The silver chalice

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Movie
German title The silver chalice of
Basil - hero of Rome
Original title The Silver Chalice
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1954
length 115 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Victor Saville
script Lesser Samuels
production Victor Saville
music Franz Waxman
camera William V. Skall
cut George White
occupation

The silver chalice , also known as Basilus - Hero of Rome , is an American monumental film from 1954 by Victor Saville with Paul Newman in his first leading role (as Basilus). Pier Angeli , Virginia Mayo , Jack Palance and the very young Natalie Wood play other leading roles at his side . The story is based on the bestselling novel The Silver Chalice (1952) by Thomas B. Costain .

action

In the year 20 AD the wealthy and childless Greek Ignatius adopts a child in Antioch, who from then on he will be called Basil. In his new home, the boy befriends the ambitious slave Helena and, under the guidance of Ignatius, quickly develops a talent for sculpture. When Ignatius dies, his brother Linus succeeds in bribing the Roman officials so that Basilus does not receive his share of the inheritance and is instead sold as a slave. Helena, who is now under the protection of her lover, the magician Simon, warns Basilus that Linus is planning to murder him. Supported by Luke , a doctor and disciple of Christ , Basil flees to Jerusalem to the house of the Jew Aaron. His father, Joseph of Arimathea , just helped remove Christ from the cross and buried him in the family grave. Joseph shows Basilus the Holy Grail , the goblet from which Jesus drank during the Last Supper , and asks the young sculptor to design a silver goblet based on the original with engravings of the heads of Jesus and his disciples. Basil immediately begins to work on the chalice and creates the images of the disciples. But he does not see himself able to create a picture of Jesus.

Meanwhile, Mijamin, the leader of a group of assassins, asks the magician Simon to help him raise an army with his magic skills. Mijamin wants to use Simon's magic to lead Christians away from their religion and towards his army. Longing to be more than an ordinary magician, Simon convinces Mijamin to help him found a new religion of his own. In order to demoralize the Christians, they decide to steal the Grail and publicly destroy it in the presence of Peter , a disciple of Jesus and an opponent of Simon. When Basil learns that Helena is in Jerusalem, he takes part in Simon's next performance. When the magician compares himself to Jesus, Joseph's granddaughter Debora, who accompanied Basilus, condemns him of blasphemy and thus turns the crowd against him. Basil helps her escape the wrath of the mob. Later, Basil gives Joseph the almost finished chalice. The old man asks its Creator to go to Rome to meet Peter. Basil hesitates a little. Josef assumes that the young artist has fallen in love with Debora and therefore does not want to leave here. The law stipulates that Debora cannot inherit Josef's property as long as she is not married. So Joseph, in the hope that Basilus and Debora will marry, claims to her that Basil would love her. Knowing that the ambitious Helena Simon will never leave and in view of the fact that Basilus still loves Helena, Basil tells Debora that he will marry her so that one day she can get her inheritance. Both young people get married in a private ceremony before the dying Joseph. After Basil and Debora set off for Antioch to receive Joseph's gold possession, Simon and Mijamin raid Aaron's house in search of the Grail. However, you must find that he is gone and then follow the bride and groom.

Basil and Debora spend the next night separately in two tents when the villain Mijamin reaches the camp and secretly steals the goblet. Basilus follows him and fights against his men to get the chalice back into his possession. He actually succeeds in doing this, and Basil and Debora reach their destination in Antioch unscathed. From there, Basil traveled to Rome alone to meet Peter. Here he meets Kester, a witness to his adoption. He promises Basilus to help him regain his own inheritance. After he was persuaded by Helena to go to Rome, her lover Simon quickly won the favor of the Roman emperor Nero . Flattered by Simon, Nero's self-assessment increases more and more and finally turns into megalomania. In his excessive overestimation of himself, Simon promises the emperor that he will fly like a bird to Nero's glory, and therefore asks the ruler to have a tower almost one hundred meters high built from which he, Simon, wants to fly away. Nero orders the Christian slaves to begin construction. But since many of the exploited rebel, they are brutally crucified . Meanwhile, Helena found out about Basilus' marriage to the beautiful Debora and, in a fit of jealousy, persuaded Nero to commission Basilus with the creation of a bust, which led to the artist's stay at the Emperor's court being extended.

