User reviews

With the filming of Sodom and Gomorrah, Stewart Granger began a phase of his career on the European continent. Not that Sodom and Gomorrah is any great film, but it was certainly better than some of those spaghetti westerns he did in the Sixties to pay for his hedonistic life style. Something like the one they allegedly lived down Sodom way.

Of course Sodom and Gomorrah doesn't stick to the biblical version of the tale, but then neither did those DeMille epics, Samson and Delilah and The Ten Commandments. Nor is homosexuality singled out as THE sin that got the Deity all upset that he wanted to destroy the place. Then again it isn't even in the Bible.

Lot as portrayed by Stewart Granger doesn't take just his family there, he leads a whole tribe of Hebrew people there after he parts from Uncle Abraham. Pretty soon he gets all tangled up in Sodomite politics and gets a bit entangled himself with Pier Angeli who is a slave girl to Queen Anouk Aimee.

Villain of the piece is Stanley Baker who always improves every film he was ever in. He's Anouk's brother and he's got the idea he ought to be running things. He's also got an eye for Lot's daughters.

There's a very nicely staged battle sequence with the Hebrews defending the land granted them by Anouk. But the script is definitely out of the Cecil B. DeMille school of arcane Victorian writing.

Still it's entertaining in many respects.

Mammoth, colorful and entertaining French-Italian Biblical spectacle chronicling the wars surrounding--and eventual demise of--the twin cities. Stewart Granger plays Hebrew leader Lot, caught in the middle as his people's village is burned to the ground, leaving just one place left to go: across the lake where the wicked and tempting reside. Battle sequences and an impressive flood are worthy of DeMille, though the melodramatics are just as heavy and silly, with the subtext of sexual evil tiptoed around. Good performances, excellent usage of Moroccan locales, and with an unflagging direction by Robert Aldrich (who reportedly fired his 2nd unit director, Sergio Leone, mid-production). **1/2 from ****

This tale regards Lot (Stewart Granger who wields a mighty staff) , leader the virtuous Hebrews and the destruction of two Twin Cities of Sin, the Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot is warned to ¨Beware of the Sodomites¨ who come up capture slaves and Hebrews . As Lot, leader of the Hebrews, believes his people can co-exist with the Sodomites and their cities of evil led by an uncanny Queen (Anouk Aimee) and her nasty brother Astaroth (Stanley Baker) , but it results to be a fateful decision with disastrous consecuences . The Twin Citadels of Sin! . The cities that mocked the very name of God...The vengeance that tore the Earth asunder! Inside their hearts no good existed , inside their cities no God ¡ Pagan pleasures of the Sodom court ¡ Once, only once , have the hosts of heaven descended on the cities of earth in chariots of fire, only once has the hand of God reached down in vengeance ¡ Sins so shocking they scandalized even Sodomah ¡ Sins so infamous the centuries have never forgotten them ¡ The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly : Genesis .

This Italian-made , lavishly produced by the powerful producer Goffredo Lombardo and his Titanus , being an internationally financed epic concerning the two sinful biblical cities , but it never lives up from first line of dialog. Sin is suggested by languid groups of people little adequately dressed in 60s evening costumes and strolling down the floor , while the rebel Hebrews look more like a bunch of self-sufficient drifters droning on about making the land fertile . The sin is regarded by the Sex, torture and betrayal , no for sodomism . Moderately amusing but ponderous , to say at least , and overlong, though briefly entertaining . Bwing badly written by Hugo Butler, Giorgio Prosperi, and the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi . Originally budgeted at $2 million, the cost of the film quickly rose to $5 million , it failed at box office and to this day has not regained profits . Watchable for Ken Adam's settings and production design , though God's ending destruction of the sinner cities turns out to be very ridiculous , embarrassing and lousily made . Weak acting by Stewart Granger in his usual style , Pier Angeli is as charmingly gorgeous as ever playing Lot's wife who will have a fateful and known finale . While Anouk Aimeé is splendid as the evil queen and Stanley Baker as her brother steals the show , getting by on leering at every girl who comes near . Pretty good suport cast with a great number of Italian actors as Rossana Podestà , Rik Battaglia , Giacomo Rossi Stuart , Scilla Gabel , Gabriele Tinti , Daniele Vargas , Claudia Mori , Feodor Chaliapin Jr , Enzo Fiermonte , Mimmo Palmara , Sal Borgese , and Antonio De Teffe , the notorious Spaghetti Western actor as Anthony Steffen .

