Der Untergang des Römischen Reiches (1964)
64KDer Untergang des Römischen Reiches: Directed by Anthony Mann. With Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinness, James Mason. The death of Marcus Aurelius leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor’s son, Commodus, demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire.
“In his eminently readable autobiography, u0026quot;Blessings in Disguiseu0026quot; (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1986), Sir Alec Guinness shares some reminiscences about his participation in this extravaganza (pp. 207-209). He thought the script was u0026quot;Not much,u0026quot; considered director Anthony Mann to be u0026quot;friendly…and well-disposed towards actors,u0026quot; and found u0026quot;a lot to like and admireu0026quot; in his co-star, Sophia Loren. He relates a story of their going to dinner on a wind-lashed rainy night in Madrid during production. As they proceeded to a waiting limousine, the dazzlingly gowned and coiffed Sophia suddenly tripped and fell full-length in a muddy puddle, u0026quot;…ruining her dress, bruising her hands and grazing her face.u0026quot; Upon repairing to her u0026quot;luxurious film-star apartment,u0026quot; despite Sir Alecu0026#39;s protestations, Sophia insisted upon keeping their engagement and reemerged ten minutes later, freshly and even more beautifully gowned and bearing nary a sign of her unfortunate spill.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI wonu0026#39;t add much to the voluminous comments about the film itself, except to say that the Ultra Panavision 70 cinematography was best experienced in a first-run theater with top-notch projection and sound. I recall enjoying it, despite its longueurs, quite a bit more than the recent and tedious u0026quot;Gladiator.u0026quot; Itu0026#39;s interesting to note that Richard Harris, who appeared later in u0026quot;Gladiator,u0026quot; because of creative differences with the director, surrendered the role of Commodus in this film to Christopher Plummer, who seems to revel in the villainy of his part.”
