Samson and Delilah

Plot synopsis:
Samson, a Danite Hebrew placed under Nazirite vows from birth by his mother Hazelelponit, is engaged to a Philistine woman named Semadar. At their wedding feast, Samson loses a bet with his wedding guests because of Semadar and attacks 30 Philistines to strip them of their cloaks to pay his betting debt. When his deeds become known, Semadar and her father Tubal are killed; Samson becomes a hunted man and in his fury he begins fighting the Philistines. The Saran of Gaza imposes heavy taxes on the Danites, with the purpose of having Samson betrayed by his own people. The Saran's plan works, and frustrated Danites hand over Samson to the Philistines, much to the joy of Delilah, Semadar's younger sister. Samson is taken by Prince Ahtur, the military governor of the land of Dan, and a regiment of Philistine troops. En route back to Gaza, Ahtur decides to taunt Samson. Samson rips apart his chains and ropes and begins to combat the Philistines, toppling Ahtur's war chariot and using the jawbone of an ass to club the Philistine soldiers to death.
News of the defeat of Ahtur at the hands of Samson reaches the Saran. The Saran ponders how to defeat Samson. Delilah comes up with the idea of seducing Samson, thus having him reveal the secret of his strength and then deliver him for punishment. Her plan works; she cuts his hair, which he feels gives him his strength. To fully neutralize him, Samson is blinded by his captors and put to slave work, and is eventually brought to the temple of Dagon for the entertainment of the Philistines and the Saran.
However, Delilah has been in love with Samson ever since his engagement with Semadar, and his blindness and torture make her feel deep remorse over her betrayal. She initially had betrayed him because she wanted to avenge the deaths of her father and sister, which she thought were caused "because of Samson."
Delilah later attends the public torture of Samson wielding a whip which he uses to be guided by her to the temple of Dagon's main support pillars. Once he stands between them, he tells Delilah to flee, but she remains, unseen by him, as he pushes the pillars apart. The pillars give way and the temple collapses, burying Samson, Delilah, and all the Philistines inside alive, including the court. In the end, the temple lies in rubble, and Saul and Miriam, his two closest Danite Hebrew friends, are left to mourn Samson's passing.
It is implied that the disaster has caused utter chaos among the Philistines, who are then forced to give up Israel to deal with their internal crisis.

Tags: good versus evil, revenge, murder, violence

Review:
DeMille took off a couple of years now between films to create the opulent splendor that typifies his work.Well Samson and Delilah abounds in opulence.
She never had much acting skill, but all she has to do is be seductive and that no one could do better.And Victor Mature away from his home studio of 20th Century Fox where he was languishing, Samson and Delilah provided a whole new vista for him with roles in spectacle pictures where he could truly be that beautiful hunk of man.Fay Holden is good as Samson's mother.
It wasn't just that the bible pictures gave him some of his biggest hits; it was in these features that DeMille seemed most at home, and the one genre in which he had unique ability.Samson and Delilah brought an end to a long phase of epic-cum-adventure movies from DeMille.
Some of the effects may be a little dubious; whenever Victor Mature lifts up something heavy it's obvious it's being hoisted from offscreen, and that woolly-rug/lion tamer scene is actually betrayed by bad editing, but overall this is a solid, high-quality production.Yes, Samson and Delilah is as corny as anything, but it looks great, and above all it entertains.
Paramount did not spend big bucks for this movie, this is quite obvious; but with Lamarr as Delilah and Mature's Samson, this became a major example star-power.
Opulent costume design, good casting and excellent cinematography make this one of the better biblical epics that were being produced at the time.Victor Mature, a fine physical specimen of the male physique, seems to fit perfectly into the role of the brooding and oft-troubled Samson.
One of the other reviewers on this website said he portrayed a "sophisticated cad" which is the best description I have ever heard of Mr Sanders in this role or any other for that matter.The absolute star of the show is the movie's other lead actor, Hedy Lamarr.
The story about the Hebrew Hercules Samson, Victor Mature, who redeemed himself from a life of foolhardiness and slavery by taking down the Temple of Dagon, the Philistine Idol God. Samson not only destroyed Dagon's temple he took the lives, together with his own, of 3,000 of his bitter enemies and tormentors in the movies', Samson and Delilah, spectacular and ground shaking final scene.Never living up to what God wanted from him, to lead his people the ancient Israelites against the hated and occupying Philistines, Samson instead lead a life of womanizing and partying mostly with the Philistines who more then anything else wanted him dead.
