Now first of i am not a fan of Greek stories the only ones that i like is this one , Walt Disney's Hercules; and Pompeii.Beginning with this movie i was going into it with the intention of hating it.But boy did this one surprise me.I didn't even catch on that this is the story of the Trojan horse i realized it first when the wooden horse showed up on the screen.That aside the love story that's inter wined is perfect Rosanna podesta and Jack sernas was a perfect cast even though their voices were dubbed seeing that both of them are french.That aside this is remarkable movie.Give it a try and you will fall in love.

Well I thought that this film was okay, but being a helenophile I tend to get annoyed when the film does not follow the story closely (or in the case of the Trojan War, doesn't star Brad Pitt) but still this film did an okay job, particularly since you are dealing with a story that realistically should be a television series. As such you are going to have to cut parts out and attempt to make other scenes fit in better with the movie.What Wise did with this film was turn it into a romance, and not the type of romance where boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy gets girl again. No, the story of the Trojan War is much more tragic than that because when Paris loses Helen it is because he is killed and she is dragged back to Greece to once again become a slave to Menelaus. What is interesting is that the Greek legends really only tell us that Paris kidnapped Helen, but we are then given the impression that Helen didn't actually want to leave, though we must remember that back in those days women generally didn't have any rights. Still, some of the versions of the myth have Menelaus dragging Helen back to the boat by the scruff of her neck.The one thing that this film failed to do, that the Brad Pitt version successfully did was to emphasise the fact that nobody actually won the war. Odysseus was set wondering the oceans for ten years before he got home; Menelaus met the same fate, and was trapped in Egypt for a number of years; and when Agamemnon returned home as overlord of Greece, he life has emperor lasted right up until the point that his wife and her lover killed him. However, in this film pretty much all of the Greeks returned home victorious, however we tend to also be more sympathetic towards the Trojans.The other thing that got my goat about this film was the use of siege equipment. Basically the reason that the Trojan War lasted ten years was because they did not have siege equipment – it simply had not been invented at the time – so seeing siege towers and catapults being raised against Troy sort of put me off somewhat.

