The Colossus of Rhodes [Il Colosso di Rodi] *** (1961, Rory Calhoun, Lea Massari, Georges Marchal, Conrado San Martín, Ángel Aranda) – Classic Movie Review 8106

Director Sergio Leone’s 1961 The Colossus of Rhodes [Il Colosso di Rodi] is a colossus of a Sixties Euro-production historical epic, with sole American Rory Calhoun (acting with a constant piranha smile) as the outsider Greek military hero named Darios [Dario] who leads the slaves in a revolt, a clutch of Euro-actors, SupertotalScope and thousands of extras.

In 280BC, the ancient Greeks put up a vast statue on the fortress Mediterranean island of Rhodes to honour their ruler and repel the Phoenicians, but meanwhile the island’s slaves are revolting.

The Colossus of Rhodes is impressively handsome on striking locations that contrast with vast setty-looking studio interiors that nevertheless do look spectacular. It was filmed in studios in Italy and Spain – Cinecitta, Rome, and C.E.A., Ciudad Lineal, Madrid – as well as various locations in Spain and in the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic Ocean .

This big-scale, rather operatic movie is a bit campy and stagey, and sometimes slow-moving, but it is still enjoyable and entertaining, and it is also now a cult item as an early work of Leone, who moves his cameras to effect in the personal sequences and handles the big fight scenes in style.

The international version is dubbed into American (not too badly) but Calhoun seems to be speaking his own lines. ‘Spectacles always amuse me’, says Calhoun, and that goes for the film too.

Also in the cast are Lea Massari, Georges Marchal [George Marchal], Conrado San Martín [Conrado Sanmartin], Ángel Aranda, Mabel Karr, Mimmo Palmara, Roberto Camardiel, Alfio Caltabiano [Alf Randal] and George Rigaud [Jorge Rigaud].

The Colossus of Rhodes is directed by Sergio Leone, runs 128 minutes, is made by Procusa (Madrid), Produzioni Atlas Consorziate, Comptoir Français de Productions Cinématographiques (Paris) and Cine-Produzioni Associate (Rome), is released by MGM (US) and Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (Italy), is written by Ennio De Concini, Sergio Leone, Cesare Seccia and Luciano Martino, is shot in Eastmancolor and SupertotalScope widescreen by Antonio Ballesteros, is produced by Michele Scaglione and is scored by Angelo Francesco.

Calhoun wears a wide bracelet on his left arm to hide his 20th-century tattoos. 

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8106

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