Valley of the Kings (film)
| Valley of the Kings | |
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Original French film poster
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| Directed by | Robert Pirosh |
| Written by | Robert Pirosh Karl Tunberg C. W. Ceram (book) |
| Starring |
Robert Taylor Eleanor Parker |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,065,000 |
| Box office | $3,305,000 |
Valley of the Kings is a 1954 Eastmancolor adventure film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was written and directed by Robert Pirosh from a screenplay by Robert Pirosh and Karl Tunberg, "suggested by historical data" in the book Gods, Graves and Scholars by C. W. Ceram. The music was by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography by Robert Surtees.
The title of the film refers to the valley on the west bank of the Nile River in Egypt, where the tombs of the Ancient Egyptian kings are located.
The film was based on an original story by Robert Pirosh. It was bought by MGM who were attracted by a project similar to their highly successful adaptation of King Solomon's Mines (1950). They announced it in 1952 with Eleanor Parker attached from the beginning. It was a number of Egyptian themed projects in development in Hollywood at the time, others being The Egyptian and Serpent of the Nil.Sam Zimbalist was meant to produce and Vittoria Gassmann was to co-star with Parker. Filming ended up being postponed a number of months. Gassman dropped out; Howard Keel was named as a possible replacement. Eventually the male lead was given to Robert Taylor, who had successfully teamed with Parker in Above and Beyond. Carlos Thompson played the second male lead.
Charles Schnee was the supervising producer.
MGM bought the rights to the archaeology text Gods, Graves and Scholars for "protection purposes", as it contained a chapter titled "Robbers in the Valley of the Kings", which might have been seen as having influenced the film's script. They paid a reported $25,000.
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