Rousing and moving soundtrack by maestro Miklós Rózsa , but this great composer was not happy with the finished movie . However , Dimitri Tiomkin was originally hired to score the film but was finally replaced by Miklós Rózsa. Colorful cinematography by various cameramen as Silvano Ippoliti , Cyril J. Knowles , Montuori and Alfio Contini . Filmed on several North African locations , such as : Aït Benhaddou, Morocco (twin cities) , Marrakech, Morocco (flood -and battle scenes) , Ouarzazate, Morocco and Lazio , Rome .This one was regularly directed by the prestigious Robert Aldrich and shot over a period of 11 months ; however , being considered to be his lowest point , and Sergio Leone was hired to direct the second unit on the film but left shortly after production began , it is unclear whether he quit or was fired . Here Aldrich assembled a nice cast and directed this slight story at tortoise pace and received awful reviews , being an absurd contribution that proved to be one of the dullest and very long films to Biblical genre . Aldrich made a lot of films , many of them for Sinatra clan or Rat Pack as ¨Ocean's eleven¨ , ¨Robin and the 7 Hoods¨ , 4 for Texas¨and ¨Sergeant 3¨ . .Aldrich's first feature film was in 1953 : Big Leaguer . Soon thereafter he established his own production company and produced most of his own films , collaborating in the writing of many of them . After a surprising payday for ¨What ever happened to Baby Jane ?¨ Aldrich directed a considerable plethora of genres but almost all of his films contained a subversive undertone . He was an expert on warlike genre (Dirty Dozen , The Angry Hills , Ten seconds to hell) and Western (The Frisko kid , Ulzana's raid , Apache , Veracruz , 4 for Texas, The last sunset) . Rating : 5/10 , average , deemed to a be a low point in Aldrich's erratic carrer . Critics thinking it tacky and inferior.

Sodom and Gomorrah was a big flop when it was released and has been almost forgotten since then. This is a shame. It's certainly no classic like Ben Hur or Spartacus,and it has the obvious flaws many films like this share-corny dialogue,women's make-up and hair which betrays the decade the film was made in,to name but two-but if you like this kind of film it's very entertaining and worth a watch. At times you could swear De Mille directed it,but it was actually directed by Robert Aldrich,a real curio in his career.

The first hour does dawdle along a little,but the middle of the film contains a very lengthy battle sequence which is extremely impressive. In these days of CGI,it's great to see hundreds of REAL people fighting on the screen,and it's great the way the battle is in stages and shows various tactics by the two sides instead of just being a chaotic mess. The climatic destruction {well,it's based on a well known Bible story, so I don't think this is a spoiler!} of the twin cities of Sodom and Gommorah {although we only seem to see Sodom} is still quite a well achieved spectacle,in fact technically the film still generally holds up,except for a few very unconvincing shots when an army is engulfed in water.

Those who find some of the film a little heavy can enjoy the odd touch of vivid sadism {people on a wheel lowered into fire,a prisoner threatened by a blind man whose armour produces spikes when he breaths} and plenty of references to the 'sins' of the Sodomites-nothing is explicit,but things such as incest,sexual servitude and lesbianism are certainly hinted at. Yet the Hebrews,by comparison,are such a dull humourless lot,one might occasionally sympathise with the Sodomites,and this was maybe intended. As with most of Aldrich's films,it's actually quite cynical,and doesn't take easy sides.

Stuart Granger is fine as Lot but it's the underrated Stanley Baker,as the scheming Astorath who chases anything in a skirt, who gives the stand-out performance,memorably corrupt. One should also mention Miklos Rozsa's superb score which ranks along side his other classic scores for related films like Ben Hur and El Cid. He superbly evokes the period and setting whilst providing a gorgeous love theme and a number of other great themes. Of course it's very melodramatic,but it suits the film!

