''Theodora, Slave Empress'' ( it, Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio) is a 1954 film about

Theodora Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift". Theodora may also refer to: Historical figures known as Theodora Byzantine empresses * Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church * Theodora o ...

, a former slave who married

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

, emperor of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

in AD 527–565. It was directed by

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror film, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing ''I Vampiri'' in 1956. The f ...

Cast

Gianna Maria Canale Gianna Maria Canale (12 September 1927 – 13 February 2009) was an Italian film actress. Biography Canale was born in 1927 in Reggio Calabria. In 1947, she competed in the Miss Italia beauty contest, where she was runner-up to Lucia Bo ...

as "

" *

Georges Marchal Georges Marchal (10 January 1920 – 28 November 1997) was a French actor. Born Georges Louis Lucot in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, the strikingly handsome Marchal was discovered in the early-1940s by director Jean Grémillon. By the earl ...

as "

" *

Renato Baldini Renato Baldini (18 December 1921 – 5 July 1995) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 87 films between 1950 and 1983. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''It's Forever Springtime'' (1950) - Un carabiniere al processo ...

as "Arcal", Theodora's would-be lover *

Henri Guisol Henri Guisol (12 October 1904 – 11 May 1994) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than seventy films from 1931 to 1980. He enjoyed a career in French '' who done its'' and film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily t ...

as " Giovanni di Cappadocia" *

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 ...

as "Faida", Theodora's step-sister *

Olga Solbelli Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russ ...

as "Egina", Theodora's step-mother *

Roger Pigaut Roger Pigaut (birth name Roger Paul Louis Pigot) (8 April 1919 – 24 December 1989) was a French actor and film director. He appeared in 40 films between 1943 and 1980. Partial filmography * ''Retour de flamme'' (1943) - Maurice * '' Lov ...

as "Captain Andres" *

Nerio Bernardi Nerio Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. He was born in Bologna, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Nero'' (1922) * ''The Sheph ...

as "General

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...

" *

Carletto Sposito Carlo Sposito (1 May 1924 – 9 September 1984) was an Italian character actor, sometimes credited as Carletto Sposito. Born in Palermo, he was among the most active actors in the post-war Italian genre cinema. He was also pretty active on st ...

as "Scarpios" *

Alessandro Fersen Alessandro Fersen (5 December 1911 – 3 October 2001) was a Polish-born Italian dramatist, actor, theater director, author and drama teacher. Born Aleksander Fajrajzen in Łódź to a Jewish family, Fersen he moved to Genoa with his family in 1 ...

as "The Metropolitan"

Release

''Theodora, Slave Empress'' was distributed theatrically in Italy on 29 September 1954 by

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 ...

. It grossed a total of 592 million

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

on this domestic release. It was also distributed in France by Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France as ''Théodora, impératrice de Byzance''. The film was the first of director Riccardo Freda's film to obtain a wide distribution outside Italy. It was also released in the USA in December, 1954, distributed by Lux Film America as an I.F.E. release. For this occasion, the film was dubbed into English and edited to 88 minutes (from its original runtime of 124 minutes). The editing was accomplished by simply removing the middle 4 reels of film, covering the plotline from the marriage of Theodora and Justinian to the start of the nobility's revolt against Justinian and his reforms.

Reception

In a contemporary review, The ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' spoke of the film in negative terms, calling it a "dispiriting experience". The piece referred to Freda's direction as "laboured", stating that he "brings neither gusto nor honest vulgarity to the narrative". Regarding the action scenes, the reviewer felt that only the chariot race was staged with "any suggestion of real flamboyancy or flair" and that Canale's erotic dance before Justinian was "painfully unexciting".

References

Footnotes

Sources

* *

External links

* 1954 films 1950s Italian-language films Films set in the Byzantine Empire Films set in the 6th century Films set in Istanbul Italian biographical films French biographical films Peplum films Films directed by Riccardo Freda 1950s biographical films 1950s historical films Biographical films about Roman emperors Cultural depictions of Justinian I Cultural depictions of Theodora I Lux Film films Sword and sandal films Films scored by Renzo Rossellini 1950s Italian films 1950s French films {{historic-film-stub