ALEXANDER THE GREAT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 932, 21 June 1957, Page 16

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

(Robert Rossen-United Artists) G Cert. \V HEN spectacle so often benumbs us, a film-maker who takes a big historical subject seriously deserves success. Robert Rossen, who wrote and directed Alexander the Great, has tried hard, and in his 12,000-odd feet of film are many brilliant passages; but as a

whole it’s disappointing. Could it be that integrity has chased out liveliness? Of the film’s two halves-Alexander growing up, schooled by his father, Philip of Macedon, to succeed him, and Alexander the conqueror-the first is the best. Here are the events which should go a long way towards explaining Alexander, and Richard Burton brings a presence and a voice to the part. Even

so, interested but seldom really moved, I didn’t ever feel I had got very close to Alexander. Yet if Mr Rossen was to succeed at all with his formidable subject he had surely to give us first a living and unforgettable character. It may be that reconstructed §history on this scale isn’t my dish. I remember most vividly such scenes as the death of Darius and the charge of his chariots in his last battle -and there is enough of this sort of thing to make me feel that seeing the film was worthwhile. As you might expect,

Robert Krasker’s CinemaScope camerawork is beautifully done; and among other players Frederic March as Philip, Danielle Darrieux as the scheming Olympias, and Claire Bloom ‘as Barsine do well. Incidentally, Michael Forlong, not so long since with the National Film Unit, was second unit director.