Sodom and Gomorrah exists in several heavily cut down versions which may quicken the pace but are extremely choppy,often cutting into scenes when they are obviously half way through. The full 155-odd minute version is sometimes shown,and is available in some countries on DVD,but really demands a proper,remastered,etc. release. It's really worth seeing,as long as you like this kind of stuff of course!

While there isn't much in this movie that is Biblically correct I still thought it was an enjoyable film all the same. Essentially, "Lot" (Stewart Granger) has decided to relocate his followers and herds to the lush plain of Jordan in which the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are located. It is at this point where Hollywood takes over and everything is radically different from the Scriptures. Be that as it may, "Bera" (Anouk Aimee), the Queen of Sodom and Gomorrah, recognizes that the Elamites are a threat to her cities and is desperate to protect her position at all costs. So when the Hebrews (led by Lot) enter the plain of Jordan she hastily forms an alliance with them. Lot agrees due in large part to his naive assumption that he can eventually convince the people of Sodom and Gomorrah to abandon their wicked ways. What he doesn't consider is that the Hebrews are also capable of adopting the ways of Sodom and Gomorrah as well. At any rate, rather than spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, I will just reiterate that what follows is not found in the Book of Genesis. But it is an exciting film with good acting by Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli (as Lot's wife "Ildith") and the aforementioned Anouk Aimee. It also has some nice scenery and some pretty good special effects for its time. However, it is rather long (154 minutes) and the manner in which the writers transform Lot into a combination of both Abraham and Moses is a bit far-fetched. But that's Hollywood I suppose. Slightly above average.

Well, we went to Sodom, full of Sodomites, but where were all the Gommorans? And if it is a location of TWIN cities, where was Gomorrah? All we saw was the one mudbrick city. There weren't two or a sprawling double-burg. All everyone did was be a Sodom person and live in Sodom-ville. Nobody at any time said "oh He's from Gomorrah, it's over the wall" or anything like that. In fact nobody mentioned Gomorrah and it's inhabitants at all. I especially liked the after-interval renovation Sodom palace enjoyed, fresh striped paintwork and snazzy new outfits for everyone, and even a dance of the seven veils dance number to settle everyone down after we plundered the foyer candy bar. The Lesbian Queen getting flattened by a massive phallus pillar in the last reel caused a mighty laugh. Stewart Grainger in Moses-hair was a treat, all suntanned and en-un-ci-at-ing his lines like he was on Safari in Kenya (like he probably was the week before). Very gruesome pillage and torture and several excellent battles (one with lots of burning oil) makes S&G a real treat. As the Queen said to the visiting horde in reel three: "I'd like to welcome you... Lot" . Fantastic for all the right and wrong reasons.

.... profits? And even those did not turn out so well for this film. This is one of those films produced shortly before the production code died that uses a Biblical theme so that there can be lots of violence, implied sex, and the movie can end with a big explosion! And if anyone complains just explain it is a Bible story.

Stewart Granger is the heroic Lot, nephew of Abraham, who leads his people to settle in the valley near the title cities, which are ruled by the cruel Queen (Anouk Aimee). Lot and his people battle for their survival against wicked forces and conspiring foes, before the cities face biblical judgment without benefit of computer generated effects. With Pier Angeli as Lot's wife, and Stanley Baker as the villainous Astaroth. After taking very generous liberties with the biblical text, this ends up as a lackluster costume drama with some big battle scenes directed by Sergio Leone. The production design is pretty good, thanks to the efforts of Ken Adam, and the score by Miklos Rozsa is effective. Stewart Granger as Lot portrays the perfect sort of regret which many might understand today.

Lot's wife was turned to a pillar of salt. That's about all they got right. Oh well, if you watched De Mille's "Ten Commandments" as the truth you'd think that the Egyptian plagues and Pharoah pursuing the Israelites had to do with a love triangle.

This being made almost 60 years ago, they have to imply certain things, such as what is going on between the queen and her "favorite". Lots of biblical epics were made in the 50s and 60s, some worth watching, some not. This one is a 50/50 proposition.

