Sign of the Pagan

Plot synopsis:
During the fifth century, the Roman Empire is divided into two parts: the West, with its capital in Rome, run by Emperor Valentinian III, and the East, with its capital in Constantinople, run by Emperor Theodosius.
The Empire is under attack by the Huns under Attila. Roman soldier Marcian is carrying a message from Valentinian warning Theodosius against the Huns, when he is captured by Attila. Attila is impressed by Marcian's honesty and courage. He carves out the arrow that has been shot into his leg, causing Marcian to pass out.
Over the next few days, Attila keeps Marcian hostage in the hopes of learning more about the Romans' plans. The Huns capture a local king's family and Attila orders them killed, except for the daughter, Ilduco, whom he takes as his wife. Later, when Attila's daughter, Kubra, shows off her father's prize stallion, Marcian steals it and flees to Constantinople.
In Constantinople, Marcian is befriended by General Paulinus, who confides that Theodosius is planning to join forces with the Huns against Valentinian. This is confirmed when Marcian brings his emperor's message to Theodosius, who throws him out.
Theodosius' sister, Princess Pulcheria, calls Marcian to her chambers. She admits that she loves Rome, but is kept prisoner within the palace walls. She names Marcian the captain of her guard, asking him to protect her from Theodosius' mutiny.
That night, Theodosius holds a feast to welcome the Hun leaders. Although Attila has not been invited, he arrives to command the allegiance of all other Barbarians, and easily defeats the strongest man in Constantinople. Frightened, Theodosius offers him furs and jewels, but Attila demands only that Marcian teach the Huns how to use Roman weapons.
Although Kubra is the first to practice with the weapons, Marcian deposits her in the harem bathing pool.
Later, Pulcheria sends for Attila. She asks him to release Marcian from his duties, but Attila kisses her roughly and then leaves to meet Theodosius, who agrees to pay each month in return for Attila's promise not to attack.
Later, Marcian also approaches the Hun, warning him that because Rome is Christian, it will never fall. Attila merely laughs at him, but when Kubra visits the church the next day, she is awed by the portrait of Mary and longs for the peace she feels there. She tries to refuse to leave, but Attila forces her to accompany the Huns out of the city.
The next night, Attila gathers the Barbarian leaders and announces that they will attack Rome immediately. As soon as his soothsayer announces that the signs are positive, a bolt of lightning strikes a tree that falls on him. Although this concerns the Huns, Attila names it a good omen.
Soon after, his men bring two captured monks to him, and Attila, who does not dare anger the Christian god, orders the soldiers killed. The monks then beg him not to kill the soldiers, baffling Attila.
As the Huns gather outside Rome, Marcian, finding no help for Valentinian with Theodosius, prepares to flee the palace, but is captured upon stopping to bid Pulcheria goodbye.
While Attila's new seer, whom he calls Persian, relates a vision of Marcian as emperor, Paulinus releases Marcian from the dungeon and the two sneak into Pulcheria's. Together, they decide to gather the army against Theodosius and install Pulcheria to the throne.
After Theodosius is forced to abdicate, Pulcheria names Marcian her top admiral and announces her plans to travel to Rome with him and their army to help guard its walls.
Meanwhile, Persian is plagued by visions of God and martyrs in the clouds calling for Attila's death, and Attila remembers an image his childhood nurse saw in which he died under the shadow of a cross. Though fearful, he continues to disregard the signs.
When Marcian reaches Rome, he finds Valentinian leaving, but retains two battalions to add to his own to protect the city.
That night, Attila orders the attack, but stops when Pope Leo I arrives to name Rome the temple of God and foresee Attila's downfall, as portended by the lightning strike.
Afterward, Attila realizes that Kubra must have told the Pope about the lightning, and, though he is heartbroken, kills her for betraying him.
In his sleep that night, he sees a vision of the martyrs marching against him and, crazed, orders the Huns to retreat. Marcian hears and immediately plans to ambush Attila when he reaches the nearest city. The surprise attack demolishes the Huns, who soon fall.
