The beautiful Helena (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The beautiful Helena |
| Original title | Helen of Troy |
| Country of production | USA , Italy |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1956 |
| length | 121 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Wise |
| script |
John Twist Hugh Gray |
| music | Max Steiner |
| camera | Harry Stradling Sr. |
| cut | Thomas Reilly |
| occupation | |
| |
The beautiful Helena (OT: Helen of Troy , alternative German title: Der Untergang von Troja ) is an Italian / American adventure film by Robert Wise from 1956 . The film adheres loosely to the Iliad of Homer . The world premiere took place on January 26, 1956.
action
In order to enable trade relations for Troy, which was destroyed by the Greeks and now rebuilt , Prince Paris, son of Priam , wants to make peace with the Greeks. Priam gives him a ship. The priestly surveys seem favorable - except for Kassandra's forecast. The high priest also criticizes the fact that Paris only worships Aphrodite . The son of Priam starts the journey with Aeneas. At sea the ship gets into a storm, Paris goes overboard and runs aground in Sparta .
There he is found by Helena, who is visiting her nurse. As a shipwrecked man, still dazed, he believes he has the goddess of love in front of him. After initial skepticism, Helena, who poses as a slave to him, recognizes the noble descent of the prince by his demeanor, takes care of him and recommends that he flee with a nearby Phoenician ship. Paris, already in love with her, also learns that a meeting of the Greek princes is imminent. He makes his way to Menelaus' palace.
The Atrids, Ajax, Diomedes and Nestor are already there. Odysseus arrives ("Greetings, pirate brothers"), shortly after him Achilles, who gets into an argument with Ajax.
“Achilles: Me and my loyal friend Patroklos. We both alone are able to defend ourselves against any opponent.
Ajax: I doubt that!
Achill: Who?
Ajax: Me, Ajax!
Achill: Ajax imitating me? You vain, arrogant Gernigig.
Ajax (to everyone): To imitate him I need a triple armor. This is the only reason for his fame, he is invulnerable.
Achilles (to all): Silence him. It would be dangerous to make me angry.
Ajax (to everyone) His skin is as easily injured as his vanity. And his heel first, the pressure of the leather already hurts!
Achill: I don't fight with my feet, Ajax. [....]
Menelaus: Enough argument. We must avoid discord.
Odysseus: You are asking the impossible. We never agreed and never will be. "
Paris arrives and introduces itself and its peace offer. It can be heard immediately that by no means all Greek princes want a war against Troy. Nestor and Diomedes in particular are interested in peace. For the warmongers Menelaus and Agamemnon it is now favorable to doubt that their visitors are the Trojan prince. Since Paris has a reputation for being a good pugilist, they suggest a fist fight. Ajax competes against him. When Helena, who had arrived at the palace, went unnoticed by Paris and attended part of the fight, Menelaus had to realize that she had already met the Trojan. After the fight ends, he pretends to negotiate with Paris the next day.
Helena realizes that her husband is ill-disposed towards Paris, prepares the Troian's escape with a Phoenician ship and has her body slave Andraste warn him. She spends the night with him on the beach, in the morning they are surprised by her husband's soldiers. Paris quickly decides to flee with her. In the palace, the atrids recognize the facts and call for war against Troy.
“Agamemnon: He dragged her away - against her will.
Odysseus: How she defended herself and called for help in vain. [...]
Agamemnon: We send heralds to all regions and call for holy war for our honor.
Odysseus: That is what it will be called later, this war. [...]
Agamemnon: It is my sacred duty to lead the Greeks in the fight for the honor of my brother.
Odysseus: (aloud) Agamemnon's wise words. I will follow you (quietly, to yourself) and tell you what to do, as so often before. "
In the city on the Hellespont, the joy is great when the prince believed dead returns home. Helena is welcomed with mixed feelings. Priam and Hector prepare for war.
The Greek fleet arrives. On the advice of Odysseus, a camp is set up and the first attack is well prepared with rams and mobile wooden towers.
In the following fight, Paris succeeds in saving Hector's life. There were brief duels between Achilles and Hector as well as Menelaus and Paris. The Greeks must call for retreat. Polydoros, fatally injured by Achilles, dies in the presence of his brothers.
The Greeks are preparing for years of siege and undertaken raids in the vicinity of Troy. When Agamemnon, tipsy and thoughtless, snatches a playmate from Achilles, the Pelide decides to stop fighting. In order to end the war and persuade the Greeks to withdraw, Helena would like to surrender herself to Menelaus. The Greeks apparently accept a corresponding agreement. After Hector surrendered them, the Greeks demand tribute. Paris succeeds in grabbing Helena, in the subsequent hunt in chariots he kills Patroclus.
Achilles wants to avenge the death of Patroclus in a duel, Hector accepts this challenge instead of Paris. The fight takes place in front of the Skaean Gate. Achilles defeats Hector and drags his body in front of the city walls with his chariot. Archers shoot him, finally an arrow from Paris fatally hits him in the heel.