I like this movie "THE LAST DAYS OF SODOM AND GHOMORRA", (all the actors are good enough), but not the way is told, because there are many mistakes in the sequences related in the movie, far apart from the book "Genesis" if you read chapters 13 till 19, you will see what I mean. the techniques and effects they employed are magnificent, considering the year the movie was done, but we must remark that God send fire from heaven to destroy the two cities like is related in Genesis. the two cities were discovered in 1973, near the Salt sea (Dead sea). Stewart Granger one of my favorite actors is well done his performance as Lot and credible, also Stanley Baker is very good in his role of Astaroth. Pier Angeli is here very charm and sweet as Ildith and Rossana Podesta as Shuah. I think that this kind of movie would do best for Cecil B.deMille expert in epic movies like "The ten commandments" Sansom and Delilah, Cleopatra, The sign of the cross, The greatest show on earth, etc.

An Italian sword and sandal flick with a tenuous Biblical connection and an American director in Robert Aldrich. SODOM & GOMORRAH should ideally deserve epic status, given the effort and expenditure so clearly having gone into its production, but somehow it works out as less entertaining than even a cheesy Maciste movie.

The problem with this film is its screenplay, which is all over the place. The Biblical tale of the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah provides the overarching storyline, but along with that we get battles, duels, rivalry, romance, and plenty more besides. Despite all this intrigue and adventure, the production is still far too long, bloated and sluggish rather a film which pulls you in and carries you along with it.

The openly wooden Stewart Granger stars as the square-jawed Lot who leads his people to Sodom to do battle with the villainous prince, Astaroth (a slumming Stanley Baker, who deserves a lot better than this). Along the way he hooks up with his wife, a pillar (pun intended) of the local community and played by the exceptionally gorgeous Pier Angeli. Familiar Italian players lurk around in the background (Rik Battaglia, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Gabriele Tinti) while the foreground scenes are preoccupied with scenery-spitting actors.

When SODOM & GOMORRAH moves, it gets entertaining, and the inevitable climax is at once rousing and packed with drama, filled with the kind of excellent effects that they just don't produce anymore. Earlier battle scenes and a bit involving a flood are also decent, so it's just a shame that what goes on between the incident is so dull. No amount of women in skimpy attire or beautiful backdrops can change that, unfortunately.

The performance of Amouk Aimee (Queen Bera) and Stanley Baker(Asthorath) is imposing and quite delightful. Evil but lovable at the same time.

Some people complain that it wasnt about naked lust , and explicit orgies were not shown at all. Really? It was filmed in 1961, a naked picture would have been a scandal!

Instead , the scenes are seductive, filled with tasteful naughtiness that leave everything to some subtle imagination. Mitsuko Takara's dance moves are right on target and she is as seductive as beautiful.

My favorite performances came from Queen Bera and Ildith (Pier Angeli). They steal the show with their stunning beauty and performances. Stewart Grange is a bit dissapointing as Lot. And yes, there are some cheesy moments in the film.

Finally, Miklos Rosza shows why he was the master of musical performances. The soundtrack is worth everything he promises.

The movie is worth every detail. However, it cant be watched with a modern perspective.

Robert Aldrich has directed an entertaining, though far from serious retelling, of the Old Testament saga. The story starts out sticking close to the original. Lot ( Stewart Granger) decides to split with his Uncle Abraham and take his group of Hebrews on a different route as they make their nomadic way across the desert. Of course they come upon the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The characters they meet there are bigger than life. The Queen of Sodom is wickedly played by the wonderful Anouk Aimee. She rules the twin cities of the Plain with her leering brother portrayed by Stanley Baker. They both have a ball chewing the scenery and seducing whomever strikes their fancy. The Queen has the eye for young female beauties. Her brother has an eye for both of Lot's daughters. These fun plot additions are distinct divergences from the Old Testament tale. Lot himself falls for the slave girl (Pier Angeli). Royal intrigues and political betrayals run rampant. There are also some good action sequences. One in particular has the Hebrews protecting the cities from invading intruders by destroying a dam they have built inundating their enemies as Moses would do centuries later. Of course, the spectacular finale is the destruction of the cities followed by the Pillar of Salt transformation of Lot's wife. The script writers have left out the tidbit about Lot's own daughters getting him drunk and taking him to bed because they think they are the last people on earth. I guess that was a bit too racy for the audiences in 1962. "Sodom & Gomorrah" came at the tail end of the cycle of biblical spectacles. It certainly wasn't the worst. Its entertainment value includes a superb score by Miklos Rozsa which raises all of the fighting and heavy breathing to a higher level than one would expect.