While Basilus is now chiseling on the bust, looking out of the window he witnesses the executions of Christians. Basil is so angry that he begins to pray fervently and the face of Christ appears to him, which prompts him to give up Nero's commission. In the morning a messenger secretly hands over the finished silver chalice to Peter and tells Basil that Debora came to Rome with the Holy Grail. Meanwhile, Simon's flying tower is completed, and the citizens of Rome gather to see Simon's miracle of a flying man. Simon, who presumably believes he is a god, tells Helena that he doesn't need any mounts to fly. Simon ignores their requests, jumps from the tower and falls to his death. The gawking crowd feels bruised and coveted for the promise to see a flying person. Nero fears that the anger of the mob could turn against him, Simon's sponsor, who also feels betrayed by him, and then thinks up a new malice. He orders Helena to follow her dead lover to the tower and also to start a flight attempt. If she manages, Nero promises, he will spare her life. Since Helena knows that this endeavor has no chance, she stoically climbs the tower and falls into the depths, at the feet of the crowd. Annoyed by the miracle that was not observed, angry mobs first plunder Simon's house and then the neighbors' buildings. In general confusion, Basil encounters his wife and confesses his love to Debora. When the Holy Grail and the silver chalice are stolen from the house of Saint Peter, Basil pursues the robber through the streets. But the thief is overtaken by the mob, arrested and killed before Basil can catch up with him. When Basil reached the dead he found only a broken part of the chalice. Basil and Debora prepare to return to Antioch. Peter blesses the happy couple and prophesies that one day the Holy Grail will reappear when humanity needs it.

Production notes

The shooting took place between the beginning of June and the end of August 1954 in Palm Springs and Rome. The world premiere took place on December 17, 1954 in Saranac Lake (New York), the German premiere took place on October 21, 1955.

Lesser Samuels was the production manager. The stylized film structures were designed by Rolf Gérard , Boris Leven took care of their execution, the equipment was designed by Howard Bristol . Marjorie Best designed the costumes together with Gerard. Hans F. Koenekamp was responsible for the photographic special effects. Stephen Papich created the choreography.

In addition to Newman, the future TV star Lorne Greene (“Bonanza”) made his film debut here.

Awards / nominations

  • Born in Upper Silesia, Franz Wachsmann, who had made a career as Franz Waxman in Hollywood, received an Oscar nomination for his film composition .
  • William V. Skall received another Oscar nomination for Best Color Film Photography
  • Screen debutant Paul Newman received a Golden Globe Award for Best Young Actor . He himself, however, described The Silver Cup as the worst film that was made in the 1950s and warned in 1966, when the film was about to be shown on television, in an advertisement publicly against watching this flick.

synchronization

role actor Voice actor
Basil Paul Newman Harald Juhnke
Helena Virginia Mayo Eleanor Noelle
Simon the magician Jack Palance Wolf Ackva
Joseph of Arimathea Walter Hampden Walther Suessenguth
Mijamin Joseph Wiseman Paul Edwin Roth
Luke the Evangelist Alexander Scourby Curt Ackermann
Ignatius EG Marshall Robert Klupp
Peter Lorne Greene Wilhelm Borchert
Aaron Michael godfather Konrad Wagner
Kester Albert Dekker Franz Nicklisch
Idbash Robert Middleton Hans Emons
Emperor Nero Jacques Aubuchon Klaus Miedel
Sosthene Terence De Marney Alfred Balthoff

Wilhelm Borchert (here Lorne Greene's voice) also acted as the narrator in the German version.

Reviews

The reviews were mostly devastating. Below are several examples:

AH Weiler wrote in the New York Times that the makers of the film “have come up with a spectacular adventure that easily fits into the lush hues of WarnerColor and the extra-large screen of Cinemascope. But by offering a minimum of suspense and generous portions of extravagance, they have released a cumbersome and sometimes creaky vehicle that takes too long to achieve its goal. "

John L. Scott wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the film was "sometimes colorful, but sometimes quite tiresome."

Richard L. Coe, on the other hand, decreed in The Washington Post : “Lester Samuels' script winds uncertainly, and Victor Saville's direction is simply bombastic. I didn't find anything remarkable in the appearances of the main actors. "

The Movie & Video Guide called Paul Newman's debut "mediocre" and recalled that Newman once publicly apologized in an advertisement for the film.

Halliwell's Film Guide found, "Grim Bible humbug, slower and more deadly than most with howlingly bad cast and direction."

The lexicon of the international film found: “Freely made up religious kitsch in a lengthy production. Paul Newman's not very successful film debut. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The silver chalice in the German synchronous files .
  2. ↑ New York Times, December 27, 1954.
  3. ↑ Los Angeles Times, December 27, 1954.
  4. ↑ The Washington Post, December 28, 1954.
  5. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1188.
  6. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 920.
  7. ↑ The silver chalice. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 4, 2020 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

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