The Last Days of Pompeii

1935 "VESUVIUS...COULD NOT DESTROY THIER LOVE..!"
6.4| 1h36m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 18 October 1935 Released
Producted By: RKO Radio Pictures
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

In this action-filled spectacle set in ancient Pompeii, a blacksmith becomes a Roman gladiator, though his rise to wealth and power is jeopardized by his son's Christianity and the eruption of Vesuvius.

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Reviews

VividSimon Simply Perfect
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
JLRMovieReviews Blacksmith Marcus (Preston Foster) is living in the days of Pompeii with his wife and baby boy. They are just getting by, enough to be reasonably happy. By fortuitous chance, he saves the life of a gentleman of the hierarchy who gives him a gold coin. To spend it on a whim, he and wife go to the market, but there an accident takes the life of his wife. He tried to make money as a gladiator to pay a doctor to come to her aid, but he was too late. He and his son now live an existence without much except for each other. Fast forward. The boy is now a young man, who empathizes for the poor, the helpless, those who are thrown in the stadium for the gladiators' amusement and target. But life has hardened Marcus. Someday he will be a gladiator with no feelings for those who can't help themselves. Through these feelings and subsequent events, Marcus and son are pitted against each other. In the first few minutes of this film, I was very wary of this. Actor Preston Foster, of whom I was accustomed to seeing in westerns and b-pictures, is now is an historical movie about Rome! But as those opening events occurred, I began to put myself in his place, and we the viewer and drawn into the Roman days of kill or be killed. Preston Foster was good as Marcus, but Basil Rathbone stole all the scenes he was in as Pontius Pilate, and Alan Hale and Louis Calhern give good support. This is a grade-A production that showcases the bloodthirsty days of Pompeii, culminating in special effects and a very underplayed ending. Mount Vesuvius explodes and the quiet aftermath with consequences and affirmation. "The Last Days of Pompeii" is a good film, mirroring those days told in books that linger in the mind of those longing for knowledge and what came before….
romanorum1 Marcus the Blacksmith (Preston Foster) is a content Roman: He has a lovely wife (Gloria Shea) and infant son. One day a reckless chariot runs down his small family and changes his life for good, as Marcus lacked the funds for immediate medical attention. But one does wonder where the Roman "police" were as there was an effective court/justice system. Anyway, the embittered Marcus decides that making money has become all-important (character change number one). As he has good size and quickness, he becomes a gladiator and earns much money. Upon discovering that one of his dead opponents left a young son, now an orphan (Flavius = David Holt), Marcus decides to adopt the handsome and helpless lad. Now adoption was not unusual in ancient Rome (but another character change for Marcus). Later, after being wounded in gladiatorial combat, Marcus can no longer compete in the arena. He becomes a trader in slaves and horses and becomes wealthy. Meanwhile an old woman, an oracle, tells him to go to Judaea to meet the greatest man in the world. Believing in a special prophesy, Marcus takes his young son to the Levant where he catches glimpses of Christ's Crucifixion. Marcus, though, meets with the local procurator, Pontius Pilate (Basil Rathbone), whom he believes is the great man (even though Christ had cured the ailing Flavius). When he is back at Pompeii, an older Marcus becomes the administrator of the arena spectacles. But by now his grown up son (Flavius = John Wood) has heeded the Christian message. Flavius aids runaway slaves to gain their freedom in far away locales, like Britain. A complication arises when the Romans conquer the island. Eventually Flavius is caught, imprisoned, and sent into the arena for his "crime." The helpless Marcus is unable to free his son. During one of the arena spectacles, Mt. Vesuvius erupts, sending the population into a general panic. It is up to Marcus to make a right decision (another character change) and redeem himself.Preston Foster's performance is adequate. Basil Rathbone, a fine actor, performs the role of Pontius Pilate nicely, especially the procurator's quandary. Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent of the trumped-up charges, but was afraid of the people's reaction. He washed his hands in front of the mob (who, by the way, demanded that the criminal Barabbas be freed instead). Despite the bad decision, Pilate's philosophical and sensitive treatment is closer to reality than realized. The movie has a few flaws, especially the dating problem. My own research places Christ's Crucifixion on 5 April 33 AD (experts overwhelmingly place the year between 30 and 34 AD). Now it is an historical fact that the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum occurred on 24 August 79 AD, or 46 years later. But the movie treats these two events as if they occurred just a few years apart from each other! Furthermore Pontius Pilate died around 38 AD, long before the eruption. There is also a difficulty with some of the Roman costume designs of Aline Bernstein. Furthermore the Romans never wore those globe-style caps although the Montefortino type of helmet did have a conical shape (like the Gallic model) but with a raised central node. Also Gaius Tanno's name is pronounced like GUY-USS, not GAY-US; Fabius is FAB-I-USS, not FAY-BIUS. Nevertheless, the historical inaccuracies do not detract from the entertainment value of the film. For the 1930s period the sets are good-looking, and the script is acceptable. Also, the special effects of Harry Redmond and Vernon L. Walker of the destruction of Pompeii are fine (and expensive) for 1935. The picture is accurate in showing that defeated gladiators did not always die in the arena (as their upkeep and training cost much money). Finally it was most interesting to see western celebrity Yakima Canutt's name as one of the stunt-men.
froberts73 I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but it gave a new meaning to the word 'talkie'. Of course, you have to set the plot leading up to the biggie when the mountain blew its top and blew li'l Pompei off the map.The volcanic blow-up looked like one of those elementary school projects. You know, a piece of cardboard, all the necessary ingredients, then light 'er up.I always list "King Kong" as my favorite movie - the original not the schlock versions that came later. The newer ones, of course, had the advantage of modern special effects, but they lacked the heart of the original.The KK team was responsible for the Pompeii pic and, I guess, I expected more. The end of picture excitement was worth the wait - sort-of, but falling buildings and the human inhabitants never seemed to make actual contact.The story, of course, was historically inaccurate but, so what? Chalk that up to literary license.The acting was uniformly respectable and, by the way, I was proud of the discreet way the performers traipsed around in those early versions of male miniskirts without revealing the non-revealable.I don't mean to sound too negative. Truth to tell I was enraptured by the story. Preston Foster was quite good - well - they all were.Love the creative team that worked on this. It was a helluva lot better than the dismal "Son Of Kong," but did not measure up to the real "King." Excuse me. That would be Jesus, not the giant ape.
retlawyen I first saw this movie years ago as a child and it had quite an impact on me. I loved the acting. Preston Foster as the disillusioned blacksmith, David Holt, as the sweetest little boy one could possibly imagine, and John Wood as the older Flavius, so idealistically touched by his experience at the hands of Jesus. But I must reserve the greatest praise for Basil Rathbone. His portrayal of Pontius Pilate, so fine, so sure, is unparalleled. His nuances of effect and strength of personality are superbly matched to this role. You can almost taste the turmoil roiling within him as you watch the splendid emotional battle waged on his wonderfully expressive face. Walt Disney once said, "First you begin with a story." It is true. The story here is classic. A man searching the world for the key he holds within his own heart. Preston Foster, so disillusioned in his flight from poverty, that he fails to see the significance of events around him, Flavius, as the boy grown to manhood touched by a higher calling and Basil Rathbone as Pontius Pilate, probably the second most reviled figure living at that time. Wonderful, wonderful historical novel, acted brilliantly as only the actors of that time could do.