Sign of the Pagan (1954)

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Oscar Brodney (screenplay) and
Barré Lyndon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 December 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

Against the ravaging hordes of ATTILA...stood a warrior's might and a people's faith! Against his ruthless pagan lusts...the power of a woman's love!

Plot:

With the Roman Empire divided, Attila the Hun hopes to conquer. In his way are a brave centurion, a beautiful princess...and Christianity.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Ancient Rome | Historical | Epic | 3 Dimensional

Cast

Jeff Chandler	...	Marcian
Jack Palance	...	Attila
Ludmilla Tchérina	...	Princess Pulcheria (as Ludmilla Tcherina)
Rita Gam	...	Kubra
Jeff Morrow	...	General Paulinus
George Dolenz	...	Emperor Theodosius
Eduard Franz	...	Astrologer
Allison Hayes	...	Ildico
Alexander Scourby	...	Chrysaphius
Howard Petrie	...	Gundahar
Michael Ansara	...	Edecon
Leo Gordon	...	Bleda
Moroni Olsen	...	Pope Leo I
Fred Nurney	...	Chamberlain
Sara Shane	...	Myra

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA 16962, General Audience) | West Germany:12 (f) | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Long Day Closes (1992)

Palance's Presence Makes This a Watchable Epic

"The Sign of the Pagan" is a pretended swords and sandals epic film about Attila the Hun's attack on the remains of a divided Roman empire. The screenplay tries somehow to follow historic facts and show us some events in the Hun King's life that we know about (his merciful attacks on villages while marching against Rome, his meeting with Pope Leo, his contacts with the Romans -he had been a hostage in Rome as a young boy- and his death by the hand of slave girl Ildico).

But in all the movie lacks a sense of greatness and the big spectacle other films of the same genre that were released about the same time achieved ("Quo Vadis" and "Helen of Troy" are clear examples).

The cast is not very accurate either. Jeff Chandler was always a standard actor but no more than that (perhaps his best performance was that of Apache chief Cochise in 1950's western "Broken Arrow"), and he looks wooden and unconvincing as the Roman Centurion that tries to defeat Attila. Ludmilla Tcherina was not much of an actress either and her Princess Pulcheria character is too simple. Rita Gam clearly overacts as Palance's daughter that starts to question his father's ideas about Rome. What makes this film worth a watch is Jack Palance's performance as the Hun chief; he has the proper "physiche du rol", some make up helps him too but he manages to transmit the strength and conviction a warrior leader like Attila was supposed to have.

Too many indoor shooting doesn't help the picture either. I think Douglas Sirk was a fine director but he felt more comfortable in contemporary dramas such as "Written in the Wind".

"The Sign of the Pagan" is just for fans of the genre or to watch a fine performance by Jack Palance as an historical figure. Not much more in my opinion but superior to the Italian try on Attila's whereabouts starring Anthomy Quinn and Sophia Loren released almost at the same time).