Clash of the Titans **** (1981, Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith) – Classic Movie Review 1,858

The 1981 epic fantasy adventure film Clash of the Titans is based on the Greek myth of Perseus, stars Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith and Laurence Olivier, and features Ray Harryhausen’s delightful stop-motion visual effects.

Director Desmond Davis’s 1981 classical mythology caper film Clash of the Titans stars Laurence Olivier as a commanding Zeus and a dashing, spirited Harry Hamlin as his handsome son Perseus who tames winged horse Pegasus and battles scary monsters like the Medusa, a trio of Stygian witches and the Kraken monster to save the entrancing Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker) and win her love.

This extremely enjoyable old-style fantasy adventure, based on the characters from Greek mythology, is powerfully cast with seven big-name old-time stars to back up the two young stars. As well as Lord Olivier, there are Claire Bloom (Hera), Maggie Smith (Thetis), Ursula Andress (Aphrodite), Burgess Meredith (the playwright Ammon), Siân Phillips (Cassiopeia) and Flora Robson (a Stygian Witch).

They sought well-known actors to play the Gods to boost the film’s appeal. The scenes involving the Gods only took eight days to film, which appealed to Claire Bloom who appeared ‘because I was told Olivier was doing it and it only lasts a week’.

And the very handsome movie is realised on a lavish scale thanks to a huge budget from the MGM studio and producer Charles H Schneer. Legendary movie SF/X wizard Ray Harryhausen’s equally old-style special effects with stop-motion animated monsters are splendidly entertaining. Harryhausen uses his famous stop-motion animation techniques to create the film’s creatures, including Calibos, his vulture, Pegasus, Bubo the mechanical owl, Dioskilos, Medusa, the scorpions and the Kraken. It is Harryhausen’s final work for cinema.

It is filmed on location in four different countries, including in England at Rank’s Pinewood Studios, with the rear of the building plus a few polystyrene classical-column pillars standing in for the heavens of Mount Olympus. The film was shot on location in Cornwall, UK, and Paestum, Italy, as well as the karst area in El Torcal de Antequera, Spain (the visit to the Stygian witches) and the Azure Window in Gozo, Malta (the battle against the Kraken).

It is expertly written by Beverley Cross, Maggie Smith’s husband, mixing erudition with entertainment. (Cross died on March 20 1998, aged 66.) Indeed, the film was his idea. He had worked with producer Charles H Schneer before, writing the screenplay for Jason and the Argonauts.

Jack Gwillim (Poseidon), Susan Fleetwood (Athena), Freda Jackson (a Stygian Witch), Donald Houston, Tim Pigott-Smith (Thallo), Pat Roach (Hephaestus), Neil McCarthy, Vida Taylor, Harry Jones and Anna Manahan (a Stygian Witch) are also in the cast.

It surprisingly has a 15 certificate, with some mild language and nudity.

The UK/ US co-production was released on June 12, 1981, and grossed $41 million at the North American box office, for a total worldwide gross of more than $70 million. Despite being released on the same date as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was one of 1981’s biggest hits.

A planned sequel entitled Force of the Trojans never happened.

Clash of the Titans was remade in 3D in 2010, and had a sequel, Wrath of the Titans (2012).

The cast are: Harry Hamlin as Perseus, Judi Bowker as Andromeda, Burgess Meredith as Ammon, Maggie Smith as Thetis, Siân Phillips as Cassiopeia, Claire Bloom as Hera, Ursula Andress as Aphrodite, Laurence Olivier as Zeus, Pat Roach as Hephaestus, Susan Fleetwood as Athena, Tim Pigott-Smith as Thallo, Neil McCarthy as Calibos, Jack Gwillim as Poseidon, Donald Houston as Acrisius, Vida Taylor as Danaë, Flora Robson as a Stygian Witch, Anna Manahan as a Stygian Witch, and Freda Jackson as a Stygian Witch.

The cast and crew celebrated Laurence Olivier’s 72nd birthday on the set. He died on July 11 1989, aged 82.

Legendary movie SF/X wizard Ray Harryhausen died on May 7 2013, aged 92.

Beverley Cross became well known for his screenplays, including Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The Long Ships (1964), Genghis Khan (1965), and Clash of the Titans (1981). He wrote the book for the 1963 stage musical Half a Sixpence fand adapted it for the 1967 film version Half a Sixpence.

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