Helen of Troy 08/05/23

Robert Wise’s Italian-filmed epic looks better than ever on Blu, showcasing a fine cast and imaginative special effects. It’s a straight telling of Homer’s The Iliad with just a drop of Cold War attitude — this time the Greeks are the unreasonable aggressors. Neither Rossana Podestà nor Jacques Sernas excited the critics of ’56, but we can appreciate the high-powered cast, which includes Stanley Baker, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nora Swinburne, Janette Scott and especially Niall MacGinnis, who all but steals the show as the cuckolded King of Sparta. It’s an intelligent pageant — the Achilles-Hector duel is a highlight, and the famed Trojan Horse quite a spectacle. And for the curious, a young Brigitte Bardot is present and accounted for, perky and pouty. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
08/05/23