History can play cruel tricks on old films, and that includes even the most recent history. Current tragic events in the Middle East provide one such example by giving an unexpectedly dark dimension to Samson and Delilah, the 1949 biblical epic directed by Cecil B. DeMille, a film that would otherwise be enjoyed as an innocent piece of classic Hollywood fluff.
The film is based on the Book of Judges and partially on Samson the Nazarite, a 1930 novel by Zionist leader Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky. The plot takes place around 1000 BC when the Israelite tribe of Dan was subjugated by various Philistine cities and monarchs, including the Saran of Gaza (played by George Sanders). The most famous of all Danites is Samson (played by Victor Mature), a tall and muscular man with extraordinary strength that allows him to kill lions with his bare hands. Although he defies the Philistines, he wins the heart of Semadar (played by Angela Lansbury), the beautiful daughter of a rich Philistine merchant, Tubal (played by William Farnum). Their wedding party, however, leads to a bet against the Philistines that Samson would lose, ultimately resulting in a scuffle in which both Semadar and Tubal die.
Semadar’s younger sister, Delilah (played by Hedy Lamarr), swears revenge and, while Samson evades the Philistines’ attempts to capture him and defeats entire armies due to his strength, she devises her own plan to bring him down. She uses her extraordinary beauty to seduce him and make him reveal the secret of his strength. It is his hair, and Delilah takes the opportunity to cut it, thus allowing the Philistines to finally capture him. Samson is blinded and forced to work as a slave before he is brought to the temple of Dagon to be whipped for the delight of the Philistines. However, Samson’s hair has grown in the meantime, and with it, his strength returns, allowing him the opportunity for a final defiant act against his tormentors.
Cecil B. DeMille is known as one of the founders of Hollywood. His long and fruitful career included dabbling in many genres, but what ultimately became his speciality were biblical epics. They allowed for a spectacular depiction of the ancient world and, more importantly, decadence and scantily clad women, all under the guise of being true to the Bible and preaching conservative moral values. The story of Samson, a strong and powerful man who succumbs to lust and pays a heavy price for his sin before redeeming himself through a selfless patriotic act, was quite fitting for this formula.
DeMille originally wanted to make it in 1935, but he spent almost a decade and a half searching for the proper script and, more importantly, the right actors for two of its iconic characters. This long pause actually benefited the film, as it allowed DeMille and Paramount Pictures to not only find the right cast but also to collect the financial and technical resources for a spectacle of proper scope.
The most important addition to Samson and Delilah in comparison with previous biblical epics is colour. DeMille was already using Technicolor in his films, and here it serves a purpose, not only bringing back the old biblical world but also making it more realistic, even in scenes of violence that, due to blood, look rather graphic by 1940s Hollywood standards. Another important aspect is eroticism, which DeMille recognised long ago as an essential part of the formula. Delilah is dressed in rather skimpy costumes and is played by Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian actress who had become something of an icon by having nude scenes and simulating orgasm in the famous early sound drama Ecstasy a decade and a half earlier. Lamarr, here, in accordance with strict censorship standards of the MPAA Production Code, keeps her clothes on but oozes sensuality and shows an incredible ability for sexual manipulation that allows her character to bring down such a strong and powerful man like Samson.
DeMille was less fortunate in the case of Samson. While Victor Mature, an actor known for his strong physique, looks the part, his acting abilities here leave something to be desired. Mature, who never considered himself a proper actor, could deliver strong performances under the right direction, as in Kiss of Death a few years earlier, but here he is limited by overly theatrical dialogue and a lack of proper chemistry with Lamarr. Veteran character actor George Sanders leaves a much better impression as an unusually intelligent villain, and even young Angela Lansbury is good in the thankless role of the disposable “good” sister.
Samson and Delilah benefits greatly from the cinematography by George Barnes and the music by Victor Young, which sounds unusually modern compared to most soundtracks of 1940s Hollywood. The incredibly high budget is quite visible on the screen, and although the scene when Samson fights the lion involves the use of Mature’s stunt double, which is quite obvious to more perceptive viewers, the finale that involves the destruction of the temple represents classic Hollywood special effects at their best.
Samson and Delilah, a production that was partially documented as a “meta” segment of Sunset Boulevard, has, unsurprisingly, become a massive hit and broken many box office records of its time, although DeMille would surpass its reputation with The Ten Commandments, another grand biblical epic a few years later. Its success in the 1950s spawned ambitious productions of “larger-than-life” historical epics, and in Italy, a whole new genre of “sword and sandals” films featuring muscular protagonists with physiques like Mature’s Samson.
Today, it can be viewed as a very good film, but mentioning locations like “Gaza” and the incredibly destructive finale might remind viewers that humanity in the past three thousand years hasn’t changed as much as most of us would hope.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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