Odysseus wants to take advantage of the frenzy of victory in which the Trojans find themselves and suggests an apparent withdrawal of the army. At the same time he has already had a huge wooden horse built. He assumes that the Trojans are carting the horse into their city.
That's how it happens. After a dissolute victory celebration, warriors hidden in the horse leave the horse and let the Greek armies that have meanwhile returned into the city. Troy is sacked and destroyed.
Priam orders Aeneas, to whom he entrusts Andromache and his grandson, and Paris to escape through the north gate. He and Hecabe are captured by Menelaus. Cassandra is cached by Ajax in the temple.
Helena and Paris are caught by Menelaus while they are fleeing. There is a duel between the men. When Menelaus is threatened with defeat, Paris is stabbed from behind by a soldier.
During the return trip, Helena thinks about the talks with Paris.
History of origin
When it was already being shot in the Cinemascope in 1952 and it was foreseeable that this and other wide screen processes could be used, the complex of legends about the Trojan War also seemed very interesting for a remake. Warner Brothers announced the production of this film, one thought of Virginia Mayo or Hedy Lamarr to cast the beautiful Helena. Cecil B. DeMille negotiated a film version of this topic with Paramount, but then decided to film The Ten Commandments (1956) (with reference to). Lamarr actually played the Queen of Sparta in 1954, but alongside other roles in an episodic film with a modern framework (women, OT: L'amante di Paride, English title Loves of Three Queens, The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships. Versions partially shortened)
In 1953 Warner Bros. bought the filming rights to "Helen of Troy" from Carlo Ponti (see entry in AFI, with reference to Hollywood Reporter, September 1953), which at the time was linked to Dino de Laurenti's "Ulisse" ( The Journeys of Odysseus ) filmed.
The project was directed by Robert Wise. Like the film adaptation of the Odyssey, this film was also to be shot in the Cinecittà studios in Rome.
Wise wanted lesser-known actors for the two lead roles. Test recordings were made by Eileen Moore and Ann Gunning for the main role (source: imdb. The information can be found several times with the same formulation, without further details). The role of Helena went to Rossana Podestà, who was under contract with the Italian Lux Film , who was able to gain experience in the specific film genre with the previously played role of Nausicaa (mythology) in Ulisse. Jacques Sernas played Prince Paris, and with Podestà he was in front of the camera in 1952 in the children's film "Gli angeli del quartiere" ( Angels from the basement apartment ).
The Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete served as a model for the buildings of the city of Troy (Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic, 13 The Trojan War on the Screen: An Annotated Filmography; Editor Martin M. Winkler). Individual settings of the first attack of the Greeks against Troy are apparently from the attack of the Persians in the Babylon episode in David Wark Griffith Intolerance ( Intolerance (film) affected) of the 1916th The Trojan horse was made of balsa wood and was easy to transport. Edward Carrere and Ken Adam were responsible for the buildings . The head of the second recording unit was Yakima Canutt . In addition to the British Sir Cedric Hardwicke, the Oscar winners Max Steiner and Harry Stradling Sr. could also be won over for the film.
The shooting lasted from March to August 1954, in the legal notice of the film opening credits is noted 1955. Wise shot the film in Cinemascope with comparatively short takes for a widescreen film in the mid-fifties.
Several thousand extras were hired for the crowd scenes. Not enough costumes were provided. In some shots, in which long lines of soldiers march, the first four rows can be seen armed and in costumes, followed by extras in relatively simple clothing. Raoul Walsh and Sergio Leone also worked unnamed on the directing units . Walsh was under contract with Warner and shot a few fight scenes.
Podestà, Sernas, Brigitte Bardot and some Italian roles were dubbed by British actors in the original version. Sernas was well enough English his timbre ( tone ) but did not get on with the other, mainly British, cast the Trojans ( "Unfortunately, Although he had a fine speaking voice, the timbre did not match the rest of the cast, and his voice was dubbed "- The Making of Helen of Troy, WIDE SCREEN MOVIES MAGAZINE). Many sources name Edmund Purdom as a voice actor . However, material found in the Warner Brothers archive in 2005 also allows the conclusion that Geoffrey Toone was the speaker (Helen of Troy - Film Score Rundowns,), the material was viewed as part of a work on the music of Max Steiner. Apparently no document is known about the voice actress of Helena in the original version (unconfirmed mentions can be found on imdb.com).
In the Italian dubbed version, Podestà was dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta (Italian actress and voice actress).
The film originally had a screening time of around 180 minutes and was shortened to 121 minutes (Helen of Troy - Film Score Rundowns)
The title sequence of the film shows Jacques Sernas as "Jack Sernas", Podestà without accent grave.
The world premiere was a premiere in several respects: For the first time a film opened in different countries at the same time, in this case on January 26, 1956 in 56 countries.
