Il colosso di Rodi (1961)

Director:

Sergio Leone

Writers:

Sergio Leone
Luciano Chitarrini
(more)

Release Date:

November 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History

Tagline:

A Monster Statue Of Bronze And Stone Twenty Stories Tall Guarded Their Secret!

Plot:

While on holiday in Rhodes, Athenian war hero Darios becomes involved in two different plots to overthrow the tyrannical king, one from Rhodian patriots and the other from sinister Phoenician agents.

Plot Keywords:

Colossus | Statue | Earthquake | Arena | Phoenicia

Cast

Rory Calhoun	...	Darios
Lea Massari	...	Diala
Georges Marchal	...	Peliocles
Conrado San Martín	...	Thar (as Conrado Sanmartin)
Ángel Aranda	...	Koros
Mabel Karr	...	Mirte
Mimmo Palmara	...	Ares
Roberto Camardiel	...	Serse
George Rigaud	...	Lissipu (as Jorge Rigaud)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Álvaro de Luna
Arturo Cabré	...	(uncredited)
Alfio Caltabiano	...	Creonte (uncredited)
Fernando Calzado	...	Sirione (uncredited)
Antonio Casas	...	Phoenician Ambassador (uncredited)
Ignazio Dolce	...	(uncredited)
Félix Fernández	...	Carete (uncredited)
Rafael Hernández	...	(uncredited)
Yann Larvor	...	Mahor (uncredited)
Ángel Menéndez	...	(uncredited)
Nello Pazzafini	...	(uncredited)
Gustavo Re	...	Mercader (uncredited)
Norman Rose	...	Voice (uncredited)
Carlo Tamberlani	...	Xenon (uncredited)
José María Vilches	...	Eros (uncredited)

Directed by
Sergio Leone

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luciano Chitarrini
Ennio De Concini
Carlo Gualtieri
Sergio Leone
Luciano Martino
Ageo Savioli
Cesare Seccia
Duccio Tessari

Produced by
Eduardo de la Fuente	....	producer
Michele Scaglione	....	executive producer
Cesare Seccia	....	producer

Original Music by
Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Cinematography by
Antonio L. Ballesteros		(as Antonio Ballesteros)

Film Editing by
Eraldo Da Roma

Set Decoration by
Ramiro Gómez

Costume Design by
Vittorio Rossi

Production Management
Eduardo de la Fuente	....	production manager
Cesare Seccia	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roberto Bodegas	....	trainee assistant director
Yves Boisset	....	assistant director
Jorge Grau	....	assistant director
Mahnahén Velasco	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jesús Mateos	....	set designer (as Jesus Mateos)
Francisco Rodríguez Asensio	....	construction (as Francisco Assensio)

Special Effects by
Erasmo Bacciucchi	....	special effects
Tonino Cacciottolo	....	sound special effects
Vittorio Galiano	....	special effects
Francisco Rodríguez Asensio	....	special effects makeup

Camera and Electrical Department
Emilio Foriscot	....	director of photography: second unit
Mariano Ruiz Capillas	....	director of photography: second unit

Other crew
Carla Leone	....	choreographer (as Carla Ranalli)
Michele Lupo	....	direction collaborator
Lidia Simoneschi	....	voice dubbing: Lea Massari

Production Companies

• Procusa
• Cinematografica Associati (CI.AS.) (co-production)
• Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP) (co-production)
• CTI (Cinema Television International) (co-production)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Fox Films (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• EMS (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Filmayer (????) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• ClassicLine (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Casa d'Arte di Firenze  costumes
• Ditta Pompei  shoes
• Palombi  wigs

Also Known As:

"El coloso de Rodas" - Spain
"Le colosse de Rhodes" - France
"The Colossus of Rhodes" - USA
"Der Koloß von Rhodos" - Austria, West Germany
"O Colosso de Rodes" - Brazil, Portugal
"A rodoszi kolosszus" - Hungary
"Le colosse de Rhodes" - Canada (French title)
"O kolossos tis Rodou" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Striden om Rhodos" - Finland (Swedish title)
"Taistelu Rhodoksesta" - Finland

Runtime:

127 min | Italy:139 min | Spain:123 min (Spanish version)

Country:

Spain | Italy | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Spain:T | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1962) | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Laredo, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

Company:

Procusa

Trivia:

Although he had experience directing other films, this was the first to give full on-screen credit to Sergio Leone.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The picture dates itself to 280 BCE. The island of Rhodes is shown as an independent state, which is true enough for the time; however, it's alleged to have a king although Rhodes was a republic at the time. The king bears an uncharacteristic non-Greek name: Serse, an Italian corruption of Xerxes, a Greek corruption of an Iranian name that it scarcely resembles. The king receives an ambassador from Phoenicia - at the time an integral part of the Seleukid Empire (Syria). Greece is referred to as if a united country, which at the time was untrue - divided as it was between Attika, Lakaidemon, the Akhaian League, the Aitolian League, Epiros, Makedon, and other states.

Quotes:

Mirte:[seductively] I can grant your most secret desire.
Darios:Which one?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in An Opera of Violence (2003) (V)

Certainly not the "best" anything

I watched this because I'm a big Sergio Leone fan. I knew that it was his first credited film and that he had very little input into it. I knew what I going to get but there was a part of me that hoped to see an extreme close up of a stubbly old man or some sort of taciturn hero or maybe (just maybe) Lee Van Cleef in an uncredited and historically impossible cameo. Naturally I was disappointed.

It's quite an enjoyable romp, however. A perfectly functional example of the sword and sandal genre. Fans of false beards and ancient warriors with 1950's hair cuts won't be disappointed. It looks pretty good (but then, Leone was a visual genius) and the unbalanced plot (another Leone trademark) is OK but beyond that, it's very formulaic.

It's nothing special. The only people who should seek it out are Leone completists and they'll enjoy it just fine as long as they put their brains on hold.