Samson and Delilah

is samson a victorious man

Cecil B. DeMille produces and directs and four writers are credited with adapting the story from the Holy Bible and the book "Judge & Fool" written by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It stars Hedy Lamarr (Delilah), Victor Mature (Samson), George Sanders (Saran of Gaza) & Angela Lansbury (Semadar). Late to the party in terms of classic DeMille historical recreations, Samson & Delilah made four times its budget back in the day but now plays out as an agonising chore to get thru. There's no doubting the high production value on offer, every dollar is right up there on the screen. The color is pure joy and the sets, costumes, photography, score and even the effects are worthy of a viewing. But notably for a film that was nominated for 5 Academy awards, none of the actors were considered. Understandably because quite simply some of the performances are as wooden as the sets that dwarf their very frames. Sanders does a nice enough line in snarly villainy, but Lamarr and Mature are dreadful. The former is gorgeous, and the latter is built like a temple, but in a film that involves much (and I mean much) standing around posturing and musing about the pitfalls of life, they fail to convince and at times look like they are reading from an auto-cue. Lansbury can be forgiven since she's actually not in it long enough but DeMille doesn't have the luxury of that excuse. He was a master at dealing with crowd scenes, but his action construction here is poor. The Samson/Lion fight is as notoriously bad as you have heard, while the "jawbone of an ass" fight as Samson way-lays the Philistine army comes off like a Laurel & Hardy bonk on the head skit. The paying public back on its release suggests otherwise, and yes the final "walls come tumbling down" sequence does stir the blood, but the good points are very much swamped by the bad. A poor movie all told that is like opening a sparkling jewel box only to find a gum-ball ring awaits your pleasure. 3/10

Biblical epic that became the biggest hit, up until then, in Paramount Pictures history. The story about the Hebrew Hercules Samson, Victor Mature, who redeemed himself from a life of foolhardiness and slavery by taking down the Temple of Dagon, the Philistine Idol God. Samson not only destroyed Dagon's temple he took the lives, together with his own, of 3,000 of his bitter enemies and tormentors in the movies', Samson and Delilah, spectacular and ground shaking final scene. Never living up to what God wanted from him, to lead his people the ancient Israelites against the hated and occupying Philistines, Samson instead lead a life of womanizing and partying mostly with the Philistines who more then anything else wanted him dead. Because of his super-human strength Samson felt safe from anything that the Philistines could do to him, killing hundreds who tried, in capturing or killing the biblical strongman. It's when the Philistine temptress the drop-dead gorgeous Delilah, Hedy Lamarr, got to work on the big guy that he left himself open to be captured, by the Philistine army, in revealing the source of his strength; His black curly locks of hair on his head. Blinded, with a red hot iron put to his eyes, Samson was then forced to pull the grind-mill and made to look helpless as he was brutally mocked and tortured by his Philistine captors. As the days weeks and months went by and his hair, the source of his great strength, grew back Samson with Delilah's, who had since repented what she did to him, help then planned to finish the job that he never really started; annihilate his and his peoples enslavers the hated Philistines. Samson did it by, with Delilah's leading him to them, tearing down the pillars that held up Dagan's temple and thus bringing the entire house down. The film "Samson and Delilah" still holds up quite well despite it's bargain basement, compared to those now, special effects. Victor Mature as Samson was at his best being able to show off his hunky body without having to wear a suit and tie, as well as pants, like in his previous blockbusters "Kiss of Death" and My Darling Clementine". Heady Lamarr in her first Technicolor movie showed why she was considered to be, just get a load of her violet/lavender eyes, the most beautiful women in the world at that, back in 1950, time. The movies director Cecil B. DeMille really had very little to go on in making the biblical blockbuster in that it was based on only four chapters, the 13 to 16, of the Book of Judges. It was an obscure 1930 German language novel "the Judge and the Fool" by Vladimir Jabotinsky that filled in all the gaps and made a full length two hour plus film about the subject, Samson & Delilah, possible.

First off, Victor Mature plays Samson, just so no one's confused. He and Hedy both have chests and black hair, so I thought I'd clear everything up right off. This is the story of Samson, a brawny but honorable guy, and the woman he loves. He loves two in the course of the film. The first is Angela Lansbury, who had a very bizarre name that escapes me. Ms. Lansbury, a marvelous actress, is my first bone to pick with Cecil B. DeMille. Who in heck would believe that Angela Lansbury and Hedy Lamarr are related?!? Even more incredulous--Angela Lansbury as Hedy's OLDER SISTER?!? You have to be a movie fan to know that Hedy was several years older than Jessica Fletcher-to-be Angela, but any moron can tell they're from two different countries. Angela's plummy English tones versus Hedy's Germanic mutterings makes for a weird family. Anyway, that's nitpicking. Early in the film, Samson goes over to see sweetheart What's Her Name, only to have her sister Delilah bounce rocks off his ample chest. She looks like someone who isn't to be trusted, but nevertheless he's consumed by love's fire. (Isn't that soooooo dramatic.) He decides to go fight a lion barehanded, so he can win What's Her Name. The things you had to do back then to get a date. When she is amazed by his lion taming, she decides that she will indeed marry him. Delilah is enraged, but decides to wait for her chance for revenge. It comes at the wedding, where a silly chain of events leaves Samson alone again and Delilah homeless. (One of my favorite moments is in this scene, as Delilah's dad keeps begging people to take her instead of her sister. No one wants her!) Fast forward an undetermined amount of time to reveal a plot against Samson. He's a huge pain in the neck to the bad guys, and they just can't figure out how he got to be so darned big. (We know it's God's doing, but the bad guys don't believe in God. DeMille hadn't made the more famous "Ten Commandments" yet, so we can understand their ignorance.) Delilah demands an unheard amount of money from several rich merchants, saying that she can find the secret of Samsons's strength. He tricks her a couple of times, but finally she guilts him into telling the truth. When she ruins him, he spends his time wishing he could break her scrawny neck. Frankly, I can sympathize with him. She does have a scrawny neck. The finale comes when Delilah repents (she asks God to forgive her, indicating that she now believes in him and is truly sorry she annihilated another human being) and aids Samson in his extermination of all the mean people. The temple scene (before it falls down) seems really cruel, with everyone terrorizing Samson and him completely unable to stop them. Good wins out in the end, though, and everyone remembers Samson as a true hero. They don't remember Delilah in a nice way, because she neglected to tell anyone she repented. Thanks to that, she gets a bum rap to this day. Favorite part--the "jaw bone of an ass" scene, where everyone tries to see how many times they can say "ass" and get away with it.