Reception and effect
"Greek mythology a la Hollywood: ostentatious equipment, naive plot structure, silly dialogues - a film that unfortunately takes itself seriously."
"In 1956, veteran Robert Wise (" West Side Story ") staged the forbidden love between Troy Prince Paris and Sparta's Queen Helena pompously and appropriately dramatically."
Footage from the strip was reused in
- The Story of Mankind (1957) - Scenes from the first major attack.
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - Chariots passing through the gate, fighting at the fortifications.
- The Time Tunnel , episode "Revenge of the gods" (1966) - scenes in which the wooden horse is carted into the city, as well as the destruction of Troy.
In 2003, the events were the Iliad again under the original title Helen of Troy ( Helen of Troy filmed) for American television. Directed by John Kent Harrison, with Sienna Guillory in the title role .
Comparison with mythology
Events before the Iliad
At the beginning of the film, the narrator mentions a previous destruction of Troy under the leadership of Sparta, which is why the wall was built. A campaign by Heracles against Troy can be read in Canto 5 of the Iliad and in Book 2 of the Apollodorus library . In the latter tradition, the building of the wall by Poseidon before that campaign is also addressed.
According to Acta diurna belli Troiani (author Dares Phrygius ) the reason for traveling from Paris and Aeneas to Sparta is to bring Hesione back. In the film it is the desire for peace with the Greeks and the establishment of trade relations.
The judgment of Paris is not mentioned, but the admiration and admiration of Paris for Aphrodite is .
The warnings from Kassandra , which were also made in the film, can be read in several sources.
Otherwise, the encounter between Paris and Helena shown in the film roughly corresponds to the statements in "Acta diurna belli Troiani". According to tradition, Paris is not a shipwrecked person with a dubious identity.
A duel "Ajax versus Paris" only appears in the film. The Iliad tells of duels that only took place during the war, Paris against Menelaus (3rd song) and Ajax against Hector (7th song).
There are different traditions about the death of Polydoros. In the film he is killed during the first battle of Achilles, in the Iliad during the last year of the war (song 20).
ILIAS (visit from Chryses to Hector's burial)
When in Achilles' tent Agamemnon, tipsy with wine, spontaneously grabs an unnamed slave with whom the Pelide had previously dealt, the Pelide demands an omission and declares the girl to be his property. Agamemnon has them brought to his quarters, Achilles refuses to follow from now on.
The events around Chryseis and Briseis from the Iliad are greatly shortened in the film. After Agamemnon stole the slave girl from the Peliden, the consequences of the Myrmidons not taking part in the fighting in the strip are not noticeable.
Patroclus is killed in the film by Paris, in the Iliad (Canto 16) by Hector. As in the Iliad, there is a duel between Achilles and Hector, the Pelide defeats and kills Hector, he grinds the body of the dead opponent in the dust (22nd song).
Events after the Iliad
Achilles, while he was still driving in the chariot, was killed by Paris, who was pleading with Zeus , with an arrow hitting the heel ( Aeneid , 6th book, but in the myth with the help of Apollo ).
The withdrawal of the Greeks shown in the film and the built Trojan horse correspond to the Aeneid (2nd book). However , the scriptwriters put the statement from Laocoon in Helena’s mouth (I fear the Greeks even if they bring presents)
The escape of Aeneas is hinted at in the film.
Cassandra is overwhelmed in the film by the great Ajax in the temple and forcibly carried away. In The Trojans the aias is the Locrians , the Telamonians did not experience the fall of Troy.
According to Quintus von Smyrna (The Fall of Troy, books 10 and 13), Paris did not experience the destruction of Troy either, he had previously died by an archer, Helena married his younger brother Deiphobus, who was slain by Menelaus, as in the film Paris.
DVD
The film was released on DVD on May 7, 2004 (showing 116 minutes with overture) under the title The Downfall of Troy .
Web links
- The beautiful Helena in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The beautiful Helena in the American Film Institute (English)
- The beautiful Helena in the online film database
- The beautiful Helena in the German dubbing file
- John Hayes: The Making of Helen of Troy . In: Wide Screen Movies Magazine, February 14, 2018 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen edited by Arthur J. Pomeroy, 4. The resurgence of epics in the 1950s: Classical antiquity in post-war Hollywood Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos, 2017
- ^ Variety, May 22, 1952
- ↑ (Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood's Legendary Director, Marilyn Ann Moss)
- ↑ https://www.filmscorerundowns.net/steiner/helen-of-troy.pdf (the text contains a 14-page lead-in, which offers some information about the recordings in the recording studio at that time, but otherwise comes from the personal views of the music connoisseur embossed)
- ↑ DVD-Extra: Excerpt from "Kings Row" (1955), presented by Gig Young .
- ↑ The beautiful Helena in the Lexicon of International Films
- ↑ http://www.cinema.de/film_aktuell/filmdetail/film/?typ=inhalt&film_id=11584
- ↑ The beautiful Helena at dvd-forum.at