejected by events, Ann returns with Mark to the Valley of the Kings for one final dig. This time luck is on their side and they discover Rahotep's grave. In a hidden chamber they find a statue of Joseph, which finally proves the theory of Ann's father.
background
The non-fiction book Gods, Graves and Scholars by CW Ceram served as a literary template for the historical background . Most of the outdoor shots were taken in December 1953 on original locations in Cairo , Luxor , Suez , on Mount Sinai , in the Libyan desert and in front of the Giza pyramids . In January 1954, filming in the MGM studios continued. An outside shoot also took place in El Segundo , California. Originally Vittorio Gassman was supposed to play the role of Mark Brandon.
The film, shot in Eastman Color , was supposed to open in American cinemas in August 1954, but for publicity reasons the release was brought forward a month after an ancient Egyptian boat was excavated near the Great Pyramid of Cheops , probably for Pharaonic burial ceremonies had been used. The Valley of the Kings was finally premiered on July 21, 1954 in Cairo, Alexandria and New York simultaneously . The film was released in Germany on April 5, 1955.
Reviews
For the lexicon of international films , The Valley of the Kings was “a poor adventure fable based on CW Ceram's bestseller”. Even the "effective pictures of the interesting scene cannot help the weak staging". “The only thing that impresses about this routine work are the perfectly photographed Egyptian locations,” said Cinema . The conclusion was: "Idle in the shadow of the pyramids."
The New York Times , according to the act was "routine and predictable," while "the authentic scenes and local customs descriptive and exceedingly beautiful" had been staged. In short, the outdoor shots are the real stars of the film. Even Variety concluded that the scene had "more fresh" to offer "as a routine story." Eleanor Parker and Robert Taylor are "a good team" in their leading roles, whereas Carlos Thompson comes along as "only mediocre". In retrospect, the film critic Leonard Maltin described the film as a “meandering adventure story”.
German version
The German dubbed version was created in 1955 in MGM's dubbing studio in Berlin .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Brandon | Robert Taylor | Paul Klinger |
| Ann Barclay Mercedes | Eleanor Parker | Eleanor Noelle |
| Philip Mercedes | Carlos Thompson | Ernst Schröder |
| Hamed Backhour | Kurt Kasznar | Konrad Wagner |
| Leader of the Tuareg | Victor Jory | Hans Wiegner |
| Valentine Arko | Leon Askin | Stanislav Ledinek |
| Father Anthimos | Aldo Silvani | Alfred Balthoff |
| Ahmed Salah | Frank De Kova | Karl Hellmer |
| prior | Paul Maxey | Walther Suessenguth |
| Antique dealer | Tewfik Helmy | Hugo Schrader |
| Tourist guide | Mahmoud El-Sabbaa | Bruno W. Pantel |
| Abdullah | Loutfi El Hakim | Franz Nicklisch |
Web links
- The Valley of the Kings in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Valley of the Kings at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b cf. Notes on tcm.com
- ↑ The Valley of the Kings. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 27, 2019 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de
- ↑ "For the story [...] is as routine and obvious as the authentic scenery and native customs are graphic and excitingly photogenic." See Valley of the Kings' Arrives at Plaza . In: The New York Times , July 22, 1954.
- ↑ “[T] he backgrounds offer more freshness to the film than does the routine story […]. Parker and Taylor are a good lead team for the drama, but Thompson comes off only fair. " See Valley of the Kings . In: Variety , 1954.
- ↑ "Meandering adventure yarn." Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's 2004 Movie & Video Guide . Plume, 2003, p. 1497.
- ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de