Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (1961)

This fast-paced Italian costumer was made at the height of the Italian peplum era, when they were spewing out fifty or so films a year to the foreign market (it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, etc.). While this may not be one of the best of them (I'm fonder of the more mythological ones myself), it certainly has a more complex plot than most, and real characters who display a range of emotions - as opposed to the usual caricature figures. What I liked most about this film was the surprisingly deep role of Amenophis, who becomes Pharoah after his father dies. At first we see Amenophis as a brave warrior in the desert, leading his troops. He then becomes obsessed with a priest from another tribe who believes in a single sun god. Amenophis' obsession leads to a change of religion and eventual madness for him, which of course leads to an uprising in Egypt. He eventually commits suicide on his own sword, haunted by mocking nightmares and a wife who will not support him.This, though, is only a sub plot, with the gist of the story being taken up with the romance between Purdom and Crain. While it may descend into soap opera level at times, at least no scene is dwelt upon for too long and a lot happens throughout the course of the film. It also looks brilliant, very colourful and with authentic costumes, sets and location work. The music is of a sufficient epic feel, and the acting and dubbing aren't that bad either. While the majority of this film deals with courtroom drama, there are a number of different incidents along the way for variety, including a few hand-to-hand combat scenes, a battle between Purdom and a lion, and a huge battle at the end of the film which becomes a massacre with seemingly hundreds of people being slain in various violent yet non-bloody ways.Edward Purdom is okay as the hero, a better actor than most but with a less imposing physique. I've got a feeling he dubbed himself too. Jeanne Crain provides a lot of glamour, but her character is irritatingly non-decisive and her non-actions result in a lot of people getting killed. Personally, I would have preferred to see her die and Purdom go off with the loyal serving girl (who happens to save his life, without a word of gratitude) instead. Ah well.Horror fans will find this movie chiefly of interest due to the involvement of Vincent Price (who also thankfully dubbed himself) as the chief villain. Vince is in his element here, dressed up in a natty costume with funny eyebrows and doing all manner of wicked deeds - especially at the end. However, Price is less hammy than usual (I guess the nature of the film constrained his acting, as he wasn't at home in Italy), and it's only a minor performance from the actor. He also appeared in an Italian swashbuckler in the same year. QUEEN OF THE NILE doesn't have anything in the way of monsters or gore, yet it's fun to watch and I had a good time with it. I would recommend it to fans of the genre who know something of what they're in for.

Nefertiti Queen of the Nile is not without its redeeming qualities. The sets are richly coloured and reasonably lavish, there are a few gems in the script, my favourite being "the Nile itself cannot wash away my sins", and there are three good performances; Jeanne Crain, who is the epitome of radiance; Edmund Perdum while not a great performance still has a likability to it; and Vincent Price who is diabolical personified. On the other hand, the costumes did have a weird and somewhat cheap feel, I never did get the sense that I was being transported to ancient Egypt, and the music has some nice moments but forgettable within minutes after the film ending. Apart from a couple of gems, the dialogue is embarrassingly banal, the story lacks any kind of lustre and bite and was sort of ridiculous too and of the characters only the three main ones were defined well, everyone else was stock and just there for the sake of it. In conclusion, neither good or bad, fairly entertaining if you are in a good mood but at the end of the day little more than that, for me that is. 5/10 Bethany Cox

This is an unpretentious Italian Historical Epic film based on the figure of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti. The story is acceptable -don't look for historical accuracy- and deals with the romance of the queen to be with a poor sculptor and the dilemma she has to face when forced to choose between her love or duty. Locations, settings, colour and gowns are acceptable too.Italians were fully dedicated to this kind of "B" epic productions in the early 60's and they often hired well known American or British performers -usually after their best years- in order to raise the level of these films and make them more suitable for international markets (Orson Welles, Broderick Crawford, Victor Mature and Basil Rathbone were among them).Jeanne Crain was always a just correct actress, but she looks beautiful here as Nefertiti and you prefer to feast your eyes on her than to analyze her performance. Vincent Price -just before his deservedly successful association with Roger Corman in Poe's based horror stories- plays without effort a villainous high priest. The love interest of the queen is Edmund Purdom in his usual dull and wooden acting; I can't recall another actor that was given so many chances to reach stardom with -if not great- rather expensive products and failed ("The Egyptian", "The Prodigal", "The King's Thief" or later "The Yellow Rolls Royce"). He ended up in "B" European films and no more than that.All in all, this is a movie to see if you like historical Epics but it surely won't make history in the genre.

Mickael Curtiz did in 1954 an overlooked underrated adaptation of Mika Waltari's mammoth novel "the Egyptian".It already dealt with a monotheism close to Christianity which we find again here.The star was also Edmund Purdom but with a more celebrated supporting cast (Victor Mature,Jean Simmons,Gene Tierney).The slaughter of the new faith followers was much more impressive in "the Egyptian"and its screenplay more complex with a lot of subplots .Here it treads a rather tenuous line:Nefertiti -before she was called so- was in love with a sculptor (the one who made the famous bust ?)but alas her ambitious father,a priest, is busy making other plans for her.So she will go down in history ,but what price glory?It's fairly entertaining,but I would rather recommend Curtiz's work which was ,before "ten commandments" and " land of the pharaohs" the renaissance of the Egyptian sword and sandal.