Gianna Maria Canale and Rik Battaglia are about to kiss in THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS (1958)
Next week, I'll write about this film and the missing kissing scenes, certainly this one. From the looks of it, the two were supposed to kiss but it was cut in all the versions that I have in my collection. The English full screen version fades to black but the audio is still present. The black screen remains for 14 seconds with swirling romantic music. What happened to this kissing scene?
THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS is a pretty good Peplum. Gianna is always a treat. Indeed, it is one of the few good movies about the Crusades.
ReplyDeleteKING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS (1954) has a good caste, but does not take itself sufficiently seriously.
DeMille's THE CRUSADES (1935) has plenty of lavish spectacle but strays way too far from historical reality. It is the least successful of Cecil's historical epics. His SIGN OF THE CROSS and CLEOPATRA are much better.
Ridley Scott's THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (2005) is too long and somewhat too politically correct in my view. The director's cut" runs to 194 minutes!
The only thing I like about the extended version of "The Kingdom of Heaven" is that we get a properly fleshed out backstory to Balian, and he's given a much deeper reason for leaving with the crusaders.
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