Land of the Pharaohs 07/15/23

Howard Hawks presents ancient history as a lavish spectacle: tens of thousands of extras build a giant pyramid on the extra-wide CinemaScope screen, aided by the excitement and mysticism of Dimitri Tiomkin’s exotic music score. So convincing is the recreation, we almost believe the tomb-sealing sci-fi mechanics that shift stone blocks weighing tons, in just a few seconds. Nothing’s iffy about the awe in which we regard the young Joan Collins, a seductive Cypriot who pulls the papyrus over the eyes of Jack Hawkins’ gold-obsessed Pharaoh. Man-killer Collins has her greedy eyes on a big chunk of the ancient world, but fate, the sands of Egypt and the Cairo chapter of the Old Boys Club get in her way. A gem of a movie, an unheralded classic, newly remastered for Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
07/15/23