Samson and Delilah is one of Cecil Deville’s lavish spectacles with wonderful vistas and color cinematography that is absolutely beautiful and probably one of the reasons the movie has endured as much as it has. The two leads are fine in their roles though hardly memorable but admittedly it’s not a story I was enamored with to go along with a screenplay that isn’t the best in terms of dialogue.
Samson and Delilah
(1949)
Genre(s): Drama, Romance, History
Paramount | NR – 133 min. – $22.98 | March 11, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: DISC INFO: Audio: English (Dolby TrueHD Mono 2.0), French (Dolby Digital Mono 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital Mono 2.0), Portuguese (Dolby Digital Mono 2.0) |
THE MOVIE
Plot Outline: Journey through time to a gloriously extravagant setting of lust, violence and treachery. Starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature in the title roles, Samson and Delilah follows the story of the Bible’s legendary strongman and the woman who seduces, then betrays him.
Quick Hit Review: Not exactly my cup of tea, this 1949 historical drama extravaganza shows DeMille’s features excellent set pieces and two fine performances from Lamarr and Mature to go along with a respectable retelling of the old Bible story anyone who went to Sunday school or listened to in church sermons probably know by heart, though this greatly expands it, of course. Still, at 120-minutes plus (sans overture), it’s not the most brisk viewing and generally this isn’t my favorite genre either.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0.5/5
The only feature is the film’s Theatrical Trailer (2:04; HD).
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Samson and Delilah arrives on Blu-ray from Paramount and given a respectable 1080p high-definition transfer. Considering the film’s age, now 65 years old, the work done looks well done with decent detail levels, good balance in colors and instances of debris, dust marks and scratches cleaned up, albeit probably using DNR rather than a painstaking process. Still, it’s a fine transfer and I’m certain this film has never looked better.
AUDIO – 3.75/5
The film has been given a Dolby TrueHD 2-Track Mono audio which sounds more than adequate showcasing some of the grandeur scenes as well as the quieter ones with only dialogue while Victor Young’s score comes through quite nicely.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, Samson and Delilah is one of Cecil Deville’s lavish spectacles with wonderful vistas and color cinematography that is absolutely beautiful and probably one of the reasons the movie has endured as much as it has. The two leads are fine in their roles though hardly memorable but admittedly it’s not a story I was enamored with to go along with a screenplay that isn’t the best in terms of dialogue. The Blu-ray only has a trailer but the audio and video transfers are both respectable enough.
Published: 03/07/2014