TOD, I exclude films like SPARTACUS, GLADIATOR because they are serious A pictures not in the same league of tackiness that THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES is in.
So my choices:
JASON & THE ARGONAUTS (almost too good to be included)
THE EGYPTIAN (Supposedly an "A" film, but man is it cheesy)
About "Jason and the Argonauts", I have to say it doesn't belong on any list with those other titles (excluding "The Egyptian"). It makes no pretensions to be anything other than what it is...a terrific fantasy. It's in a separate class with "Mysterious Island", "Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth", IMO.
As for "The Egyptian"....to each his own.
In my opinion, "The Egyptian" -- as a film -- stands well above most epics of the 50s, but some reject it for whatever reasons finding no value in the authentic atmosphere, fantastic sets, stunning cinematography and brilliant music underscoring.
Add to that some solid performances from Victor Mature, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov and Michael Wilding (plus a stolid, if uninvolving leading performance by Edmund Purdom) and you really get a stunning piece of entertainment that holds the attention, dazzles the eyes and ears and becomes emotionally involving.
Wilding, as the pharaoh, has the film's -- and one of filmdom's -- best moments near the end of the film.
But best of all is the film's music:
There have been many milestones in film music history that have resonated through the decades finding new audiences and inspiring new recordings.
Unique among them is "The Egyptian," a major collaboration between uber-composers Bernard Herrmann (to whom the film was assigned) and Alfred Newman (20th Century-Fox Music Department head and all-time great composer/conductor). While Herrmann got the initial assignment, the allotted time was inadequate for him to do justice to the film. Newman stepped in and developed thematic materials which Herrmann incorporated into his own desginated sections of the film, while Newman the rest.
Newman's underscoring for the key scene with Wilding's pharaoh, Akhnaton -- called "Death of Akhnaton" -- is an example of what film scoring is all about. It also heightens awareness of what seems to be missing from many of today's film composers resumes -- intensive education in music theory, counterpoint, harmony and exposure to all forms of music. The scene is breathtaking, heartbreakingly performed and musically overwhelming, although the music is always "under" the scene rather than rampaging over it.
There are many wonderful pieces of music in this film...from the awe-inspiring opening to the exquisite theme for "Merit" to the sinuous, hypnotic theme for "Nefer", Herrmann and Newman have created a musical palette of stunning splendors.
I cannot overstate its importance as a film score, thankfully preserved on CD by Film Score Monthly -- the splendiferousness of its performance on this recording by the 20th Century-Fox Studio Orchestra as conducted by Alfred Newman, and the glorious choral work of Newman's right-hand man, Ken Darby.
"The Egyptian" is a beacon in film music history.
