''Attila'' ( it, Attila, il flagello di Dio; french: Attila fléau de Dieu) is a 1954 Italian-French co-production, directed by

Pietro Francisci Pietro Francisci (9 September 1906 – 1977) was an Italian film director, best remembered for the film ''Hercules'' (1958) which inspired the sword and sandal boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Born in Rome, his career took a distinct turn ...

and produced by

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

and

Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 9 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema ...

for

Lux Film Lux Film was an Italian film distribution (and later production) company founded by Riccardo Gualino in 1934. Gualino was an anti-fascist businessman who had clashed with the regime of Mussolini in 1931 and had been forced into internal exile on ...

. Based on the life of

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

, it stars

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

as Attila and

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

Honoria Justa Grata Honoria, commonly referred to during her lifetime as Honoria, (born ''c.'' 418 – died ''c.'' 455) was the older sister of the Western Roman The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any t ...

, with French leading man,

Henri Vidal Henri Vidal (26 November 1919 – 10 December 1959) was a French film actor. Film career Henri Lucien Raymond VidalSource Les Gens du cinéma/ref> was first noticed after he won the "Apollo of 1939" contest in Paris. He was spotted by Éd ...

, as the Hun's antagonist,

Flavius Aetius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

Irene Papas Irene Papas or Irene Pappas ( el, Ειρήνη Παππά, Eiríni Pappá, ; born Eirini Lelekou ( el, Ειρήνη Λελέκου, Eiríni Lelékou, link=no); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred ...

, in the second of three contract pictures for Lux Film, plays one of Attila's wives, Grune.

Ettore Manni Ettore Manni (6 May 1927 – 27 July 1979) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1979. Life and career Born in Rome, Manni debuted as an actor in 1952, when in spite of his acting inexperience he wa ...

Christian Marquand Christian Marquand (15 March 1927 – 22 November 2000) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director. Born in Marseille, he was born to a Spanish father and an Arab mother, and his sister was film director Nadine Trintignant. He was often cas ...

, and

Claude Laydu Claude Laydu (; 10 March 1927 – 29 July 2011) was a Belgian-born Swiss actor on stage and in films. He was renowned for his performance in his film debut in the role of the young priest in Robert Bresson's ''Diary of a Country Priest'' (1951), ...

are among the supporting cast of mostly French and Italian actors. American

Scott Marlowe Scott Gregory Marlowe (born Ronald Richard DeLeo; June 24, 1932 – January 6, 2001)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. Social Security Administration was an American actor who had a starring role in the 1957 teen exploitation film ''T ...

(1932–2001) made his screen debut in the film. Along with ''

The Pride and the Passion ''The Pride and the Passion'' is a 1957 Napoleonic-era war film in Technicolor and VistaVision from United Artists, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren. The film co-stars Theodore Bi ...

'' and ''

Houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. How ...

'', it was one of Loren's biggest box-office successes during the 1950s. Filmed immediately following the breakthrough Italo-American co-production, ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'' (

/ Ponti-DeLaurentiis /

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, 1954), ''Attila, Scourge of God'' represented an independent attempt by the same Italian producers to make a film with an American lead actor in hopes of licensing it to an American studio for distribution on more lucrative terms. It failed to secure this goal for a variety of reasons unforeseen at the outset. However, three and a half years later (retitled, ''Attila'') it proved to be the vehicle which launched the career of Joe Levine --

Joseph E. Levine Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...

presents—as a producer and distributor of international films, many of them Italian in origin. While never to be a financially or critically acclaimed motion picture, ''Attila'' ultimately achieved the status of a significant product in the evolution of world film markets.

Plot

The story is set in 450-52 A.D. The

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

, a horde of barbarians from the distant plains of Asia, move toward the rich western lands of

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

, led by a savage chief, Attila.

