The Colossus of Rhodes is a Franco-Italian-Spanish film directed by Sergio Leone in 1961 .
Synopsis
Darios, a Greek military hero, visits his uncle in Rhodes in 280 BC. AD Rhodes has just finished building a huge statue of Apollo (the Colossus) to protect its port and is considering an alliance with Phenicia against the Greece . Darius falls in love with the pretty Diala, daughter of the statue’s architect, but he is also involved with a group of rebels led by Peliocles. These rebels seek to overthrow the tyrant Xerxes, as well as his second, Therion. The rebels are captured and forced to amuse the crowd in the arena, but an earthquake overthrows the colossus and … the power.
Technical sheet
- Original title: The Colossus of Rhodes
- Italian title: Il colosso di Rodi
- Spanish title: El Coloso de Rodas
- Screenplay: Luciano Chitarrini , Ennio De Concini , Carlo Gualtieri , Sergio Leone, Luciano Martino , Ageo Savioli , Cesare Seccia , Duccio Tessari
- Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
- Photography: Antonio L. Ballesteros
- Assistants director: Yves Boisset , Michele Lupo and Jorge Grau
- Editing: Eraldo Da Roma
- Sets: Ramiro Gómez
- Costumes: Vittorio Rossi
- Country of origin: Spain , France , Italy
- Filming language: English
- Producers: Michele Scaglione , Eduardo de la Fuente, Cesare Seccia
- Production Companies: Cinema Television International (CTI), Cineproduzioni Associati , French Film Production Counter (CFFP), Procusa
- Distribution Company: MGM
- Format: color by Eastmancolor – 35mm – 2.35: 1 (Supertotalscope) – monaural (Westrex Recording System)
- Genre: peplum
- Duration: 130 min (Italy 139 min, Spain 123 min)
- Release date : in Spain
Distribution
- Rory Calhoun (VF: René Arrieu ) : Darios
- Lea Massari (VF: Jany Clear ) : Diala
- Georges Marchal : Peliocles
- Conrado San Martin (VF: Jean-Henri Chambois ) : Therion
- Ángel Aranda : Koros
- Mabel Karr (VF: Sylvie Deniau ) : Mirté
- George Rigaud : Lyssipos
- Roberto Camardiel (VF: Louis Arbessier ) : Xerxes
- Mimmo Palmara : Ares
- Félix Fernández (VF: Clément Harari ) : Carete
- Carlo Tamberlani (VF: Jacques Berlioz ) : Xenon
- Alfio Caltabiano (VF: Georges Aminel ) : Creon
- Antonio Casas (VF: Georges Spanelly ) : Phoenician Ambassador
- Yann Larvor (VF: Pierre Garin ) : Mahor (Mahoz in VF)
- Fernando Calzado (VF: Claude D’Yd ) : Sirione
- Ignazio Dolce
Around the film
Although he already has some experience of film direction, it seems that this film is the first of which Sergio Leone is the only one responsible. But it’s also the film he loved most to realize. In addition, there are some appearances during crowd movements.
The film was broadcast several times on television in France, shortened by several minutes: some sequences were without reason amputated from their beginning or their end, or even entirely cut.
Two scenes were cut in the French version: Darios visited Diala in his garden before attempting to reach Athens by boat.
The second scene takes place after the rebels rescued their companions on the point of being sacrificed to Baal: Darios briefly talks with Myrte, one of the rebels.
The film was shot in Spain in the port of Laredo in Cantabria , in the Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia), in Manzanares El Real near Madrid, and around the enchanted city (Ciudad Encantada) near Cuenca.