The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

Directed by Anthony Mann. Starring Stephen Boyd, Christopher Plummer, Sophia Loren, James Mason, Alec Guinness, John Ireland, Anthony Quayle, Eric Porter, Omar Sharif, Douglas Wilmer, Mel Ferrer.

Slow-footed sword-and-sandal colossus actually has a lot of good things going for it, including Dimitri Tiomkin’s majestic music, handsome location shooting in Spain, and massive sets that outpace most of its brethren (including the even more lavish and expensive Cleopatra, released the year before), but there’s almost no heart in the sometimes intelligent/philosophical script, and there’s a very big problem at the center. That center is held by protagonist Stephen Boyd and love interest Sophia Loren, and not only are they deathly dull, they don’t even look like they want to be on camera for this production. Strong supporting cast, including Alec Guinness as the doomed emperor, Marcus Aurelius—he disappears way too early—and James Mason as the ruler’s advisor whose loyalty transfers to Boyd after Marcus dies instead of the Marcus’ son, Commodus (Plummer), gives viewers a reason to perk up now and then between the battle set pieces, which are better at achieving scope and scale than dramatic impact under Anthony Mann’s sensitive yet often bovine direction. Omar Sharif and Mel Ferrer contribute little more than extended cameos/background filler. FYI, the epilogue narration admits the title is a lie—Rome doesn’t fall by the end, it’s just on a downward trajectory (yep, and the House of Usher story should’ve climaxed with the discovery of termites…). Inspired by, but not adapted from, Edward Gibbons’ multi-volume series, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”.

52/100