Because of his super-human strength Samson felt safe from anything that the Philistines could do to him, killing hundreds who tried, in capturing or killing the biblical strongman.It's when the Philistine temptress the drop-dead gorgeous Delilah, Hedy Lamarr, got to work on the big guy that he left himself open to be captured, by the Philistine army, in revealing the source of his strength; His black curly locks of hair on his head.
Blinded, with a red hot iron put to his eyes, Samson was then forced to pull the grind-mill and made to look helpless as he was brutally mocked and tortured by his Philistine captors.As the days weeks and months went by and his hair, the source of his great strength, grew back Samson with Delilah's, who had since repented what she did to him, help then planned to finish the job that he never really started; annihilate his and his peoples enslavers the hated Philistines.
Hedy Lamarr plays the seductive temptress and conniving Courteson, Delilah, while Angela Lansbury plays Semadar, Samson's love interest.
Spectacular hokey Bible epic produced and directed by the great Cecil B Mille concerning about Samson (Victor Mature won the role over Burt Lancaster) and Delilah (Hedy Lamarr , among most serious candidates for the role were Jean Simmons , Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth) who plans to seduce him into revealing his secret and then to betray him to the Philistine leader, the Saran (George Sanders) , as she robs Samson his incredible strength .
According to the biblical account , Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies Philistines ,and perform heroic feats such as killing a lion , slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass, and destroying a pagan temple .
Victor Mature is surprisingly nice as Samson along with a young Angela Lansbury as Semadar and a cynical Saran of Gaza well incarnated by George Sanders .
Surely if Paramount can release "The Ten Commandments" and other DeMille pictures, then why not this wonderful piece of entertainment???If it is a question of restoration, that is fine, but in this era of every type of film being on DVD, I don't understand why this movie is not among them.I have the Paramount laserdisc version, but of course, it doesn't compare to a DVD of the same film.Come on, Paramount, get it out!.
Also the acing is not bad at all, Victor Mature is a dashing Samson and Hedy Lamarr pretty much steals the film as the beautifully captivating Delilah, it somehow reminded me of Rita Hayworth in Salome.
That little reference was enough to lure me into watching Samson and Delilah.I've always thought Lamarr was the most beautiful woman in films, (though she looked pretty ordinary in 'Ecstasy', before MGM got its hands on her), but she was wooden, with an annoying accent, which somewhat cancelled out the magnetism of her beauty.
Hedy was 35 during production and physically in her prime, wearing gorgeous figure revealing costumes that not one woman in a thousand could wear, and that includes Lana Turner, even more scantily clad in that colossal biblical bore, The Prodigal.The Victor and the Lion scene looked like the real thing to me.
de Mille's biblical epics, "Samson and Delilah" tells the story of the strong Hebrew judge that fought his people's oppressors.
No doubt that de Mille's usual luxurious and expensive touch is in this film and it is clear once more that the man didn't care about expenses whenever he entered a project and so the movie doesn't lack a sense of greatness and spectacle.The special effects are excellent for 1949, mainly the final sequences when a blind Samson demolishes the pagan temple with the only strength of his arms.
There is also a fine musical score by Victor Young.Though not too gifted when it came to acting Hedy Lamarr was indeed a beautiful woman and she comes out acceptably as the treacherous Delilah.
George Sanders brings an interesting performance as the "Saran" carrying the role of a ruler with dignity and class, and a young Angela Lansbury is good as Delilah's sister Semadar, "Samson and Delilah" turns out as an entertaining and watchable film in its genre though, in my opinion, inferior to the almost contemporary "Quo Vadis" by Mervin Leroy or de Mille's later product "The Ten Commandments" in which he was aided by an all star cast..
Delilah herself was a weaver according to the Bible (you see her loom in one scene after Samson breaks it) so you can imagine her making some of her own outfits.With a great cast (even the bit players were good!) and exquisite cinematography, this is one of DeMille's best and should be out on DVD.
In addition, Demille always crafted and screened his movies for the wide cinema scope format with color technology, which can still mesmerize an audience, if they happen to watch for the first time.This said, Victor Mature provided a remarkably effective persona to the physically stout and towering personality of the Old Testament protagonist, Samson.
