Samson and Delilah (1949)

'Samson and Delilah' is an epic biblical drama made in 1949, directed by Cecil B. DeMille at his most lavish, and starring Victor Mature, Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury and Henry Wilcoxon.

Commercially it was a great success. It became the highest-grossing film of 1950, and the third highest-grossing film ever at the time of its release. It was the movie which cemented the reputation of Victor Mature as a Hollywood leading man. Of its five Academy Award nominations, the film won two for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. With a $28 million gross domestically, this was Paramount Pictures' biggest hit since 'The Ten Commandments' in 1923.

The movie color is a purist's delight and the sets, and costumes, are well worthy a viewing.

Plot

The basic story comes from chapters 13-16 of The Old Testament Book of Judges ,and is based on a 1927 novel by Vladimir Jabotinsky titled "Judge and Fool".

The Israelites have turned away from God and have become oppressed by the neighboring tribes, including the Philistines. Samson, played by Victor Mature, is an Israelite warrior who has been given great physical strength by God in order to combat the Philistines. His vulnerability is the fact that his amazing strength comes from his hair. Delilah, played by Hedy Lamarr is a Philistine who seduces Samson, in order to persuade him into revealing the secret of his strength.

She cuts his hair and delivers him to the Philistine leader, The Saran of Gaza, played by George Sanders.

The Philistines torture Samson and blind him but when his hair grows back he is able to spectacularly turn the tables on his tormentors.

Production

Originally the title roles were to be given to Henry Wilcoxon and Miriam Hopkins. Many more actors and actresses were considered for these roles including Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Dolores del Río, Paulette Goddard, Joan Crawford and Vivien Leigh for Delilah and. Burt Lancaster and Steve Reeves for the role of Samson.

Pre-production on the film began in 1935, but actual filming officially commenced in 1948. Jesse L. Lasky Jr. and Fredric M. Frank completed the 186-page script on September 7, 1948

For the scene in which Samson kills the lion, Victor Mature refused to wrestle a tame movie lion. The scene shows a stuntman wrestling the tame lion, intercut with close-ups of Mature wrestling a lion skin.

Special effects artist Gordon Jennings.was responsible for the enjoyable spectacle of the toppling of the temple of Dagon..This scene alone cost $150,000, and in total took a year to shoot. A 37-foot high model was built and destroyed three times to get the effect from different camera angles