, a Roman general, is the only person who knows Attila since he was a hostage with the Huns for years. Aetius and his companion Prisco carry a message from the Roman emperor

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vying ...

to the Hun's king Rua. After reaching their palace, Aetius learns that the king has died, and that two brothers

Bleda Bleda () was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun. As nephews to Rugila, Attila and his elder brother Bleda succeeded him to the throne. Bleda's reign lasted for eleven years until his death. While it has been speculated by Jordanes th ...

and Attila are now ruling the Hun kingdom. Bleda favours peace and tolerance, but Attila is at odds with him, and tensions develop. Yet Aetius knows to make an alliance between the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

and the Huns. Aetius returns to the Imperial court at

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

, where the childish emperor Valentinian III is busy with Roman parties in his palace and enjoying himself, while ignoring the fact that the Empire is beginning to fall apart. Because of this, his mother

Galla Placidia Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was List of Visigothi ...

is ruling the Empire.

, daughter of Galla Placidia and sister of Valentinian, hopes to get rid of them, but needs help to do so. She asks Aetius to join her in a coup d'état, but he has vowed an oath to serve the Empire and refuses, even if he's arrested and stripped of his military rank by Valantinian and Galla Placidia due to his alliance to the Huns. The two brothers battle, Attila wins by ordering his bodyguard to fire

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

s at Bleda and his bodyguard during the hunt, and declares himself the sole leader of the Huns, riling them to support his aspirations of conquering the Roman Empire. Flavius Aetius returns to Ravenna, and finds Emperior Valentinian enraged by imagined attempts against his rule. Galla Placidia realizes that the Empire is now on the edge of destruction and gives Aetius full military power in an effort to protect her son. As a Roman field army marches to block Attila's path, Honoria slips away from the Imperial court and visits the Hun in his camp. The battle is eventually joined with a frontal attack on the Roman encampment by Hunnic cavalry. This first move is a deception, designed to draw the legions out of their fortified position. Aetius decides to pursue the retreating Huns, anyway. His cavalry charges and his foot soldiers follow them into the fray. After a clash of arms on the open plains, the fighting moves into the Hun camp. Here Honoria is found hiding in a nomad cart and killed. But Aetius is soon killed by an arrow through the neck and the Romans lose their will to fight. They flee the field and the Huns follow to burn their encampment. As night falls, Attila takes his young son, Bleda, to view the carnage strewn battlefield. There, a badly wounded Roman archer manages to fire a last shot. The arrow misses Attila, but kills Bleda. This emotionally traumatizes the Hun. He appears to lose his passion for conquest and plunder. On the way toward Rome, a sullen Attila and his horde come upon a procession of Christians led by

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I ( 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history." Leo was ...

. Bewildered by the assembly he faces, Attila speaks alone with the Pope in the middle of a stream that separates his army from the religious gathering. Leo calmly tells Attila, ''"You can kill everybody...old people, women, children..."'' and Attila suddenly hears the disembodied words of his murdered brother Bleda. ''"Innocent blood won't be washed away. It will come back to haunt you."'' With this warning in mind, Attila suddenly decides to turn back towards the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, leaving Rome unscathed.

Cast

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

as Aetius *

as Grune *

as Ezio *

as Valentiniano Caesar * Colette Règis as

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two Spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. He was born ...

as Tribe Chieftain *

Marco Guglielmi Marco Guglielmi (6 October 1926 – 28 December 2005) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and author. Life and career Born Augusto Guglielmi in Sanremo, he graduated from ragioneria, then he enrolled at the university in the faculty of economic ...

as Kadis *

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969), was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

Onegesius Onegesius ( grc-gre, Ὀνηγήσιος, Onegesios) was a powerful Hunnic ''logades'' (minister) who supposedly held power second only to Attila the Hun. According to Priscus he "''seated on a chair to the right of the king''" i.e. Attila. Histo ...