Marcian finds Attila and duels with him, but it is Ilduco, who has spent the last months overflowing with rage, who drives the fatal dagger into his chest. As prophesied, Attila dies with the sword's handle forming the shadow of a cross on the ground.
Days later, Pulcheria reunites the halfs of the empire and names Marcian emperor, to the delight of the Roman people.

Tags: murder

Review:
For a tough guy, Marcian was very eager to volunteer details of his mission when he was captured by Attila, and I don't know he he got intelligence of the pagan hordes' move on Rome and was able to rush some of his troops to its defence across considerable distances.
Panther like Jack Palance sporting a Fu Manchu moustache is perfectly suited to playing Atilla the Hun which he does with much relish.
The closest he came to really great acting was "The Big Knife" made the following year.Although Sirk wasn't originally allotted to this movie, it would seem he was willing to try his hand in a genre new to him.
As with his only western "Taza Son of Cochise", he proved himself able to work in the genre as well as most, though added little extra of any note.Expertly filmed by the great Russell Metty who Sirk wisely used on most of his movies..
Chandler's the Roman centurion who must push back the invading armies of Atilla the Hun. Ludmilla Tcherina is one of a number of flashy looking women (Blonde Allison Hayes, later the sixty foot woman, is another).
This is a 1954 Universal International film titled Sign of the Pagan , full of historic inaccuracy and being well starred Jack Palance as Attila .
On arrival, he meets the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius (George Dolenz) scheming with Attila to look the other way while the latter marches against Rome .
But Marcian (who really was emperor and succeeded Teodosio) gains the favor of Pulcheria (Ludmilla Tchérina of Red slippers) , lovely sister of Theodosius , who favors a united Empire and plotting against Attila .
Emperor Valentinian III sent three envoys, the high civilian officers Gennadius Avienus and Trigetius , as well as the Bishop of Rome Leo I (Moroni Olsen) , who met Attila at Mincio in the vicinity of Mantua and as the conqueror had an awe of the power of the Christians' God , he obtained from him the promise that he would withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the Emperor .
. Against his ruthless pagan lusts , the power of a woman's love!This spectacular movie contains action , breathtaking battles , thrills , romance , hokey historical events and the crowed scenes of the Huns are impressively made .
There takes place a fictitious battle of wits and wills between Attila/Jack Palance and Marcian/Jeff Chandler .
Jack Palance dominates with his overacting this historical adventure , while Marciano being grumpily performed by Jeff Chandler .
Great support cast provide some solid secondary interpretations such as Allison Hayes as Ildico who was actually wife wife to Attila , Rita Gam , Alexander Scourby , Michael Ansara , Leo Gordon , Eduard Franz as Astrologer , Jeff Morrow and final film of Moroni Olsen .
Remembering how the Gershwin estate, not liking the Porgy and Bess movie, have tried for years to prevent anyone seeing it, could Ludmilla Tcherina and her estate have somehow bought out this dance scene and are now withholding it because it does not enhance her memory as a classical ballerina?
"The Sign of the Pagan" is a pretended swords and sandals epic film about Attila the Hun's attack on the remains of a divided Roman empire.
The screenplay tries somehow to follow historic facts and show us some events in the Hun King's life that we know about (his merciful attacks on villages while marching against Rome, his meeting with Pope Leo, his contacts with the Romans -he had been a hostage in Rome as a young boy- and his death by the hand of slave girl Ildico).But in all the movie lacks a sense of greatness and the big spectacle other films of the same genre that were released about the same time achieved ("Quo Vadis" and "Helen of Troy" are clear examples).The cast is not very accurate either.
Jeff Chandler was always a standard actor but no more than that (perhaps his best performance was that of Apache chief Cochise in 1950's western "Broken Arrow"), and he looks wooden and unconvincing as the Roman Centurion that tries to defeat Attila.
