''The Goddess of Love'' ( it, La Venere di Cheronea, french: Aphrodite, déesse de l'amour), also known as ''Aphrodite, Goddess of Love'', is a 1957 Italian-French epic

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Fernando Cerchio Fernando Cerchio (7 August 1914 – 19 August 1974) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 30 films between 1940 and 1972. Selected filmography * '' Men of the Mountain'' (1943) * ''Mistress of the Mountains'' ...

and

Viktor Tourjansky The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * Victor (1951 film), ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * Victor (1993 film), ...

, and starring

Belinda Lee Belinda Lee (15 June 193512 March 1961) was an English actress. A profile for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website asserts: "of all the Rank Organisation's starlets, Belinda Lee stands out as the most notorious, yet paradoxically ...

Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades. Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While studying eng ...

, and

Jacques Sernas Jokūbas Bernardas Šernas (30 July 1925 – 3 July 2015), commonly known as Jacques Sernas and sometimes credited as Jack Sernas, was a Lithuanian-born French actor with an international film career. Biography He was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, ...

. It was shot at the

Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios wer ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and is about the sculptor

Praxiteles Praxiteles (; el, Πραξιτέλης) of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attica sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue. While no indubita ...

Plot

Athens and her allies are at war with king Philip II of Macedonia. Luciano, captain of the Macedonian Army, gets wounded in action and is rescued by Iride, a model of extraordinary beauty who poses for the sculptor Prassitele. Iride takes Luciano to the sculptor's home where he falls in love with her. Until that point, Prassitele had only considered Iride a model who he used for inspiration to create the statue of Aphrodite, but now he too feels passionately about the young woman. Iride decides to run away with Luciano and to try to return to the Athenian camp. Prassitele then decides to take revenge on the couple by telling the Athenian soldiers about the two escapees. The soldiers chase them and shoot Luciano with an arrow. He is believed to be dead so Iride is sent back to Prassitele's studio. She tries to forget about Luciano by seeing other men. Meanwhile, the Macedonians continue advancing and Prassitele is killed by the soldiers. After some time, Iride returns to Prassitele's house and while contemplating the unfinished statue of Aphrodite, an alive and well Luciano shows up. Iride confesses to him that she has been with other men and then tries to kill herself, but Luciano forgives her and affirms his love for her.

Cast

Production

Belinda Lee was borrowed from Rank Studios, who had her under contract. Lee had been spotted by the producers at the Cannes Film Festival who had been impressed by her beauty. Producer Nat Waschberger said Lee "typifies the girl I want for this role. The girl who plays it must have the perfect figure, for revealing costumes she will wear make this essential." Lee arrived in Italy in early August 1957. It was made at the same time

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...

was making a film in Italy. "It's a sensational part," she said. "I have to show more of myself than I've ever done." The film was going to be called ''Aphrodite'' but in October 1957 this was changed to ''The Virgin of Cheronea'' in order to avoid confusion with a rival Aphrodite film that was going to be made by

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

and Robert Haggiag. During filming Lee began an affair with Prince Orsini which caused much publicity. Filming finished in September, after which Lee returned to London and left her husband. In October 1957 Lee told the press "I had a strict and very ladylike upbringing. When I went to Rome it was the first time I had been abroad on my own. It was marvelous. I even learned to swear."

Release

In August 1959 the film was picked up for distribution in the US by Embassy Films. Rights eventually transferred to 20th Century Fox. In December 1960, a heavily cut dubbed version of the film was released in the United States by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. A different and more faithful dubbed version, with

self-dubbing herself, was released in UK and Eire in 1961.

Reception

''Variety'', reviewing it under the title ''The Venus of Cheronea'', said it "might make a good exploitation item" adding "the camera remains focused on (Lee's) attributes, displayed in various forms of garb."''Kine Weekly'' reported "The opening sequences impress, but early promise of mighty spectacle is not fulfilled," while ''Harrison's Report'' described it as "poor... horribly dubbed... badly enacted programmer for the undemanding".Review of film
at Harrison's Report

References

External links

*
''The Goddess of Love''
at Letterbox DVD
''The Goddess of Love''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goddess of Love, The 1957 films 1957 adventure films Italian adventure films Peplum films Films directed by Fernando Cerchio Films directed by Victor Tourjansky French adventure films Sword and sandal films Films shot at Cinecittà Studios 1950s French films 1950s Italian films