Helen of Troy | |
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Original film poster
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Directed by | Robert Wise |
Written by | Hugh Gray N. Richard Nash John Twist |
Starring |
Rossana Podestà Jacques Sernas Sir Cedric Hardwicke Stanley Baker Niall MacGinnis |
Narrated by | Jack Sernas |
Music by | Max Steiner |
Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
Edited by | Thomas Reilly |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
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January 26, 1956 (USA) |
Running time
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118 min. (US version) |
Country |
USA Italy France |
Language | English |
Budget | $6 million |
Box office | $3.2 million (US) 2,397,769 admissions (France) |
Helen of Troy is a 1956 Warner Bros. WarnerColor epic film in CinemaScope, based on Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. It was directed by Robert Wise, from a screenplay by Hugh Gray and John Twist, adapted by Hugh Gray and N. Richard Nash. The music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr.
The film stars Rossana Podestà, Stanley Baker, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Jacques Sernas, with Niall MacGinnis, Maxwell Reed, Nora Swinburne, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Harry Andrews, Janette Scott, Ronald Lewis, Eduardo Ciannelli, Esmond Knight and a young Brigitte Bardot as Andraste, Helen's handmaiden, her first film production shot outside of France.
The film retells the story of the Trojan War in In 1100 B.C., albeit with some major changes from the Iliad's storyline: Paris of Troy (Jacques Sernas) sails to Sparta to secure a peace treaty between the two powerful city-states. His ship is forced to return to Troy in a storm after he has been swept overboard on the shore of Sparta. Paris is found by Helen, Queen of Sparta (Rossana Podestà), with whom he falls in love. He goes to the palace where he finds Helen's husband, King Menelaus (Niall MacGinnis), Agamemnon (Robert Douglas), Odysseus (Torin Thatcher), Achilles (Stanley Baker) and many other Greek kings debating whether to go to war with Troy. Menelaus, who is denied by Helen, sees that his wife and Paris are in love and, pretending friendship, plots Paris' death.