I went to see this film in New York (I lived in Boston) with a group of Jabotinsky followers. We were disappointed that the whole point of Jabo's novel, "Prelude to Delilah," was lost by Cecil B. DeMille. The point Jabo was making was "You must have iron and you must have a king." That translates into a Jewish state now, without British troops (the Philistines). When the movie was done, we booed.At the time we saw the movie, the State of Israel had already been declared and the British had left. Jews could now sail into Israel without British hindrance, but years of demonstrating for a Jewish state (within the full borders of the League of Nations mandate) left us dissatisfied with the tiny sliver that emerged in 1948.So when we assembled in Times Square to see what Hollywood had done to our dream, De Mille's treatment was a huge disappointment.

"Samson and Delilah", the precursor of producer-director Cecil B. DeMille's tour de force, "The Ten Commandments", is truly a beautiful, entertaining, and impeccable film; it reenacts a famous biblical story of love, hate, betrayal, remorse, faith, vengeance, and self-sacrifice: the story of Samson and Delilah. Victor Mature's characterization of Samson is superb; he adds human quality and depth to the challenging role. Hedy Lamarr is exquisite and absolutely convincing as Delilah since she has Minoan-like looks (fair skin, dark wavy hair, fine features, and a slim figure) and first-rate acting expertise. George Sanders also crafts a fine performance as the sophisticated, easygoing Saran. A young Angela Lansbury gives a gracefully splendid performance as Delilah's older sister, Semadar. Henry Wilcoxon, Olive Deering, Fay Holden, Julia Faye, Russ Tamblyn, William Farnum, Laura Elliot (actress Kasey Rogers in a minor role), and countless others are also remarkably good in supporting roles.Victor Young's score is one of the best film scores (along with Elmer Bernstein's for "The Ten Commandments") in the entire history of motion pictures. It's engrossing, vivid, and descriptive of the film's characters, themes, and emotions. The Academy Award-winning art direction, set decoration, and costumes also add special value to this film. DeMille's sensational directing style, which always perfects the beneficial cinematic elements of action, romance, disaster, and religion, is prominently and effectively displayed in this film.Cecil B. DeMille was, undoubtedly, the master of the biblical epic.

The acclaimed Cecil B. DeMille had to be one of the corniest directors who ever lived. Here is his very colorful biblical semi-epic, SAMSON AND DELILAH, a flawed film but with occasionally powerful moments, starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as the two title leads. Basing its story on the Bible's Book Of Judges, Samson is a rugged and self-absorbed 'Danite' whose people are dominated by the Philistines. Yet he wishes to marry the Philistine Semadar (Angela Lansbury), the older sister of the stealthy Delilah, who loves Samson and wants him for herself. Samson harbors a faith in what Philistines call "his invisible god", who Samson believes has given him the gift of super-human strength through his long hair. The Philistines consider the unbeatable Samson to be a lingering thorn in their sides, so once Delilah is spurned, she sets her price to seduce Samson and learn the secret of his brute power, and render him helpless. But her undying love for him is something that will return to haunt her.We should consider that this film was made in 1949 and it certainly seems antiquated now, and even in comparison to other biblical movies done as early as ten years after. For one thing, it begs to be shot in Widescreen, but this was not the norm in its day. It's perhaps a bit too long, can be monotonous at times, and is better in its second half than its first. But the best moments are truly exciting, such as Samson's killing of a lion with his bare hands (still looks pretty good today, quickly edited to limit its shortcomings), Samson single-handedly fighting an entire army of Philistines armed only with the jawbone of an ass, and the satisfying grand finale where Samson mightily brings down the Temple of Dagon. Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr surely look just right for their roles, and I don't think Mature's performance is bad in the film (though his character seems rather selfish and unagreeable and thus not as heroic as he should be). George Sanders gets a lot of praise for his understated playing of The Saran of Gaza, but it's a bit too laid back under these conditions for me. **1/2 out of ****

This is the film DeMille was making when Norma Desmond visited the Paramount sound stage in 'Sunset Blvd'. That little reference was enough to lure me into watching Samson and Delilah.I've always thought Lamarr was the most beautiful woman in films, (though she looked pretty ordinary in 'Ecstasy', before MGM got its hands on her), but she was wooden, with an annoying accent, which somewhat cancelled out the magnetism of her beauty. But in this film she's animated and alluring and believable as Delilah, the wicked seductress, who late in the film finds her heartless self in love. In love with Victor, who is perfectly cast as the barrel-chested strongman, Samson. Technicolor biblical extravaganzas do not require the acting skills of Mr and Mrs Olivier, and both leads were up to the task of delivering their lines and hitting their marks with precision. Hedy was 35 during production and physically in her prime, wearing gorgeous figure revealing costumes that not one woman in a thousand could wear, and that includes Lana Turner, even more scantily clad in that colossal biblical bore, The Prodigal.The Victor and the Lion scene looked like the real thing to me. I kept a close eye on that lion and not once did it look like a stuffed rug. My compliments to the stuntman and the well-trained Oscar-worthy lion.As for the "ridiculous" dialogue, I heard none. DeMille's narrative at the film's beginning states the theme - man's yearning for freedom - something the 1949 audience, 4 years after the end of WW2, responded to. Also, the spiritual message came through without bombast, and when Victor talked to or about his God, he was believable and moving. And I was mesmerized by the seduction scene in the desert tent - walls of colored silks, satins, ala Valentino - and the to/fro conversation as they moved about the tent. Yes, Delilah lured her man with words. I've always wondered about the biblical account where Delilah tried and failed multiple times to get Samson to reveal the secret of his strength. Didn't he know what she was up to? How could he be so dumb? Well, this scene, expertly written, shows us how she did it, and No, it wasn't because Samson was a knucklehead.The temple destruction scene is powerful because of DeMille's skill in conception and editing, allowing the scene to build slowly, as ever so gradually cracks appear in the columns. What a triumphant, emotionally satisfying ending.George Sanders, always a treat to watch, is given witty, pithy dialogue by the script writers which, combined with his customary subtlety, showed that he understood Delilah's character. He's an older, wiser man waiting patiently for his Scarlett to grow up and know herself. The writers give Lamarr, too, ample opportunities to show the twists and turns in her character development. All in all, this is a terrific popcorn movie for a rainy Sunday afternoon.