j_lesta Review of The Last Days of Pompeii

The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)

Historically inaccurate, but fun and inoffensive viewing

[2 December 2004]

If you liked "Gladiator," then "The Last Days of Pompeii" is a good choice for an empty afternoon of slash-em-up moralizing. The sets are expansive and ornate, there's loads of action and the story, though pretty one-note, is well-written and well-acted. Normally I can't stand classical actors, but the performances in "Pompeii" are so energetic that I got sucked in, anyway. The moral underpinning of the movie does include a couple of appearances by Jesus Christ, complete with awed crowds of followers and the obligatory boys choir, but compared with some of the later Jesus epics that Hollywood produced ("King of Kings" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told"), "Pompeii" handles the material with considerable flair. The only major nitpick I have for this movie is its freewheeling use of history. At most, the story only covers 20 years, but Jesus died around 35 AD and Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. But then, when has Hollywood let the truth get in the way of a good story?