SummaryA captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.
Directed By:Howard Hawks
Written By:William Faulkner, Harry Kurnitz, Harold Jack Bloom
Land of the Pharaohs
Metascore
Generally Favorable
65
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Available after 4 ratings
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
65
64% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
36% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
88
A flop in its day despite France's rhapsodic reaction, but a movie I've always loved even before its knockout finale, which even detractors admit redeems a lot. [29 Jun 2007, p.10E]
75
They don't make 'em like Land of the Pharaohs anymore, but you wished they did.
75
Joan Collins and her pointy bras are a hubba-hubba hoot.
70
Howard Hawks’s only attempt at a wide-screen blockbuster (1955), much disparaged afterward by Hawks and many others, is actually fairly awesome if you can get beyond the clunky dialogue (some of it written by William Faulkner, as well as Harry Kurnitz) and the campy evilness of the Joan Collins character.
60
Although the script (by Faulkner, among others) gets stranded with the usual slightly wooden dialogue considered necessary for ancient times, the story moves along at a stately but never sluggish pace, and is scattered with lovely moments, most notably the grim finale when Collins gets her ironic come-uppance.
50
Hawks used more than 10,000 extras and handled the DeMille-type hordes well enough. The problems arose in the shooting of the small moments, the times when actors had to speak to each other.
40
Joan Collins is the only person in this film who seems to be enjoying the fact it's a big camp mess.
User score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
50% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
50% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jul 23, 2023
7
Watchable old school Hollywood epic. Most memorable are the eye filling scenes of thousands of extras, populating gigantic full size lavish sets on location in Egypt, stunningly captured in Cinemascope. Movie is staggering by a sheer logistical standpoint. Kudos to Howard Hawks and his team. Other notable standouts are the fascinating details of building a pyramid, both interior and exterior, and the trashy **** scheming of Joan Collins.
Production Company:
- Continental Company
Release Date:Jun 24, 1955
Duration:1 h 46 m
Tagline:Buried Alive! THE CRUEL PHARAOH'S DECREE...FOR HIS WIVES...HIS SLAVES...HIS COURT!
