I started watching "The Silver Chalice" without having read any reviews. It did not take long for this highly stylized presentation to annoy me. I think I lasted about 30 minutes.First, it employs minimalist sets which, in themselves, are sometimes beautiful but, when combined with the stylized delivery of dialogue are distracting.The dialogue is stilted and silly. And the actors were obviously directed to deliver it in a somewhat emotionless way. Don't feel too bad for Natalie Wood, who would soon have "Rebel Without a Cause" to counteract the effect of "The Silver Chalice".And Paul Newman, in his film debut, would soon have "Somebody Up There Likes Me". How sad that he passed up "East of Eden" for this drivel.This film is hokey and almost without any merit. I did find Jack Palance's performance (what little I saw) to be realistic enough to enjoy. But he could not provide enough magic to bring this boring film to life.

142 minutes of some of the most bizarre scenes and storyline was asking a bit to much of the viewer. We all know Paul Newman hated this and told everyone so, and I have to say it is justified criticism, and feel the musical score was far too classy for the Movie. However, it is easy to be over-critical , and not give any credits that are due, so I'll start by saying Newman was actually very good at handling some of the worst dialogue ever concocted and was far from the worst in it. Save that for Virginia Mayo who looked as if she had wandered onto the set by mistake. Jack Palance had a ball, giving the most over-the-top acting seen for years,; but at least he kept one awake. Pier Angeli was very pretty, but very wooden; while Lorne Greene seemed in a hurry to get back to the Ponderosa. Had it been cut by at least 30 minutes, and that would have been easy, as many scenes were unnecessary, it would have been a heck of a lot more endurable.

For years all I knew about this turkey was that when it played on TV in the US Paul Newman paid for a full-page ad in the press urging fans not to see it. Boy, did he get it right. They really need a new category for this which can only be described as a Turkey's Turkey. Apparently no American director wanted to film it, even Bruce Humberstone didn't want to be caught dead behind the bullhorn on this one, so they got Victor Saville, a limey who shot several Jessie Mathews vehicles in the early thirties. The ploy, if you can call it that, centers around our old friend the Holy Grail with Paul Newman - in his first At Bat on the big screen, although he had been appearing on television for several years - playing a gifted Greek sculptor who is tapped to fashion a receptacle worthy of containing the Holy Grail. The action moves between Antioch, Jerusalem and Rome or, to put it another way, from Sound Stage #3 to Sound Stage #5 on the Warner lot in Burbank, because all the locations look the same. There's an interesting cast list, mostly wasted talents, including Ian Wolfe, Joseph Wiseman and Lorne Green but Jack Palance walks away with it - and he's welcome to it - as the magician who believes his own hype. I was barely able to sit through it but what do I know.

It truly does stink. Newman was right. I like the black sperms on "Simon the Magicians" clothes. The sets wouldn't even do for an Off-Broadway production. What's the deal with the sky? Always blank blue, no clouds. And the pristine Roman streets, perfectly smooth walls, shadows from three angles,streets that look like swept parking lots? Actors trying hard not to laugh, delivering lines like,"head of mutton"! There is no "silver lining" in this dark cloud of a movie. Forget the, "Well, you gotta put it in context!".This movie was bad on the day it was released, and time has been even less kind. Get really stoned and have pizza delivered, turn down the sound and have a great time!