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Posted: |
Nov 4, 2011 - 12:45 AM
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By: |
pp312
(Member)
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I'd have to agree with all that. Very poor dialogue, cliched characters, but with all that a given I still enjoy it, big film, big sets, & lots of star power. It really did need Tiomkin's music score to pull it all together. The problem I have with The Fall Of The Roman Empire, is that I find it so dull. The main problem is the two stars, who would have thought that Stephen Boyd so good as the baddy in Ben-hur, would be so deathly dull in this.
The two stars ARE pretty dull, but the real problem is as stated in your second sentence: very poor dialogue. Don't forget, it's very difficult for even the finest actors to spark with lousy dialogue. You MUST start with a good script, as Wyler realized with B-H when he went through Karl Tunberg's original screenplay writing "Terrible! Terrible!" in the margins, then hired Gore Vidal and Christopher Fry. Get a great script, the actors will rise to it, as indeed will the whole crew. As for the composer, fortunately he usually takes inspiration from the visuals and inherent drama where the script is lacking.
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Posted: |
Nov 4, 2011 - 7:34 PM
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By: |
pp312
(Member)
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i maintain that alec guiness did an outstanding job playing marcus aurelius and that the dialogue was terrific in describing how he wanted to make a pax romana with all the other nations. christopher plummer was also excellent with his speaking role as commodus.
Alec Guinness did his usual sterling job, but I couldn't say his dialogue was "terrific", especially that spoken in opposition to himself from an echo chamber (!). Guinness himself recounts how, on the plane to Spain, he was approached by someone connecteed with the film asking what he thought of the script. "Not much," he said. "For instance, as Marcus Aurelius, I can hardly say, 'Look after my meditations for me when I'm gone,'--it'll bring the house down." Only later did he discover he was talking to the scriptwriter!
As for Plummer, I thought he was the best thing in the film; indeed too good for it. Trouble was, he seemed to be in a different film to everyone else--a better one!
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55 Days at Peking Question:
Sorry if this is answered somewhere else but having just watched the first 30 minutes of the film and listened to some of CD1, during the beginning of the film some of the national anthems are playing, one after the other. I couldn't locate this on the CDs. Is it included?
Thanks it advance.
Mild.
Mild, what's the sound quality like, there have been mutterings about hiss etc.
Mine is stuck in limbo somewhere between the good old US of A and Lostock Hall, and I'm hoping
it's going to arrive tomorrow.
Otherwise I'm going to have to take drastic action...............................again. 
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Thanks Mild, I'm really looking forwards to getting this soon.
I ordered mine direct from LLL it was dispatched on October 31st, so it shouldn't be that far away.
I hope.
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Posted: |
Nov 14, 2011 - 6:04 AM
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By: |
CinemaScope
(Member)
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55 Days arrived today, two weeks to England is about right I suppose. I'm listening to it now, & I think it sounds fantastic, really punchy sound and good stereo. It's no good comparing it to something that was recorded last month, it's 50 years old & was never ment for home listening, but I'm really happy with it. What a find! Something seems to turn up every year, last year it was One-Eyed Jacks, & who knows what next year will bring. It's my first La-La Land purchase & I don't think it be be my last (hoping for King Kong in a couple of weeks). Great booklet, FSM standard, & it doesn't get better than that.
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