, counsellor to Attila *

Carlo Hintermann Carlo Hintermann (2 April 1923 – 7 January 1988) was an Italian film, television and stage actor and voice actor. He was sometimes credited as Carlo Hinterman. Life and career Born in Milan into a family of ancient Teutonic origin, Hinterma ...

as Tribe Chieftain *

Mimmo Palmara Domenico "Mimmo" Palmara (25 July 1928 – 10 June 2016) was an Italian actor. Biography Born in Cagliari, Palmara made his film debut in 1952 as a character actor in drama films by eminent directors such as Luchino Visconti, Mario Monicelli and ...

as Lottatore *

Mario Feliciani Mario Feliciani (12 March 1918 – 11 August 2008) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan, after completing his classical education Feliciani attended the Accademia dei filodrammatici obtaining the diploma. He ...

as Ippolito ATTILA thumbnail

US release (1958): The dawn of saturation booking

''Attila''s release was a signal moment in US film distribution. It established an exhibition pattern which came to be known as ''"saturation booking"''.

, previously a US states-rights distributor/exhibitor based in Boston, quickly moved some 90 prints through regional distribution hubs, managing to assemble ad hoc arrays of mostly low-end theaters, where he could book short period playdates with favorable box-office terms. This dense concentration of venues allowed for the cost effective use of local TV and radio spots, and he spent far more than most would have considered prudent. Following this pattern, Levine was able to generate over $2 million in US box-office rentals with only a ten-day-per-screen exhibition average. The success of ''Attila'' proved that an exploitable picture with heavy TV-advertising, and a dense concentration of theaters, could break through traditional road blocks to success for an independent release. Levine licensed the US theatrical, non-theatrical, and television exhibition rights to ''Attila'' for a 10-year term (through March 1968) for $90,000, plus the cost of supplied film and sound mastering elements from the Italian producers, ''Lux Film / Ponti-DeLaurentiis''. He also remade the picture's main-title and head-credits in English, typesetting them (in a 1.66:1 title-safe aspect-ratio) over a simple weaved cloth background. In all, about $110,000 was expended to get the film ready for printing. In the course of its initial release, Levine also spent $590,000 on print and newspaper advertising, and $350,000 on radio and TV spots, enabling the picture to earn back over $2 million in US rentals. It was re-released in 1961 on a

double-bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with Steve Reeves'

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, then sold into TV-syndication. By contract, all US 35mm and 16mm, prints and masters, were collected and disposed of in 1968. The film was then out of US distribution for decades. The picture's 1958 US copyright was renewed in 1986, by a Parisian law firm believed to be acting on behalf of Carlo Ponti and the French ''StudioCanal'' film library. An Italian-language version (with English sub-titles) was finally issued to US home video in 2008 as part of a 4-film collection from Lionsgate which contained some of Sophia Loren's earlier works. Since the movie's initial release, English-language versions have featured a track dubbed by Anthony Quinn. This track was also used on Joe Levine's American distribution prints and contains many lines in English which do not match the dialogue spoken in Italian. Warner Bros. was so impressed with the exhibition showmanship and business acumen that Joe Levine had brought to ''Attila'', they paid him a $300,000 advance to secure the distribution-rights for his pending release of Pietro Francisci's muscleman epic,

. The results Levine had achieved with ''Attila'' were then intensified (utilizing Warner Bros' nationwide network of print exchanges) to realize the far greater take of $4.7 million in North American rentals, when that film was released to great fanfare with over 600 prints, the following summer. 175 of these played simultaneously in the Greater New York City area, at a time when major studio releases often opened, nationally, with such a number. The dubbed Italian sword-and-sandal film, which was produced for about a half-million dollars (Levine purchased North American rights for approximately a third of this figure), became the 4th highest-grossing US release of 1959, easily surpassing all previous box office takes for a foreign-film in the United States. Financially, it was widely viewed as a '' "Joe Levine presents"'' promotion-fueled blockbuster.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Attila (1954 Film) 1954 films 1950s biographical drama films 1950s historical drama films Peplum films French biographical drama films Italian biographical drama films Films directed by Pietro Francisci Classical war films Films set in ancient Rome Films set in the Roman Empire Films set in the 5th century Films produced by Carlo Ponti Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis Cultural depictions of Attila the Hun Lux Film films Sword and sandal films 1954 drama films Films scored by Enzo Masetti Cultural depictions of Flavius Aetius French historical drama films Italian historical drama films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films

Plot

Cast

US release (1958): The dawn of saturation booking

See also

References

External links