What makes this film worth a watch is Jack Palance's performance as the Hun chief; he has the proper "physiche du rol", some make up helps him too but he manages to transmit the strength and conviction a warrior leader like Attila was supposed to have.Too many indoor shooting doesn't help the picture either.
I think Douglas Sirk was a fine director but he felt more comfortable in contemporary dramas such as "Written in the Wind"."The Sign of the Pagan" is just for fans of the genre or to watch a fine performance by Jack Palance as an historical figure.
A Roman officer sets out on a quest to stop Attila The Hun from destroying Rome..
However, Jack Palance is excellent as Attila the Hun. He really does come across as a barbarian, giving a very intense performance that compares well with his earlier role as Toriano in "Arrowhead" with Charlton Heston.
Jeff Chandler's subdued performance is a good match for the stoic Christian Roman he plays.
According to Marilyn Kirk's biography of Jeff Chandler, Chandler was originally offered the role of Attila in Sign Of The Pagan.
When Jack Palance is on screen as Attila the Hun there ain't a stick of furniture safe in his view.
Nothing remotely historically accurate about Sign Of The Pagan other than Attila's meeting with Pope Leo I and his turning back from his conquest of Rome.
Not one among the top notch epics that come to mind while encountering the genre, SIGN OF THE PAGAN by Douglas Sirk is an intriguing production and the one that occurs to offer a bit more than its typical concepts.
Seemingly, it appears that there are two persons who make this film still mentioned on lists: its versatile director Douglas Sirk who became renowned in Hollywood and whose hallmarks are herein noticeable and the actor Jack Palance, the face that hardly results in negligence, who, actually, portrays the protagonist of the story.
Unlike some colossal Roman epics, SIGN OF THE PAGAN deals with an already 'Christianized' Roman empire (something Tony Keen critically points out in his review) or rather the divided empire into two of its 'wings': the west with the capital in Rome and emperor Valentinian (Walter Coy) and the east with the capital in Constantinople (perhaps one of the most spectacular cities in the history of mankind) and emperor Theodosius (George Dolenz).
Yes, it is the 5th century, the proud Roman eagles have already been replaced by the humble Cross (reference to Walter Pidgeon's prologue to 1951 QUO VADIS) but the enemy is approaching: it is the king of the Huns, Attila, the barbaric leader who has been granted many portrayals in both opera and film (just to name Anthony Quinn who portrayed the figure in another 1950s epic).
Although it is not one of the most famous portrayals, this performance deserves credit.Hailed by Gregor Torinus as depicting 'Attila's humanity' and 'sweeping portrayal of a crazed warrior with modern ailments' (Dennis Shwartz, 2007), Jack Palance is the highlight of the movie.
The director's spirit can be found, however, in the love story of Marcian (Jeff Chandler), the centurion and future emperor of Rome and Pulcheria.The HISTORICAL INACCURACIES are, indeed, multiplied.
Made the same year as another sword and sandal movie dealing with the same subject ,"Attila Flagello Di Dio" (starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren),it is an icily impersonal movie from Douglas Sirk.It's watchable ,but it could have been done by anyone at all.Sirk's métier was melodrama (he was the master of the genre in the fifties) and western ("Taza,son of Cochise" ) and epics are not obviously his forte.Although Jack Palance was potentially as ideal as Anthony Quinn to portray the king of the Huns,the screenwriters made him a too polite ,too sentimental ,not bestial enough character (just compare with Anthony Quinn's performance,in a movie which was not better though).Sirk did not seem to put of lot of effort into his work:"Christian" best describes it:the thunderbolt,the Roman talking about the Virgin and her son to the pagan daughter ,the pope 's intervention (there's a similar scene in the Italian movie),the final victory which was given by "their" God....
You can take it as a might of been as it sets the scene in the Roman Empire as Attila the Hun was menacing invasion.
adventure costumer.When we non-luminaries were allowed to enter, the picture being previewed was Universal-International's big budget (for that second-string studio, anyway) "Sign of the Pagan."  The Fox Village's enormous screen enhanced the almost top-of-the-line production values and the performances by Rita Gam and Jack Palance, especially, made the chore of sitting through it somewhat bearable.