Although the most glamorous and the most exquisite ancient epics have mostly been associated with Cecil B DeMille who, after D.W. Griffith, reigned in the Hollywood showmanship throughout the years, here comes the name of Robert Wise, a renowned director; yet, inexperienced in this very genre. After the innovative style of his EXECUTIVE SUITE in the mid 1950s, he takes time and effort to film 'all the storied wonders of Homer's immortal 'Iliad' and all the gloried moments of its inspired romance,' as HELEN OF TROY trailer announced... Mr Wise's effort aimed at creating a genuine production and resulted in one of Homer's best screen adaptations ever made. For me, personally, it was an additional pleasure to watch this film because of a certain sentiment. I have heard about Wise's HELEN OF TROY since my childhood from my father who had seen it on the big screen as a young boy. Therefore, it is one of the films that has a place in our family tradition. But let me leave my own sentimental targets and get to the objective analysis of this greatly significant production.In the mid 1950s, it was not difficult to predict that filming the story of a woman whose 'face launched a thousand ships' and whose 'temptations plunged the world into the conflict' would occur a smashing success. After the triumphant return of epics with LeRoy's QUO VADIS? and Koster's THE ROBE, the motion picture was in need for new thrilling stories of antiquity, the immortal stories filmed in Technicolor, the 'towering wonders' that could span the period. Therefore, the first and the most significant 'wounder' of this film is the love story of Prince Paris (Jacques Sernas) and Helen (Rossana Podesta). It occurs to be at the core of viewers' attention and rightly so. Their scenes shine with memorable chemistry and appear to be truly convincing. The handsome Sernas and the beautiful Podesta are still an underrated cinema pair. Not much has been said about them in film articles and we should regret that. Not a top notch couple in fame but a top notch couple in love!Another 'towering wonder' of the film are some clear references to universal cinema merits. Mr Wise nicely combines the ancient plot with the modern depiction of the events perfectly adjusted to the needs of the audience. The couple occurs to be very modern, we empathize with them and follow their thoughts as if the story took place in our times. That subtle and up-to-date handling of the topic together with the desirable respect towards Homer and historical material is a great merit of the film. Although it has often been seen by some critics as 'Hollywood ignorance towards history,' I think that this combination with the right balance makes this film valuable. There are certain limits in the liberties taken and HELEN OF TROY clearly respects them.The supporting cast offer us very clear appearances so that the characters can remain vividly in our memories. That is a feature not every epic film can boast of. In many films, certain characters are being confused because of some shortage in the uniqueness of concrete portrayals. HELEN OF TROY does not commit that 'sin.' Starting with Sir Cedric Hardwicke who beautifully portrays the good hearted and kind ruling Priam, through yet to come sex symbol Brigitte Bardot as Andraste, Stanley Baker as the brave warrior Achilles, Nora Swinburne as subtle and delicate Hecuba, Harry Andrews as good hearted Hector to Niall MacGinnis as cruel and wretched Menelaus. Except for the aforementioned cast, the real revelation appears to be Janette Scott in the role of Cassandra, a key figure in the mystery of Troy's downfall. Ms Scott is excellent as the priestess of Athena and a prophetess who foresaw the events, the one whose heart was with Troy and whose thoughts dwelt in the inevitable tragedy. Cassandra, though not given much time on the screen, remains forever in the memory of a viewer after seeing this film. Her face is DESTINY and this face is youthful Janette Scott's.Finally, the most significant wonder of HELEN OF TROY is undoubtedly its colossal nature. Thanks to some scenes that still occur impressive especially when being viewed on the big screen, it is certainly one of the grand spectacles. Thanks to the cinematography by Harry Stradling and music by Max Steiner, the moments provide the epic with glamor and majesty. I hereby refer to the monumental depiction of the siege of Troy with crowds of extras (more than 30,000), the lavish sets built in the Cinecitta Studios near Rome, the sea storm that brings Paris to the shore of Aphrodite, the lustful bacchanalia scene when the Trojan horse has just been brought within the city walls...The bacchanalia moment requires special attention as a very daring yet a tasteful depiction... 'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts...' yet, 'the night smiles at us...' The entire drama and illusion of this moment is so awesome: dancing girls, orgasm-like tunes, ancient melodies, laughing god of vineyards... do they make us dwell in the final hour of Troy? Is it all real or just an illusion? Can we recapture the spirit of the 'almost' victorious citizens? Can we look forward to the dawn that will never come?A very nice epic film, a must see for all film freaks and buffs of old motion pictures; indeed another production of those golden years when the commercial gave way to the artistic, the heyday of might and majesty that you will never forget.

This is an impersonal movie,coming from someone as talented as Robert Wise ,who seems less comfortable in the sword and sandal genre than he is in the musicals ("West Side Story" ),the fantasy and horror movies ("The haunting" 1963!)or mainly the film noir ("odd against tomorrow" "I want To live" "the set up").He is not helped by an heterogeneous cast including Italian Rossana Podesta (Wise found her in Fernandez's "La Red"(1954) in which she played half-naked most of the time:so the part was tailor made for her),French Jacques Sernas (and a brunette Brigitte Bardot in the priceless part of a devoted slave),English Stanley Baker as Achilles ,as tradition as it,as far co-productions are concerned.That said,Wise's Troy is certainly smarter than the 2003 version which had Achilles die during the storming of the city,just because star Brad Pit needed a longer part.The judgment of Pâris,which was passed over in the modern version,is also absent ,but the screenwriters found an interesting counterpart with the statues of the goddesses.Generally the Spartians look nasty,sinister-looking whereas the Troyans are good-looking,loyal,brave and virtuous.Best performance,IMHO,comes from Janette Scott as Cassandra who plays her game well in an underwritten part.Lavish film sets , good battles scenes and a story closer to Homer than the 2003 version .