Actually Ain't so religious, but l like too much biblical epics that re-telling some famous happenings from holly book, this one is too fictional keeping the main fact and making dramatic statements that never occurred according the bible, apart this matter which had so many damages on movie itself, further bad things come together, like a low profile special effects which works sometimes and are so primitive, Stewart Granger who are one of my favorite actor ever, but this time disappointed me, anyway the movie sunk in the desert of Marrocos, at least Pier Angeli gave a decent acting noticed for many, prestine Italian beauty!!

Resume:

First watch: 2006 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6

Sodom and Gomorrah is directed by Robert Aldrich and co written by Hugo Butler and Giorgio Prosperi. It stars Stewart Granger, Stanley Baker, Pier Angeli, Rossana Podestà, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and Scilla Gabel. Music is by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography by Silvano Ippoliti, Cyril J. Knowles and Mario Montuori.

The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Regardless of the fact it leaves some of the Bible story behind, it simply is not a good film. It's a tired Biblical epic that finds Granger and Baker manfully trying to ignore how low they have got as they are surrounded by a bunch of no mark actors trying to make a sword and sandals piece work. It lacks dynamism, the Euro production barely masking what a elongated bore the story is. It looks nice at times, the great Ken Adam creating some eye pleasing sets and the location photography (Morocco/Italy) provides a suitable backdrop, but come the hokey and cheap looking finale you realise there's been too much talky intrigue and not enough pulse raising. 5/10

Hugo Butler must have found a missing book of the Bible to come up with this story. What he missed was the meaning behind the story of Lot: that God wants the family to be central to our relationship with Him. Making Lot into a Moses-type leader completely misses the point of the story.

Redeemed somewhat by the performances of the talented cast (Aimee and Baker especially), Robert Aldrich's epic tale of debauchery & hedonism within the walls of the ancient city of Sodom & Gomorrah is overlong, but offers a climax entertaining enough to reward persistence.

Granger stars as the anti-hero Lot, whose misguided attempt to convert the perverted Sodomites leads to absolution via destruction. Pier Angeli co-stars as his grounded spouse, and as the callous Queen, Anouk Aimee is a scene stealer, cold, composed and without a modicum of compassion or care for anything other than her twisted self-interest. Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Anthony Steffen, Rik Battaglia and the lovely Rossana Podesta appear in supporting roles of varying significance.

Through a combination of elaborate sets and clever use of intricate miniatures, Aldrich manages to create entertaining action sequences, and just enough tension to punctuate an otherwise labouring soap opera which treads a fine line between faithful religious testament and gratuitous film fantasy.

Occasionally moving, sometimes sordid, S&G is an epic Hollywood morality lesson in the sins of excess and the righteous quest for humility, worthy mainly due to Aimee's outstanding performance supported by an international cast of considerable class.

Having always been a sap for those hokey Bible epics, it's no surprise I found 'Sodom' quite entertaining. Loosely based on the Scriptures, the last days of the doomed cities are presented by a host of mediocre actors, pretty good special effects and a fine music score by Miklos Rozsa. (This would be the last Bible flic he would score). The subject matter might be considered racy for its time with hints of homosexuality, rather graphic torture and incest. Stewart Granger is a bit out of place in this one, but there's enough going on that you don't really notice. The buildup to the city's destruction and the final cataclysm are pretty well done and all in all, not a bad flic if you don't take it too seriously.

