Duel of Champions

Decent Roman sword and sandal epic, a bit of an international effort with an American star, British director and an Italian production. Alan Ladd acquits himself well enough, I had doubts about seeing him in a Roman toga, he looks more convincing than John Wayne as Genghis Khan (not that, that would be difficult!)

Having read about but not seen I bought this movie on DVD and as the previous reviewer said the transfer is terrible, that is a real shame as this is one of the more enjoyable sword and sandal epics. The great movie writer Steven Shuerer said that Alan Ladd appeared rather foolish in this movie, I disagree, Ladd put's in a nice performance here as one of three Roman brothers who must fight a rival three to try and put an end to years of fighting with the Albans, I think how the film works is that most of the cast are speaking in English, not badly dubbed from Italian as most of these films are, agreed Ladd looks rather tired and the effects of his long term alcoholism are evident, but I don't think he got a good deal from reviewers who concentrated more on his size and his personal problems. I do wish the makers of these films would take more time to try and restore the movie to a better print on DVD, some of these Italian epics are highly regarded by their fans, myself included so in this day and age of digital restoration these things should be brought in by them.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Yeah Alan Ladd wasn't quite the handsome dashing hero of a few years earlier but I would imagine commanders in the Roman Legions back then weren't exactly Justin Beiber lookalikes so he fits the role pretty well. The plot has some interesting twists and the women were beautiful. The action scenes were better than average for an Italian epic...I've seen much worse. To be honest, these sword and sandal affairs are growing on me. They have a special charm all their own that's hard to define so I won't try. My advice, gird your loins, adjust your breastplate, and saddle up pardners for a good old Italian style western with a couple of familiar American faces thrown in for good measure!!! And remember, a sword is always loaded so be careful out there in weird movie land.

Roma and Alba are at war, s they have been for a while. The king of Rome,Tullio Hostillo aka Robert Keith, dreams of Roman glory, despite all the mothers crying about their dead sons. Finally, the gods speak, saying that each side must choose three brothers and the last survivor will be the winner for his side. This includes Alan Ladd, but he is thought to have abandoned his troops and died. So the woman he loves is married to his brother. When he shows up, he denies both charges, but refuses to fight. Like Achilles, he will sulk in his tent on a nearby hill top.

Well, we can be assured that eventually he will fight, and will be victorious, because he's top billed. This peplum movie merges the usual thwarted love story with the other elements, including men showing off their legs. It's decent enough, but it doesn't appear to offer much in the way of any subtext. But that's not what people look at this sort of movie for, is it?

The story of this movie has been described here by others and suffice it to say I found the movie to be very average. I think the really memorable aspect was the chance to see Alan Ladd and Robert Keith at the end of their careers. Alan Ladd would go on to make two other movies before his untimely death at 50. Unfortunately, from this movie, it is clear that his personal and professional lives were in decline at this time. He appears sluggish and bloated with only the infrequent flashing of a smile to remind viewers of past glories. Although he plays a general his performance doesn't really command the screen. If you want to see him, in his later movies, I would suggest you pass this up and settle for his final role, in the Carpetbaggers, which shows much more bite. Secondly, this represented the final film in the long career of actor Robert Keith (here playing the King of Rome). Although, by modern standards, a relatively young man (63) when this movie was made, it would be his last before his death five years later. He appears very frail but conveys a strong sense of dignity and maintains a masterful diction. Perhaps, given the combination, a suitable finale for a character lead.