Poseidon-3 Review of Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy (1956)

Attractive coating on the outside, but the filling isn't tremendous.

[13 May 2009]

Noted (and versatile) director Wise amassed a considerable team of behind the scenes personnel and an impressive array of actors for this large-scale epic rendition of the legendary story of the title character. Unfortunately, the production suffers somewhat from the casting of the leads, primarily stemming from the fact that neither one was able to use his or her own voice. Sernas plays a prince of Troy who journeys to Sparta to attempt to establish peace between them and his own people. Shipwrecked before he can even get there, he is greeted on the shore by Podesta, to him the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. After recovering from his close call, he heads to the palace to speak to king MacGinnis and is sorely mistreated and disbelieved. He then discovers that his object of affection is, in actuality, MacGinnis' queen! Circumstances lead him to spirit her back to Troy where she is skeptically received by his unhappy family. MacGinnis pulls together a massive army of men from various Greek states and proceeds to attack Troy. When things look almost impossible, one of his men oversees the construction of the famed Trojan Horse, which makes things look awfully bleak for Sernas and Podesta who are, by now, deeply in love. Podesta is curvaceous and attractive, but not necessarily what one might expect as the woman whose face launched a 1000 ships. Having learned her lines phonetically just to get through the shoot, she was then dubbed by an American actress. This, along with the fact that her platinum wigs don't really compliment her dark coloring, prevents her from really registering very heavily in the role. Sernas (who is caressed by the camera almost every bit as much as Podesta is, frequently shirtless) is likewise dubbed and, though he gives it a good shot, winds up not being able to craft a character that audiences could really care a great deal about. (Some of this stems from the fact that the character really wasn't written as heroic or particularly likable in the original Homer story to begin with!) Fortunately, a host of fine character actors is on hand to help out. Hardwicke plays Sernas' father, Swinburne is his mother, Andrews is his brother and a nearly unrecognizable Scott is his soothsaying sister. MacGinnis is strong in his part and is ably matched by Thatcher, Baker and Douglas as his associates. Reed appears briefly as the hulking Ajax, who takes on Sernas in a fairly savage grudge match. Also popping up to good effect is an ebullient Bardot in an early role as one of Podesta's servants. She, too, is dubbed by an English-speaking actress. There is a lot going for the film, including a splendid Max Steiner score, a vast collection of extras, impressive sets and moments of genuinely good drama. On the flip side, the costumes often lean towards the pedestrian, the script lacks zest and some of the model work is a tad poor. This film includes references to the Greek Gods, but eliminates them as actual characters and does not attribute any of their own actions to them directly. Rather, things take place as if they are occurring without the interference or direct influence or aid of the deities. Though it's certainly not blatant, there is the opportunity to read Baker and his chief aid Longdon's relationship as more than platonic. Fans of epic films ought to appreciate the pageantry and scope of it, but may find themselves wishing for a little more meat in the story and, perhaps, more significant acting from the leads.