Watch Valley of the Kings For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Mystery, crime, history, adventure, romance, action, and heroism all neatly wrapped up in this 1954 film classic which in my opinion did not get the public credit it so justly deserves. Actor Robert Taylor played archaeologist and tomb hunter Mark Brandon, who "IS" the original Indiana Jones minus the great musical score penned by John Williams in Raiders of the Lost Ark. John Williams revolutionized the film industry by engaging his audiences in his films' even before the first words and/or scene(s) were even spoken and continued to capture his audiences as the films end credits continued to roll, but I digress. Back to the Valley of the Kings we have a film that also engages its audience with the entry of a beautiful Mrs. Ann Barclay Mercedes played by the lovely Eleanor Parker. Mrs. Ann Barclay Mercedes always seemed to be over dressed for travelling in the desert but she came to the Valley of the Kings to honor her deceased archaeologist father who believed there was still one Kings tomb that remained to be discovered. So Mrs. Ann Barclay Mercedes traveled with her husband Philip Mercedes played by Carlos Thompson to the Valley of the Kings to seek the assistance of the well known archaeologist Mark Brandon.It isn't long before we realize that Ann's husband Philip has nefarious intentions and thus he himself opens the door for Ann to be torn between her (new) love for tomb hunter and archaeologist Mark Brandon and her marriage commitment to her husband Philip. The scenes throughout the film were expansive which helped make the film feel as if we were on a real Valley of the Kings tomb expedition. Of course there were dozens of camel rides, sandstorms, a sword fight with a native and a significant treasure hunt for a King's tomb. I have watched this film three times and it never gets tiring. Eleanor Parker, Robert Taylor and Carlos Thompson as the villainous husband and cad were all scene stealers who kept the film going at a rapid and interesting pace. I rate the film a strong 8 out 10 and it is well worth watching (at least twice) if you have an adventurous spirit.

Although not a cult movie, Valley of the kings is a nice entertaining movie. For me it has a special flavor as I had left definitely Egypt 3 years before to settle with my parents in Paris.I saw the movie when it was released in Paris in 1954. I enjoyed it. It was the occasion to see those magnificent temples and especially Abu Simbel where is shot one of the main scenes. At that time the Assuan Dam had not provoked the disastrous effects we know today nor obliged to move the temple. The faces of Ramses II were not spoiled by the cuts visible today due to the move in several sections of this splendid masterpiece of art and architecture.It is worth seeing such a movie with a good cast and dream a little to what was the shock in those times for the lucky traveler able to reach them. Imagine what was the shock of Belzoni when he discovered the temple sunk into the sand!

Valley of the Kings is directed by Robert Pirosh who also co-writes the screenplay with Karl Tunberg. It is suggested by historical data garnered from the book "Gods, Graves and Scholars" written by C. W. Ceram. It stars Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Carlos Thompson, Kurt Kasznar and Victor Jory. Music is scored by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography by Robert Surtees.The earth holds few treasures which have stimulated man's imagination - - and his greed - - - as much as the tombs of the rulers of ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs. This is the story of the search for the most fabulous tomb of them all. It begins near Cairo in 1900...A tour of the marvellous sights of Egypt, with a tomb hunt and love triangle in the middle! That's how Valley of the Kings has often been likened too over the years, which while that has some semblance of truth, because Surtess and Pirosh's location work is that good, it detracts from the good human drama forming the narrative. There's some dastardly goings on in the mix, smouldering passions and a determination from Miss Parker's character to prove right her deceased father's notion that biblical Joseph was in Egypt at Ra-Hotep's reign. Action is not in short supply and the journey under taken by the principals is wrought with dangers of the human and nature kind. Cue sandstorm, scorpion, duel in the sand, horse drawn buggy chase, rooms of skulls, catacombs, knuckle fight on top of a statue, hieroglyphics and clues etched onto stone tablets! Everything you want for a sand swept adventure really.Some back story.It certainly should have been better, but there were many issues behind the scenes that didn't help. Pirosh himself felt that had he been allowed to develop the story how he saw fit then a better film would have been born out. He was being badgered by MGM chief Dore Schary, who along with his right hand man, Charles Schnee, were demanding script changes. Didn't help that there were frictions in the cast as well. Taylor and Parker had had an affair previously when making Above and Beyond in 1952, here in 54 Taylor was involved with actress Ursula Thiess, sure enough Taylor and Parker resumed their affair (one only has to see an amazing kiss scene to know this!). Thiess went off and made Taylor jealous elsewhere, which worked as Taylor left a crestfallen Parker to marry Thiess just as Valley of the Kings was being released. Amazingly, Parker would re-team with Taylor the following year for Many Rivers to Cross! Actors eh! Pirosh quit directing in 57, citing a distaste for behind the scenes power struggles as his primary reason for quitting.Those in search of a high energy treasure hunt type picture will be disappointed here. Thought to be one of the 1954 films to influence Lucas/Spielberg for Indiana Jones, this is not frenetically paced stuff. Characters are afforded time to tell the story, the high energy points are placed selectively as the plot unfolds. But with enough twists and sub-plots along the way, the film thankfully is never dull. And of course there's the fabulous work of Surtees and Parker's beauty to marvel at as well! 7/10

The Egyptology in this picture is strictly Hollywood nonsense, so don't even remotely expect a storyline with accurate historical details. Also, don't expect Robert Taylor learned how to act by 1954. His performance in this is as bland and stiff as anything he ever did. Eleanor Parker is eye candy, but her role leaves a lot to be desired. The plot is flimsy and routine, the story clunky and too often melodramatic, and the villains 2 dimensional at best. The film runs only 86 minutes, which indicates the writers had no real ideas how to make this the kind of exciting, exotic two fisted adventure it should have been.That all said, there is some good stuff in this, and though disappointing overall, it is still a fairly entertaining hour and a half if you like these kind of adventure yarns. Taylor, as mentioned, is a drag, but he does manage to get into a couple of nifty scrapes ala Indiana Jones. The Egyptian locales are stunning and used to maximum effect in Technicolor. The classic adventure elements - camel rides in the desert, exotic temples, pitfalls and puzzles - are all served up and this film was surely one of the templates Spielberg/Lucas/Kasdan used for Raiders of the Lost Ark.For the adventure aspect alone this film is worth a look. It promises much more than it delivers in most areas but there are thousands of worse films you could spend an hour and a half on.