I have to admit that "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" was the happier viewing experience that night and was certainly grateful for my parents' forbearance in sitting through two full-length features, something they hadn't done since their courtship some years before.Playing that little game of "Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon" which was fashionable a few years ago (maybe even now and one that I'd never be proficient at, by the way, failing to find Mr. Bacon in the least appealing as an actor), the earlier equivalent of it might have been, as their romantic entanglements played out, connecting Arlene Dahl, once married to Fernando Lamas, who eventually married Esther Williams, who at one time (most probably before she married Senor Lamas) had an affair with Jeff Chandler, the leading man in "Sign of the Pagan" - the American/Hollywood version of "La Ronde", n'est-ce pas?.
"Sign of the Pagan" tends to live in the shadow of the great 1950's Hollywood epics such as "Quo Vadis", "The Robe", and "Helen of Troy" among others.Based on Attila the Hun's invasion of the Roman Empire, "Sign of the Pagan" stars Jack Palance as Attila.
Although the script plays fast and loose with history, most of the characters are based on real historical figures including Jeff Chandler's Marcian, who became the ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire.There are some powerful scenes in the film although many of them are shot on foggy, dimly lit sound stages that would suit "Phantom of the Opera".
Some nicely rendered glass shots give scope to a few scenes, but the palace interiors are less than sumptuous and look as though they were filmed in a couple of spare rooms at Universal.The film plays up Attila's superstition regarding Christianity, which seems based on fact; one of the best scenes is when Pope Leo I psyches him out and stops the sacking of Rome.One disappointment is the way Attila's death is handled.
A tricky one for a 1950's movie, but director Douglas Sirk and the team didn't even try - she still kills him, but far less spectacularly.It probably doesn't pay to be too pedantic about costuming in a film such as this, but the Roman Army seems equipped with armour and weapons from a far earlier time; this was the early 5th Century AD and things had changed over five-hundred years - the costuming here is a little like making a movie about D-Day with U.S. troops hitting Omaha Beach wearing the uniforms of George Washington's Continental Army.Although it is hard to see a modern audience getting too much out of "Sign of the Pagan" - a mini-series such as "Rome" has higher production values - I still enjoy this film.
Maybe its partly nostalgia, but I find it fascinating watching actors as unique as Jeff Chandler and Jack Palance.
With chiselled features and prematurely grey hair, Chandler had a great presence even if he was a little wooden, but Jack Palance was a scene-stealer in every film he did, and he made a perfect Attila - all he needed was a bigger horde behind him..
Yes even with the occasionally muddled plot and dull performance of Jeff Chandler.Sign of the Pagan is an example of a movie that is strikingly photographed in early CinemaScope, lustily staged by the director Douglas Sirk and terrifically scored.
"They don't make 'em like this any more!" and one is tempted to say "Thank Heavens!" A typical 1950s Hollywood sword and sandals caper with one eye on the folks in the Bible Belt so references to "the Cross" and this strange new force coming from Gallilee while, on the other hand, lots of scenes of young ladies, (all of whom seem to have disconcertingly easy access to 1950s hair salons or lip-stick stores), either splashing about in Roman baths or being leered at by nasty barbarians, led by the worst of them all, Jack Palance in the guise of Attila the Hun. The more the 90 minutes dragged by, the more you came to appreciate Palance's appearances as virtually the ONLY saving grace for this family-sized slice of ham.
Nonetheless, with the help of his regular cinematographer Russell Metty, Sirk manages to create some memorable set pieces, especially when he depicts the movement of Atilla the Hun's (Jack Palance's) army on its doomed trek to Rome.Perhaps more so than any other epic, except perhaps for QUO VADIS?
