Ulysses (movie, 1954)

Synopsis

Ulysses , king of the island of Ithaca , has already left for a long time to participate in the siege of Troy . After the capture of the city, his journey back by the sea will be delayed by many dangers such as his meeting with the Cyclops Polyphemus , that of the magician Circe or even by the bewitching song of the sirens … Meanwhile, to Ithaca, his wife Penelopemust face other trials: interested in accession to the throne, multiple suitors, claiming that Ulysses is dead, urge her to take husband. The queen delays the deadline by promising to choose her new husband as soon as she has completed the weaving of her great tapestry: every night, she defeats his work the day before … The Ulysses of the film is very far from the cunning, prudent and wise man described by Homer. He is here, on the contrary, a daring enough daring who takes unnecessary risks and can be held responsible for the death of his men and for a large part of the disgrace he incurs.

Technical sheet

• Original title: Ulisse
• French title: Ulysse
• Director: Mario Camerini , assisted by Serge Vallin
• Script: Franco Brusati , Mario Camerini , Ennio de Concini , Hugh Gray , Ben Hecht , Ivo Perilli and Irwin Shaw from The Odyssey of Homer
• French Dialogues: Josette France
• Sets: Flavio Mogherini
• Costumes: Giulio Coltellacci, Madame Grès
• Photography: Harold Rosson
• Sound: Mauro Zambuto, Bernard Held
• Special effects: Eugen Shuftan
• Editing: Leo Cattozzo
• Music: Alessandro Cicognini
• Country of origin: Italy
• Shooting:
  • Languages: English , Italian
  • Shooting: start on May 18 , 1953in Italy ^1 , 2
  • Interiors: Ponti-De Laurentiis Studios ( Rome ) ²
  • Outside ² :
    • Italy
    • Côtes d’Afrique du Nord
    • Various islands (unspecified) of Mediterranean and Adriatic seas
• Producers: Dino De Laurentiis , Carlo Ponti , William W. Schorr
• Production Companies: Lux Films (Italy), Zénith Films (France), Paramount Pictures ²
• Distribution Companies: Paramount Pictures , Les Acacias (France), Tamasa Distribution (France)
• Format: color by Technicolor – 35mm – 1.37: 1 – 3D Relief – monophonic sound (Western Electric Recording)
• Genre: adventure , peplum , mythology , fantasy
• Duration: 104↔118 ³ minutes
• Release dates:
  •  Italy : October 6 , 1954
  •  France : November 23 , 1954
• (en) Legal CNC : all audiences, Arthouse (operating visa n ^o 15868 issued December 20 , 1954)

Distribution

• Kirk Douglas ( VF : Roger Rudel ) : Ulysses
• Silvana Mangano ( VF : Camille Fournier ) : Circe / Penelope
• Anthony Quinn ( VF : John the Violet ) : Antinoos
• Rossana Podestà ( VF : Jeanine Freson ) : Nausicaa
• Mario Feliciani ( VF : Maurice Dorléac ) : Eurymachus
• Piero Lulli : Achilles
• Ferruccio Stagni ( VF : Richard Francoeur ) : Mentor
• Alessandro Fersen : Diomedes
• Oscar Andriani : Calops
• Umberto Silvestri ( VF : Pierre Morin ) : Polyphemus and Cracos
• Jacques Dumesnil ( VF : himself) : Alcinoos
• Daniel Ivernel ( VF : himself) : Euryloque
• Franco Interlenghi : Telemachus
• Sylvie ( VF : herself ) : Euryclée
• Elena Zareschi ( VF : Lita Recio ) : Cassandra
• Ludmila Dudarova ( VF : Hélène Tossy ) : Arétè ⁴ , mother of Nausicaa
• Riccardo Garrone ( VF : Roger Til ) : a suitor
• Andrea Aureli : a suitor
• Alberto Lupo ( VF : Jacques Beauchey ) : a suitor
• Walter Brandi ( VF : Hubert Noël ) : a suitor
• Aldo Pini : Polites, companion of Ulysses
• Amerigo Santarelli : wrestler with Cracos
• Renato Malavasi : Advisor of Alsinous
• Massimo Pietrobon : companion of Ulysses

Around the film

• The costumes of Silvana Mangano have particularly been designed by Madame Grès , famous designer of the fashion house of the same name, institution disappeared in 1987 and whose single brand Parfums Grès survived ⁵ .
• The “Cyclops”, about 10 meters high, was mechanically powered by wires and a bellows ² .
• The armor and weapons were lent by the museums of Athens , Naples and Rome ² .
• The production had planned to shoot some scenes on the island of Ithaca , but an earthquake prevented it ² .

DVD

• The film has been the subject of two editions to date by two publishers:
  • Simple edition on January 12 , 2000at Film Office Distribution in 1.33: 1 full screen format in French 1.0 mono without subtitles. In addition, the documentary The Iliad and the Odyssey at the cinema ⁶ .
  • Simple edition on September 7 , 2010at Universal Pictures Video France in 1.33: 1 full screen format in French 1.0 mono without subtitles. No supplement ⁷ .

Notes and references