Ulysses (1954)

for me, "Ulysses" is a slide of childhood. and this does the things complicated and easy. easy because I can not imagine an alternative actor in the role of Ulysses except Kirk Douglas. because , for my inner child, Silvana Mangano is the perfect Penelope and Franco Interlenghi the right Telemach. the scene of the meet with Polyphem , the revenge against suitors, the song of mermaids and the courage are clothes for the images of Homer. so, I could not say if it is a decent film or a bad one. only , I admit, it is a slice from my childhood. so, unique.

A lyrical and beguiling adventure film from the early-'50s. Kirk Douglas looks the part as Ulisse, the intrepid, shrewd ancient Greek hero. In appearance he is bearded, with curly fair hair and with fiery green-blue eyes. His role complements his other flair performances, vis a vis 20000 Leagues under the Sea [1954], Paths of Glory [1957] and The Light at the Edge of the World [1971]. Filmed and produced in Italy the classical scenes with the Cyclops and the Sirens are so powerful and sensual: the psychological depths, super-bright colours and metaphysical undercurrent are profound. Excerpts from this film are featured in Cinema Paradiso. Actor and Yorkshireman, Brian Glover -a man of Barnsley, remarked some years ago how much he admired this film. In some ways Ulisse is a subtler depiction of the classical world than the alien, sentimental often televised Spartacus [1960].

Kirk Douglas entered the sand and sandal genre six years before his acclaimed Spartacus with this version of Ulysses and his long voyage home from the wars of Troy. If you'll remember your classical history, and the recent movie Troy, Ulysses was the guy who finally broke the siege at Troy with that wooden horse gambit. But as the Greeks ran amuck in Troy, behaving very much like barbarians, Cassandra the high priestess of Poseidon, called on the big guy to do his very worst to Ulysses. Of course in the film Poseidon is called by his Roman name of Neptune.As Ulysses, Kirk Douglas invests the part with his own combination of aggressiveness and charm. It ain't exactly the classics, but realize that the film was aimed at a juvenile market and it works out rather well. Even the grownups will get a good hearty laugh at how the clever Ulysses outwits the Cyclops.Silvana Mangano does very well as the long suffering Penelope, the wife of Ulysses who's needs just aren't being met and as Circe the witch whose profession kind of scares the guys away. Anthony Quinn has a small role as one of Penelope's suitors for the hand of the presumed widow. Why he took such a small part in a film I'm not quite sure, but this would be the first of three films he did with Kirk Douglas. The next one, Lust for Life would gain Quinn a second Oscar.Ulysses is not one of Kirk Douglas's greatest roles, but the film still holds up well today and kids and grownups will appreciate it.

As far as entertainment goes, this movie would rate an OK if there's nothing else better to watch on TV on a week night. But for mythology buffs like me, it would rate as so-so if not below average. It runs too short a time to portray Ulysses as the clever & resourceful man that he is supposed to be, and the role of the gods in his journeys, especially Athena his patron goddess is virtually non-existent. Also, Penelope (Silvana Mangano)should have been portrayed as a woman of strong character, steadfast in her belief that Ulysses might yet return & resolute in her refusal to give in to pressure by the suitors to choose a husband among them, not as a drama queen complete w/hysterics & crying. Telemachus is merely a babbling wimp in this movie & Nausicaa unfortunately depicted as a silly air-headed brat given to childish whims & fantasies. It's pretty obvious that whoever wrote the script based the dialogue on a comics or cartoon adaptation of Homer's Odyssey without actually having read the original text.