Although not a cult movie, Valley of the kings is a nice entertaining movie. For me it has a special flavor as I had left definitely Egypt 3 years before to settle with my parents in Paris.I saw the movie when it was released in Paris in 1954. I enjoyed it. It was the occasion to see those magnificent temples and especially Abu Simbel where is shot one of the main scenes. At that time the Assuan Dam had not provoked the disastrous effects we know today nor obliged to move the temple. The faces of Ramses II were not spoiled by the cuts visible today due to the move in several sections of this splendid masterpiece of art and architecture.It is worth seeing such a movie with a good cast and dream a little to what was the shock in those times for the lucky traveler able to reach them. Imagine what was the shock of Belzoni when he discovered the temple sunk into the sand!

The result is pretty much the same with the exception of Americans Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker (with flaming red hair) in place of Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr (with flaming red hair). Trite clichés dominate the story of the search for proof of the existence of the biblical Joseph (of Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat fame) and proof of the existence of the first pharaoh to worship just one God. Once again, there's the secondary character of the heroine's husband (Carlos Thompson), here an illegal trader of stolen artifacts in cahoots with a sinister Egyptian (Kurt Kasznar).Wind storms, scorpions, fights over the artifacts and the rivalry for the heroine, as well as non-Arabs playing the Egyptians spouting philosophical dialog, are just some of the clichés which make this obvious and extremely predictable. It's alright in its provincial sort of way, giving gullible audiences a good thrill, yet lacking the camp that made Universal's 1940's similar adventures so much fun. Leon Askin, later the cranky German general of TV's "Hogan's Heroes", adds the only humor as a sleazy salesman of antiques. The use of the biblical story of Joseph makes an interesting premise that gives this a nice collusion between biblical history and the science of Archeology.

Eleanor Parker, a wonderful actress, just didn't seem right for this part. You needed someone more gritty, say a Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, or just someone else. Her costume, most reflective of the period, made me think that any minute she would burst out as Deborah Kerr did in "The King and I." Why not? We could get Marnie Nixon singing for Parker here as she did for Kerr in the latter film.At the beginning of the film, she shows co-star Robert Taylor a statue. It looked more like the coveted Oscar she lost 3 times and Taylor never even being nominated for in his lengthy career.This biblical epic is scored by Miklos Rosza, who had such a talent for fine melodic biblical dramas. This film is no exception.A tale of looking to prove the story of Joseph was a correct one from the bible, falls short because the writing is so very obvious. Parker's husband in the film has his own agenda and of course we know what will become of him so that Taylor and Parker can ensue romance.There is a nice sandstorm here; however, "Lawrence of Arabia," it's not.

This movie had everything in it to become the Indiana Jones of the '50's but yet it isn't.The movie its story had potential. The story of the search for holy artifacts supporting that the stories of the bible are true and the biblical Joseph really existed and lived in Egypt, sound fascinating and surely good enough to make a fun adventurous movie around. Yet the movie never becomes are really great and perfectly fun adventurous movie to watch. The story is not imaginative enough and basically there is very little interesting or spectacular happening on the screen. The movie could had really used some more action and better villainous characters, to make the movie more exciting, tense and entertaining to watch.There really isn't much happening in this movie, which seems odd, considering the genre of the movie and its story. The movie makes a redundant and pointless impression because of that. Even though the story sounds like it- this just isn't a fun or adventurous must-see.The movie is a bit clumsy looking at times. Though its production values are good and the actors do their best, the movie just isn't good enough to watch at times. The movie was obviously shot with only one camera, with as a result some silly and ineffective camera positions at times. It especially makes the more fast paced and action sequences look ridicules and ineffective.The movie uses some beautiful locations and is obviously shot really in Egypt itself, for most part. It uplifts the movie and gives it a certain extra sense of feeling of traveling, adventure and mystery. Too bad that the movie doesn't know how to fully exploit and use this feeling and atmosphere. It once again shows why Robert Pirosh wasn't the greatest director around.Considering its potential, it's a disappointing movie that in its core still brings some good entertainment. So not a completely unwatchable movie, even though it probably has more weak than strong points in it.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/