My fascination for history and antiquity certainly started by all sorts of "peplum" movies of which "Sign of the Pagan" was the first, setting my standards for this type of film for a long time, being a schoolboy of 10 at it's release.
the HUN"!!!Grinning Jack Palance, in silvery armour as well as bare-chested, immediately stole my youngster' Heart & Soul, sometimes conflicting though with some encouraging feelings for the silver-hared Jeff Chandler as the good guy: his becoming emperor in the end even started off a search as for the movie's accuracy in telling these events...
As has been rightly said by some french author: in this movie the "bad" eclipsed the "hero", the brutal conqueror turning into the "tragic hero", and Jack Palance (whom I had never seen) made an overwhelming appearance with his face as kind of a expressive, terrifying and pathetic masque, and certainly ideally casted for the historic barbarian the real Atilla was.Two more scenes to remember, brilliantly directed by Sirk : the pope encountering Atilla (who as a pagan clearly panicks for this ghostlike creature coming out of the mists as of creeping out of the underworld even he fears), and the confrontation of Atilla with a shining cross, driving him out of a burned-out church and, as I imagined, driving him to his fateful end by a woman's dagger instead of by Marcianus' sword.
Even if this kind of film-making is outdated by movies as Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Gladiator or Troy, this Sign of the Pagan can still be appreciated ...
Before settling down to being almost exclusively the purveyor of glossy melodramas, Douglas Sirk tried his hand at the historical spectacle with this  dealing with the exploits of legendary warrior Attila The Hun (vigorously played here by Jack Palance)  and CAPTAIN LIGHTFOOT (1955), which I had watched as a child and also tried to acquire not too long ago (but it didn't pan out).
The plot sees the Barbarian hordes joining forces (under the leadership of Attila) to attack the divided Roman Empire; the film starts with Attila releasing a Roman centurion (Jeff Chandler) in order to alert his rival Emperors of their coming: this proves an unwise decision because, with the help of the sister (Ludmilla Tcherina) of one of them, he manage to unite the Roman legions to face the impending onslaught.
Chandler doesn't look too bad in Roman garb, while Palance predictably chews the scenery (his Attila is something of a neurotic who organizes his campaigns on the basis of his astrologer's advice!); on the other hand, Tcherina is saddled with a rather underwritten part but Gam does well in her mix of tomboy and ingénue.
By the way, for Palance this was a sort of precursor to Andre' De Toth's similarly interesting THE MONGOLS (1961), which was actually an Italian production; from that same country and contemporaneously with SIGN OF THE PAGAN came another outing about the bloodthirsty Hun, ATTILA (1954), with Anthony Quinn in the lead (my father had rented the English-language version back in the day but, having recently taped the original on late-night Italian TV, I'll be re-acquainting myself with it presently as a companion piece to Sirk's epic)..
Until Now I've only seen Castle Films 8mm 10 minute excerpt, Attila the Barbarian.
UPDATE 2: Hello, I saw both versions of this movie directed by Douglas Sirk at a little film fest where they ran concurrently until attendees said stop it please.In filming, Director Douglas Sirk ran two cameras most of the time, with the CinemaScope Camera in the center and the flat camera to its right.
This move is directed by Douglas Sirk and stars Jack Palance as Attila, the Hun who will listen to everyone.
There is some question about whether Universal could provide Mr. Sirk with the budget needed for a Roman Empire battle movie All Mr. Sirk needed was the technicolor film and a bonfire.
(ADDED NOTE: the end looks like a b-western shoot-out as the Huns have changed their mind about attacking the walled city of the Holy Roman Empire...
The box said, Attila the Barbarian, and the man featured surely looked like a young Jack Palance.
This movie wasn't meant to be funny, but in the clumsy hands of way- over-rated director, Douglas Sirk, and writers Oscar "The Sword of Ali Baba" Brodney and Barre "Sign of the Pagan" Lyndon, it emerges as a veritable feast of nonsense with laughable dialogue ("Which way to the emperor's palace?" – "Just beyond the square!" – "If the emperor had sent me a legion instead of just one centurion, I could stop this treason right now!").
Jack Palance has a stab at making Attila a neurotic twit.