Probably the best film made about this biblical story.Victor Mature's most memorable film and Hedy Lamarr's role of her life.She is simply born to play Delilah!George Sanders,even in a biblical epic remains the original English scoundrel and gentleman!The acting of others is equally professional and convincing.Thr direction and editing is brilliant.The story moves at a very plausible rate and events fold out in tact with it.The later part of the film has a lot of passion and pathos with Mature excelling as the blind Samson.Sympathy for Delilah is purely an Hollywood twisting of the original story where Delilah is described as a corrupt,wicked woman.The destruction of the temple still evokes wonder and awe even after 58 years.A very fine and enjoyable film,one of the best of its kind..
I first saw this movie in 1949 when it was released in Amsterdam I remember it well it was in the Tuchinsky movie theater and it has always stuck with me as being the best movie I have ever seen in my live I own over the 300 DVD's and I am 70 years old and I did have the movie on Video for along time but loaned it out and never got it back I am now trying to get it on DVD but with an pension its hard to obtain ,still think that with all the modern movies and computer enhancements they still don't measure up to this MOVIE.Peter Jackson's Movie comes somewhat close with the making of King King but the actors that portray Samson (victor Mature) and Heddy Lamarr as Delilah are hard to be equaled ,I hope that this movies will be released on DVD and I am looking once again forwards to see all the splender of a good Technicolor Production ..
A true masterpiece.Exactly the right people in the right role.Hedy Lamarr(when she gets it right)is one of the greatest of all time.A truly remarkable person who was also an outstanding scientist.Hedy portrays the very image of a scheming yet stunningly beautiful Delilah.Victor Mature/George Sanders/Angela Lansbury are all class actors with a strong track record and ideally suited to play such historical/mythological figures.George Sanders has his own dry sense of humour which is carried on in the 10 commandments.Cecile B De Mille is a true master when it comes to portraying such classical movies.One can only think of how this spectacle must have appeared to viewers when they first witnessed it in 1949.It looks pretty good even now.They portray the classics with a touch of panache Worth seeing again and again for connoisseurs of acting who are interested in real quality stuff and not just cheap showbiz!!.
He is distracted from this task by the temptations of Delilah (Hedy Lamarr), a sultry vixen out to avenge the death of her family and destruction of her home which was partly Samson's doing (in the film only, not the actual Testament, her role was much smaller though still crucial).
But then his hair grows back and, though blinded, he ultimately has the last laugh when he tears down the stone pillars holding up the temple, killing most - if not all - of the Philistines, including Delilah and himself.Looking like a less muscular though taller Sylvester Stallone, Victor Mature is pretty good in the role of the biblical beef cake Samson, and Hedy Lamarr is a sight to behold as the temptress Delilah.
Like a lot of kids I went away from this movie dreaming of someday being as beautiful as Hedy Lamarr(she was absolutely stunning) and seducing some man as handsome as Victor Mature.
(Mature, who'd fought rear-projection reptiles nine years earlier in ONE MILLION B.C., valiantly wrestles with a stuffed lion skin.) I know modern effects technology did not exist in 1949, but I doubt SAMSON AND DELILAH employs cutting-edge techniques, even for the time.
The film was a box office hit.One thing the movie does have is the beauty of Hedy Lamarr in the role of the wicked seductress Delilah.
Lamarr may never have looked better than in the revealing Old Testament costumes of this film, and in glorious Technicolor.Victor Mature plays the lead role of Samson, a Hebrew shepherd with superhuman strength, which he attributes to his devotion to God. After a spoiled wedding night (and much bloodshed), Samson becomes Public Enemy No. 1 among the Philistines.
Here is his very colorful biblical semi-epic, SAMSON AND DELILAH, a flawed film but with occasionally powerful moments, starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as the two title leads.
Yet he wishes to marry the Philistine Semadar (Angela Lansbury), the older sister of the stealthy Delilah, who loves Samson and wants him for herself.
Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr surely look just right for their roles, and I don't think Mature's performance is bad in the film (though his character seems rather selfish and unagreeable and thus not as heroic as he should be).
It stars Hedy Lamarr (Delilah), Victor Mature (Samson), George Sanders (Saran of Gaza) & Angela Lansbury (Semadar).Late to the party in terms of classic DeMille historical recreations, Samson & Delilah made four times its budget back in the day but now plays out as an agonising chore to get thru.
