Attila

Although not without its unintentionally funny moments, compared to most of the Sword and Sandal films that were churned out by Hollywood on the Tiber, this one is not at all bad.

Anthony Quinn's testosterone filled, Alpha male performance here certainly fits historian Edward Gibbon's description of Attila as 'a formidable barbarian' whilst the oestrogen of pneumatic Sophia Loren as Honoria practically leaps off the screen. Honoria was a tragic character who had the misfortune to be born the daughter of an emperor and to be treated miserably by her domineering mother but her one-dimensional portrayal here is par for the course in films of this type.

The year this film was released was notable for both Quinn and La Loren as he also appeared in a little opus entitled 'La Strada' and she was directed for the first time by Vittorio de Sica in the 'Pizza con credito' segment of 'L'Oro di Napoli' in which he brought out the Neapolitan earthiness and innate comedic ability that were to serve her so well through the years, not least in the amusing 'Peccato che sia una canaglia' from the same year which marked the first of her many films with a certain Marcello Mastroianni.

A good supporting cast, all of whom are adequately 'dubbed' comprises Colette Régis as the wilful Galla Placidia and Henri Vidal as Aetius. The emperor Valentinian III, described by Gibbon as 'feeble and dissolute', is convincingly played by Claude Laydu who will forever be associated with the title character of Bresson's 'Journal d'un curé de compagne'. Mention must be made of the wondrous Irene Papas in the minor role of one of Attila's many wives. She was to go from strength to strength, especially in classical Greek tragedy and utilised what one critic has called her 'elemental nobility' as the widow opposite Quinn's Zorba. For those interested in such things, neither Honoria nor Aetius met their ends in the manner depicted here.

Designed to warm the hearts of the Faithful, the final scene, complete with heavenly chorus and a crucifix in the sky, shows Attila being persuaded by Pope Leo not to attack Rome. It is not known what was said or indeed what inducements were offered but it is doubtful whether a heathen such as Attila would have been swayed by Leo's eloquence and sacerdotal robes alone and it is more likely that he turned back because of plague in his army, lack of food and the threat of Roman reinforcements from the East.

Oh well, as the man said, 'it's only a movie.'

An early sword-and-sandal epic from Italy casts Anthony Quinn as Attila the Hun, with dialog that sounds as though it came from a kung fu movie. "Attila" is probably most noticeable as an early appearance of Sophia Loren (she plays Honoria, who marries the vicious warrior). Otherwise, it's the sort of movie that belongs on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". At this point, I have serious doubts as to whether its even possible to make a good movie about a historical figure from that long ago. Maybe they just work best as spoofs in the vein of "Life of Brian".

Anyway, this is certainly the sort of flick that should be of interest to bad movie buffs. Not terrible, but that year, Anthony Quinn starred in one of Italy's greatest films: "La strada".

Destroying towns and cities across the Alp to Italy, the mounted hordes led by Attila, King of the Huns, reached the gates of Rome where they were stopped by the Cross and turned back by Pope Leo I...

Anthony Quinn is Attila, the infamous 5th Century barbarian in this Italian unworthy spectacular...

Sophia Loren offers a pretty presence as the ambitious tempting Honoria who accepts Attila as a husband just to save Rome... She loses her life and half of her kingdom...

Quinn tries his best in his portrayal of the infamous Attila, but the script is bad and unreasonable...

The acting schools are extremely expensive. And what they teach you is how to control your breathing, how to scratch your balls or jump up. Anthony Quinn is a real acting school only by himself, just watching any of his movies, you have a lot to learn. Even in this film, the one born in Chihuahua, Mexico, makes us a great demonstration of huge talent, embodying "The Scourge of God". He is the most credible Attila of all the movies. Sophia Loren, very young, is good as Honoria. Henri Vidal is convincing too as Aetius. Same Claude Laydu as the idiot Emperor Valentiniano Caesar. Irene Papas, also very young, is OK as Grune. Christian Marquand, who was to become the director of the "Candy" masterpiece, is a Hun leader.

Knowing of director Francisci’s subsequent contribution to the peplum genre, I fully expected this to be a low-rent version of SIGN OF THE PAGAN (1954) – which I watched the previous day – but the film ultimately proved fairly interesting in its own right. For one thing, the narrative has at least as many differences as similarities vis-a'-vis the Douglas Sirk epic and, once again, we have an imposing Hollywood star (Anthony Quinn) in the lead. Sophia Loren, then, stands in for Ludmilla Tcherina (though her character is ambitious and deceitful) while Henri Vidal – from the best Italian-made spectacular, FABIOLA (1948) – replaces Jeff Chandler (bafflingly, he dies here while Attila is allowed to live!). Another reversal has the Huns fighting amongst themselves – more specifically, Attila and his peace-craving brother: just as Jack Palance in SIGN OF THE PAGAN was forced to kill his daughter for what he deemed treacherous behavior, so does Quinn in this case with his sibling. In support of them, we have: Claude Laydu (from Robert Bresson’s DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST [1951]), a most surprising choice to play the typically wimpish Emperor; Irene Papas, who takes on the role of Attila’s sole wife (and, conveniently, his astrologer as well); and Eduardo Ciannelli, appearing as a wise old Hun. While Sirk tried – with some measure of success – to put his distinctive mark upon the material, Francisci was content to imitate the Hollywood model (and QUO VADIS [1951] in particular). Consequently, the film features intermittent ponderous narration, gratuitous exotic touches (in the form of a dance sequence and Laydu keeping a pet leopard) and an unlikely – if still effective – spiritual conclusion wherein the Huns are finally driven away thanks to the intervention of Pope Leo and his ‘army’ of cross-wielding supporters. Otherwise, the picture has a handsome look (i.e. bearing soft colors), compelling enough confrontation scenes (within both camps), and a long-in-coming but satisfactory climactic skirmish. The main downside is that the version broadcast on late-night Italian TV is the shorter U.K. cut (running a mere 76 minutes in PAL mode), albeit in its native language, as opposed to the official 100-minute print (which probably explains the references to a couple of minor plot points that are not actually shown)! Incidentally, reading through the credits one recognizes the names of several crew members who would later become directors in their own right: Luciano Ercoli, Christian Marquand, Flavio Mogherini, Luigi Scattini and Primo Zeglio...not to mention some heavyweights in the international film industry like Dino De Laurentiis, Carlo Ponti, Giuseppe Rotunno, Karl Struss and Aldo Tonti!