And indeed, the queen is very lovely, but the epitome of seductive evil, played by Chelo Alonso, rivaling Joan Collins in "Land of the Pharaohs" and Bella Darvi in "The Egyptian" without the camp quotient of Anne Baxter in "The Ten Commandments" or the maturity of Elizabeth Taylor in "Cleopatra" or in the obscurity of Jeanne Crain in "Queen of the Nile". This is the closest that a sword and sandal adventure got to an epic of biblical proportions, obviously taking advantage of some standing sets from other big looking films, and every bit as enjoyable with all the elements of the great classics (and the not so great ones) I mention above.
Leading hunk Mark Forest is barely covered as the hero, out to free the slaves that Queen Alonso has subjugated as she prepares to kill her pharaoh husband and take over the throne. She's alluring yet treacherous, and when she sets her sights on the Hebrew muscle man, she works right away on her seduction, basically turning on him the moment he denies her the pleasures she seeks. "Feed him to the crocodiles!" she declares, and this becomes an instant contest between Forest and Johnny Weismueller as to who could wrestle a rubber amphibian the most realistically.
Visually, this isn't just stunning for its use of the huge sets, but for the incredible cruelty as seen for the many extras either buried up to their necks with poisoned snakes right at their jugular or on burning pyres. The many cast members are barely covered in clothing, so it is slightly erotic as well. It is interesting to note that the character of the man that the queen has her husband assassinated for doesn't at all seem very rugged, and perhaps isn't really at all interested in the queen for love. The scale of the film makes this look more impressive on the small screen than it probably was on the big screen, especially with epics like "Ben-Hur" and "Spartacus" fresh in the viewer's minds.
Leading hunk Mark Forest is barely covered as the hero, out to free the slaves that Queen Alonso has subjugated as she prepares to kill her pharaoh husband and take over the throne. She's alluring yet treacherous, and when she sets her sights on the Hebrew muscle man, she works right away on her seduction, basically turning on him the moment he denies her the pleasures she seeks. "Feed him to the crocodiles!" she declares, and this becomes an instant contest between Forest and Johnny Weismueller as to who could wrestle a rubber amphibian the most realistically.
Visually, this isn't just stunning for its use of the huge sets, but for the incredible cruelty as seen for the many extras either buried up to their necks with poisoned snakes right at their jugular or on burning pyres. The many cast members are barely covered in clothing, so it is slightly erotic as well. It is interesting to note that the character of the man that the queen has her husband assassinated for doesn't at all seem very rugged, and perhaps isn't really at all interested in the queen for love. The scale of the film makes this look more impressive on the small screen than it probably was on the big screen, especially with epics like "Ben-Hur" and "Spartacus" fresh in the viewer's minds.