A film on which the great Sergio Leone worked (uncredited) as second unit director. I do not know how much he helped the good professional who is Robert Aldrich, anyway, the final product is good enough. If it were Ennio Morricone signing the music, it would have been even better. About actors, I think Anouk Aimée, as the queen, is by far the best. Then Pier Angeli and Rossana Podestà are beautiful and very compelling. Stanley Baker and Stewart Granger, I've seen them in much better roles in other movies. In smaller roles, other names of the Italian and European cinema: Rik Battaglia, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Anthony Steffen, Daniele Vargas, Gabriele Tinti, Scilla Gabel, Claudia Mori (Adriano Celentano's wife, then very thin and beautiful), Mimmo Palmara and sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler. Not Aldrich's best film, which has made many masterpieces: "Emperor of the North", "Kiss Me Deadly", "The Dirty Dozen", "The Flight of the Phoenix", "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", to name just a few.

I can imagine why this film flopped when it came out in 1962 (1963 in the States). My take on watching "Sodom and Gomorrah" was no doubt like that of most or many other moviegoers. There was almost nothing in here that resembled any of the story that had come down to us in common lore from its Bible origins. When a movie purports to be about a real event, or recorded event, or well-known and oft-told story, it should resemble that story as much as possible. Of course Hollywood has license to embellish and write fictitious details to fill out a story. But when it totally reinvents the story, it disqualifies the film as a plausible source of some or part of the story.

If this film was not a supposed Bible story, it would get a higher rating from me. I agree with a number of other reviewers that it still lacked in some production qualities. But, it would have been an interesting story about a migrating tribe in the ancient Middle East and some of its accomplishments. But one can't watch this film and separate it from the supposed Bible account. Ergo, it fails for its highly fictitious, revisionism in places, and outright erroneous attributions.

The only things with any Biblical basis in this film are the names of the cities, Lot and his two daughters, a weak and general portrayal of the wickedness of the cities, and their final destruction. The Biblical accounts of Lot and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are in parts of Genesis chapters 14, 18 and 19. One big thing missing from the film would have given it some real action. That was Lot's capture by northern kings who waged war on Sodom, Gomorrah and the other south Jordan valley cities; and his rescue by Abram.

A real erroneous attribution in the film is Lot trying to allay Sodom's destruction by appealing to God to save the city if just a number of good people are found there. Abram - not Lot, does this in Gen. 18: 22- 33. There were no queen and prince of Sodom as in this film. The king of Sodom at the time was Bera (Gen. 14:2). The Bible does not list names for Lot's daughters, and his wife was not a former slave of Sodom (Ildith in this film, played by Pier Angeli).

The Bible has no account of Lot making a contract with the ruler of Sodom; nor does it have the Hebrews building a dam or fighting the battle in the film. The Bible does say that Lot's people were taken captive after they fought with the southern valley kings against the invading kings of the North. And, at the end, Lot and his two daughters and wife had to be taken by the arm by the Lord's angels (as men) to flee the city. He had hesitated and his two sons-in-laws didn't take him seriously. So, only Lot's immediate family fled - to a nearby small town of Zoar. He did not lead a retinue of fellow Hebrews out of the city.

The film implies that Sodom was guilty of all types of sins, with an emphasis of hedonistic killing. The Bible clearly refers to the city's degradation to sexual sins of all types - adultery, homosexuality, incest, fornication and anything imaginable - "grave."

Had this film not been based on a well-known Bible story, with so much distortion and fiction, more people might have enjoyed it. I would have given it a higher rating by a couple notches.

A follow-up Bible story that's not as well remembered is what happens next with Lot and his daughters. Gen. 19: 30-38 relates that his daughters didn't want to see his line die out, so they got their father drunk on successive nights. They took turns sleeping with Lot who wasn't aware of what they were doing. They conceived from their incest and the offspring became the Moabites and Ammonites who were enemies of the Israelites in much of the rest of the Old Testament.

The word sodomy, referring to deviant sexual acts, comes from the Latin, meaning "sin of Sodom." Pier Angeli was an Italian actress making movies in Hollywood and Europe when she died in 1972. She was 39 and took a barbiturate overdoes while living in Los Angeles.