As a horror fan, I have been known to appreciate the occasional biblical epic, many a yarn from 'the good book' delivering as much sex, violence and general chaos as your average scary movie. This made-for-TV version of the oft-told tale Samson and Delilah has been watered down a bit for the medium, but there is still plenty to enjoy here, even if some of it is for the unintentional laughs.Dancer turned actor Antony Hamilton may have batted for the other side in real life, but he is convincingly macho here as the Hebrew beefcake with the flowing locks who stupidly puts his trust in promiscuous Philistine Delilah (sultry brunette Belinda Bauer). The supporting cast is also pretty damn good, with Max von Sydow as nasty Philistine governor Sidka, a young(ish) Daniel Stern as Samson's best bud Micah, and Cecil B. DeMille's Samson, Victor Mature, in a small role as the hero's father.As usual with this type of film, treachery and deceit abounds, the innocent tend to wind up dead, there are bloody battles galore, and a unquestionable faith in God helps in defeating the bad guys. Considering its humble origins (this is no massive Hollywood extravaganza by any means) the production values aren't too shabby, with decent sets and costumery; some cheap props, however, lead to some of that aforementioned hilarity, funniest bits being Samson's fight with a lion-skin rug and his smiting of an army with the rubber jaw-bone of an ass.

A couple of Australians, Anthony Hamilton and Belinda Bauer, play the title roles in this television version of Samson And Delilah. But this film is mostly known for hauling Victor Mature out of retirement to play the small role of Samson's father. During the film Mature is kept very clothed with flowing robes of the desert and I suspect that 71 Mature did not have quite the physique that he had when he was Samson back in the day with Cecil B. DeMille.In fact even with the way DeMille's spectacles are thought of today by more sophisticated audiences this Samson And Delilah comes off as a second company road show product. Whatever else DeMille did, he put style and sex into his film even with the Victorian era dialog that also went into them. Both the slaying of the Philistines with the ass's jawbone and the climatic pulling down of Dagon's temple were done so much better by Cecil. And no other film ever had the gaudy color cinematography than the DeMille Samson And Delilah.I also suppose this film really does belong on the big screen because of its subject matter. That's where I saw the DeMille version when Paramount re-released it when I was a lad.Belinda Bauer is a beautiful Delilah, but there was only one Hedy Lamarr.Veterans of some biblical films Max Von Sydow and Jose Ferrer contribute what they can, but it isn't enough.However after finally getting to see this it was nice to see Victor Mature in both his farewell performance and in the film in which he made the legendary quote that the reason he did the film was that "for the money they were paying me, I'd have put on a dress and played Samson's mother". Fortunately for Vic the producers got another big screen veteran Maria Schell to be Samson's mother.As for Mature he walks through the scenes like a man in a hurry to get back to his retirement and a ranch he owned in those years. The paycheck must have cleared. Mature as he grew older took himself less and less seriously, an interesting phenomenon in a town loaded with king size egos.This Samson And Delilah is all right, but you'll never see anything like what Cecil B. DeMille did with that story.

Samson came after Moses and he was commanded by God to deliver his people from slavery. As I watched this film I saw when Samson was speaking to Sidka and Delilah at different times and in all those times.He never once mentioned any of God's Ten Commandments most especially God's 1st and 2nd Commandments.At Samson's wedding he was told by Sidka he was going to join the garrison and even though he refused to serve them he still didn't mention God the way he should have.If I myself was Samson and in his position,I would've reflected on several things.I would have told Sidka there is only one God-The one who gave Moses The Ten Commandments,the one who parted the red sea,the one drowned over 600 of the Pharaohs chariots in the water after the Hebrews made it safely while the red sea was parted.I would have taken great joy in telling Sidka and Delilah there is only one God and he made it clear in his 1st Commandment.More so when God punished the Hebrews for worshiping a golden calf calling it a god of gold.I would have stood in front of everyone and told all of them what proof do you people need here about God.If God ever gave me the kind of strength that he gave Samson along with a sacred vow to God never to reveal it,I would have never revealed it to Delilah or anyone for that matter.Because he gave into Delilah he lost his strength as well as his eye sight and all the humility with it,until God forgave him and restored his strength.I am not surprised at this biblical film or any others,because when it comes to God's Ten Commandments they are never mentioned for what they actually stand for.

What a truly atrocious movie! Even the 1950s shtick biblical epics (Samson with Victor Mature, Solomon with Yul Brunner) failed to observe the exact biblical accounts too, but that didn't give the producers the permission to come up with tacky, poor quality movies as a result. Samson And Delilah should be seen as an exercise in how to make the worst B-movie in human history and hope that it sells. I'd shudder to think which TV network would've aired this nonsense. Firstly, the music comes across as a soundtrack made for some low-grade 1940s movie, which was resurrected and dusted off for this film. Wide shots of the Nevada desert or Grand Canyon overlay a crummy narration about the Israelites and Phillistines living in Gaza. Since when did Gaza look like Arizona!? The camera-work is poor quality. The actors are accomplished and therefore deliver a passable performance, but are severely limited by the quality of the whole product. When Samson fights the lion, shots of a real lion and close-ups with a stuffed prop with lipstick red lips are inter cut. Give me a break! When Samson fights Sidqa's forces with the ass's jawbone, he's supposed to slaughter a thousand men, but in this version he dispatches about fifty while Von Sydow and his sidekick watch stiffly in the hammiest fight scene in movie history. If I could vote 0/10 I would. Truly appalling.