I went to see this film in New York (I lived in Boston) with a group of Jabotinsky followers. We were disappointed that the whole point of Jabo's novel, "Prelude to Delilah," was lost by Cecil B. DeMille. The point Jabo was making was "You must have iron and you must have a king." That translates into a Jewish state now, without British troops (the Philistines). When the movie was done, we booed. At the time we saw the movie, the State of Israel had already been declared and the British had left. Jews could now sail into Israel without British hindrance, but years of demonstrating for a Jewish state (within the full borders of the League of Nations mandate) left us dissatisfied with the tiny sliver that emerged in 1948. So when we assembled in Times Square to see what Hollywood had done to our dream, De Mille's treatment was a huge disappointment.

I first saw this as a kid in the early 80s n was blown away by the lion fight sequence n the climax scene of that of Dagon's towering idol. Saw many times aft that n coincidentally revisited it again on this Easter (04/04/21). This one is a classic action movie n i still found it very captivating. The film was very violent for its times. Samson using a jawbone of a donkey to crush skulls like eggs thru helmets is very brutal. The film's special effects are noteworthy and the most spectacular special effect in the film is the toppling of the temple of Dagon.

Of all the movies one should have in one's library of Classics, this is one of them. The story is taken directly out of the pages of the Bible and deals with the legendary strong man who was also a Judge of his people. When taken to the big screen, one has to marvel at the beautiful color, historical setting and technical expertise of the time period. The lead of course is played by tall, handsome Victor Mature. His presence adds realism is an honorary tribute to the ancient Danite and makes for a convincing character. The ruler of the Philistines is played by George Sanders who is incredible in his 'King of the Five cities' role. Samson's principle adversary is Henry Wilcoxon, playing the Lord Ahtur, who was originally cast in the title role. The director thought him too old and passed on a great opportunity as I believe Wilcox would have been terrific as Samson. Hedy Lamarr plays the seductive temptress and conniving Courteson, Delilah, while Angela Lansbury plays Semadar, Samson's love interest. Although Cecil B. Demille takes much literary license with the storybook Samson, it's still interesting to watch and with its memorable theme music, hauntingly inspirational. The overall result is a true Classic which no one should miss if given a chance to watch. Despite it's shortcomings, it remains as impressive today as it was in the 1950's. Highly recommended. ****

Ok, obviously these people who have responded to this movie have not watched the same movie I did. This movie was so horrible. The acting was so bad, especially by Delilah. Being pretty does not automatically mean you can act. Angela Lansbury is also a horrible actress, but she looks like Meryl Streep next to Delilah. I know everyone thinks that movies from the old days are automatically good because they are from the old days, but just because they are old, does not give them the right to have horrible, horrible, horrible acting in them. Also, what was up with the strategic throwing of objects by Samson in certain scenes? What the hell was that all about? The best acting in this movie was by the fake lion. What was up with the midget? That's not objectifying little people or anything! I don't care if it was the forties. The scenery also looked so extremely fake, they should have hired a better painter!

Hedy Lamarr was the most beautiful woman in films. Her ability as an actress was limited, but as a femme fatale, capable of bringing down a mighty warrior, she certainly was convincing to me. The fact that Samson fell for Angela Langsbury, in the first place, was laughable. Victor Mature was a good choice, for the part of Samson. George Sanders gave the best performance; he simply had no peer, when it came to playing sophisticated, world-weary, men of wisdom. Compare this role to his part in Rebecca, All About Eve, and you'll see what I mean. Again, just watching Hedy Lamarr, is like watching a beautiful work of art. Entertaining, old fashion Hollywood stuff. They don't make them like this anymore, and there certainly is no contemporary beauty that comes close to Hedy Lamarr.

Anyone know why this isn't available on a LEGAL USA "DVD"? All I've found is bootlegs and imports. Surely if Paramount can release "The Ten Commandments" and other DeMille pictures, then why not this wonderful piece of entertainment??? If it is a question of restoration, that is fine, but in this era of every type of film being on DVD, I don't understand why this movie is not among them. I have the Paramount laserdisc version, but of course, it doesn't compare to a DVD of the same film. Come on, Paramount, get it out!