Ulysses [Ulisse] *** (1954, Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano, Anthony Quinn, Rossana Podesta) – Classic Movie Review 11,873

Director Mario Camerini’s 1954 fantasy-adventure historical drama film Ulysses [Ulisse] stars Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano, Anthony Quinn, Rossana Podesta.

Ulysses [Ulisse] is an entertainingly trashy costume drama based on the Greek legend, handed down to us in the poetic book The Odyssey by Homer, about the bold hero Ulysses on his Odyssey home to Penelope after the Trojan War.

On the plus side there is a lot of spectacle, there are lavish sets and there is eye-catching décor, as well as an excellent central performance by Douglas as the heroic Greek warrior.

In a good international cast, Mangano plays both Penelope, the faithful wife of Ulysses, and the sorceress Circe, Quinn is Antinous and Podesta is Nausicaa.

The film’s uncredited camera operator Mario Bava co-directed uncredited the cyclops Polyphemus segment. The film’s cinematographer is Harold Rosson.

The screenplay is by Franco Brusati, Mario Camerini, Ennio De Concini, Hugh Gray, Ben Hecht, Ivo Perilli, and Irwin Shaw, based on the poem by Homer.

The cast are Kirk Douglas as Ulysses, Silvana Mangano as Circe/ Penelope, Anthony Quinn as Antinous, Rossana Podestà as Nausicaa, Jacques Dumesnil as Alcinous, Daniel Ivernel as Eurylochus, Sylvie as Eurycleia, Franco Interlenghi as Telemachus, Elena Zareschi as Cassandra, Evi Maltagliati as Anticlea, Ludmilla Dudarova as Arete, Tania Weber as Leucantho, Piero Lulli as Achilles, Ferruccio Stagni as Mentor, Alessandro Fersen as Diomedes, Oscar Andriani as Calops, Umberto Silvestri as Polyphemus, Gualtiero Tumiati as Laertes, Teresa Pellati as Melantho, Mario Feliciani as Eurymachus, and Michele Riccardini as Leodes.

Mario Camerini replaced the original director Georg Wilhelm Pabst, who quit at the last minute.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,873

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