Attila (1954)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Pietro Francisci

Writers:

Ennio De Concini (writer)
Richard C. Sarafian (writer)

Release Date:

17 May 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Surging Spectacle and Savagery Overwhelms the Screen With Passion and Violence! Cast of Thundering Thousands!

Plot:

Attila, the leader of the barbarian Huns and called by the Romans "The Scourage of God", sweeps onto the Italian peninsula, defeating all of the armies of Rome, until he and his men reach the gates of the city itself.

Plot Keywords:

Barbarian | Emperor | Pope | Rampage | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Anthony Quinn	...	Attila
Sophia Loren	...	Honoria
Henri Vidal	...	Aetius
Claude Laydu	...	Valentiniano Caesar
Irene Papas	...	Grune
Colette Régis	...	Galla Placidia
Ettore Manni	...	Bleda, brother of Attila
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Onegesius, counsellor to Attila (as Eduardo Cianelli)
Georges Bréhat	...	Prisco
Christian Marquand	...	Hun Leader
Anthony Pawley
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Antonio Amendola
Richard Bakalyan
Fabio Bellisario
Fernando Birri
Guido Celano	...	Capo della tribu
Mirella Di Lauri
Cristina Fantoni
Mario Feliciani	...	Ippolito
Piero Giagnoni
Marco Guglielmi	...	Kadis
Carlo Hinterman	...	Capo della tribu
Dickie Jones
Edilio Kim	...	Soldato unno
Renzo Malatesta
Scott Marlowe
Furio Meniconi	...	Capo della tribu
Aurelio Miserendino
Mimmo Palmara	...	Lottatore
Piero Pastore	...	Capo della tribu
Aldo Pini	...	Dominicus
Aldo Sprovieri
Mario Valente
Henri Vidon

Also Known As:

Attila (USA)
Attila fléau de Dieu (France)
Attila the Hun (UK)
Attila, il flagello di Dio (Italy)

Runtime:

100 min | UK:76 min (25 fps) (video release) | USA:83 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (nf) | Argentina:13 | Iceland:16

Company:

Compagnie Cinématographique de France

Trivia:

In 1962, Embassy Pictures reissued this in the USA on a double feature with Le fatiche di Ercole (1958) (English Title: "Hercules" starring Steve Reeves) with the tag line "The Mightiest Men In All The World! The Mightiest Show In All the World!"

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Sophia Loren: Actress Italian Style" (1997)

Hun, they shrunk the story

An early sword-and-sandal epic from Italy casts Anthony Quinn as Attila the Hun, with dialog that sounds as though it came from a kung fu movie. "Attila" is probably most noticeable as an early appearance of Sophia Loren (she plays Honoria, who marries the vicious warrior). Otherwise, it's the sort of movie that belongs on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". At this point, I have serious doubts as to whether its even possible to make a good movie about a historical figure from that long ago. Maybe they just work best as spoofs in the vein of "Life of Brian".

Anyway, this is certainly the sort of flick that should be of interest to bad movie buffs. Not terrible, but that year, Anthony Quinn starred in one of Italy's greatest films: "La strada".