Alexander the Great (1956)

Alexander the Great (Dir: Robert Rossen, 1956). 

Richard Burton heads the cast in a historical drama chronicling the life and accomplishments of Alexander III of Macedonia. Part of the trend to entice audiences away from television, the lavish production was shot in glorious Technicolor and utilised the widescreen CinemaScope format. 

I have to admit to being a little disappointed with Alexander the Great. There is nothing essentially wrong with the movie. It is somehow just not as good as it should be. It is an impressively mounted production; the CinemaScope photography conveys a great sense of grandeur; it has a top quality cast. It is everything a historical epic should be. Yet it is also one thing an epic shouldn’t be, which is slightly dull. Certainly not boring, just a little static. You keep waiting for the next battle to begin, but the battles are few and far between. 

An impressive cast was assembled for the movie. Burton is suitably commanding as Alexander, while Fredric March is terrific as his father, Philip of Macedonia. Star-laden support comes from Claire Bloom, Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing and Niall MacGinnis. Oddly, none of them quite make the same impact, or perhaps more accurately are not given sufficient screentime to make the same impact, as either Burton or March. However, their presence does add a considerable amount of class to proceedings.

Robert Rossen was a skilled filmmaker with classics including All the King's Men (R Rossen, 1949) and The Hustler (R Rossen, 1961) among his directorial credits. Alexander the Great was his only historical epic and one would have to conclude that this particular genre was not his forte. 

Alexander the Great is slightly less than the sum of its parts. There is much to admire about it, but it is simply not as inspiring as the greatest epics. Ultimately, it suffers from too much talk and too little action. Alexander the Not Bad might have been a more fitting title. That said, it is certainly worth a watch, especially for fans of big ol' widescreen spectacle movies.