DeMille's silent "Ten Commandments", made nearly thirty years earlier, which intertwined both biblical story and modern narrative, holds up far better today than this poorly conceived outing into Bible-land voyeurism.The script is the birth place of most pictures: here, the script is the film's death.
Victor Mature might be a good choice for an amateur passion play, but on film he looks and acts like a human ox.
In fact, if you have a Blu-ray player, you could do as I did and play this "regular" DVD film in your Blu-ray player and enjoy a slight boost in image clarity sharpness, making it very "close" to a Blu-ray film.And here's one final advantage of the "S & D" DVD: it does offer scene selection, so if you want to thrill again and again to any of the big action scenes of this film (and there are many!), you can just press a button and go instantly and directly to one of those spectacular scenes.So, my rating is 10 out of 10 for this DVD treatment of DeMille's great "Samson and Delilah." It will hold us very nicely until Paramount or some other studio makes a true Blu-ray version of it containing running commentary and documentaries.
Victor Mature plays Samson and Hedy Lamarr Delilah.
DeMille's "Samson and Delilah" was the most successful film of 1950 and the third highest-grossing picture up to that point.
Lamarr makes a stunning Delilah and the film is decked out in gorgeous color, sets and costumes, but it's Victor Mature who really delivers a solid performance as the stalwart Samson blinded (literally) by love.
(I can't think of many functional and heterosexual males who would be that obtuse.) Although Victor Mature wasn't as beefy as later male stars like Steve Reeves or Arnold Schwarzennegger, this was okay because his strength was miraculous.Naturally, the finale was spectacular, and that is what people went to theaters to see in a Demille film..
Henry Wilcoxon, who was with DeMille from the silent era, was also in both pictures, both he and Ms. Deering had better parts in this film as compared to 'Commandments,' though the Sam & Delilah was not nearly as good as the latter.Hedi LaMarr was wonderful as the temptress Delilah.
She does this by tricking him into trusting her then having his hair cut.Victor Mature famously plays Samson and it was also fun to see a 20- something Angela Lansbury as Semadar, Samson's wife that was killed before he became attached to Delilah.
DeMille that depicts the biblical story of Samson, a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair, and his love for Delilah, the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret and then betrays him to the Philistines.
It stars Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr together with George Sanders,Angela Lansbury and Henry Wilcoxon.This was definitely a biblical film classic that would still be enjoyed today by people who love films from the Good Book.
The star of the later film is the great Charlton Heston, the actor who more than any other has come to symbolise the epic style, and DeMille could also call upon some fine supporting performances from the likes of Yul Brynner, Edward G Robinson, Cedric Hardwicke and Anne Baxter.Victor Mature certainly had the right looks for Samson; he was a man for whom the expression "beefcake" could have been invented, and his imposing physique and screen presence helped him win roles in later epics such as "The Robe", "Demetrius and the Gladiators" and "The Egyptian".
Reeves was later to become a well-known epic actor, perhaps most famous for playing Hercules, another legendary strongman with many similarities to Samson, but Lancaster was never to star in an epic although his style of acting seemed well-suited to the genre.As one of the most beautiful actresses of the forties, Hedy Lamarr equally had the right looks for Delilah.
It came as a surprise to see Angela Lansbury, best-known for playing characters considerably older than her real age, as the glamorous young Semadar, although even here she is supposed to be Lamarr's older sister whereas in reality Lamarr was older than Lansbury by twelve years.Visually, the film is certainly spectacular, particularly the final scene in which Samson destroys the temple of the Philistine god Dagon.
"Samson and Delilah" is another of Producer/Director's biblical epics with a cast of thousands and impressive set pieces and this time in glorious Technicolor .
It tells the story of strong man Samson (Victor Mature) and his betrayal by the seductive Delilah (Hedy Lammar).Samson is in pursuit of Philistine beauty Semadar (Angela Lansbury).
DeMille's tour de force, "The Ten Commandments", is truly a beautiful, entertaining, and impeccable film; it reenacts a famous biblical story of love, hate, betrayal, remorse, faith, vengeance, and self-sacrifice: the story of Samson and Delilah.
As for SAMSON AND DELILAH, I did not know about this movie for a long time.
This was the first of a string of films over the next 5 years rooted in the ancient world that Mature would star in...Hedy Lamarr was perfect as Delilah, although I don't consider her quite the beauty some others do.