Valley of the Kings is a 1954 adventure film directed by Robert Pirosh. The film stars Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, and Carlos Thompson. Valley of the Kings took inspiration from the archeological history book Gods, Graves, and Scholars (1949) written by C.W. Ceram.
Director: Robert Pirosh
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Carlos Thompson, Kurt Kasznar, Victor Jory, Leon Askin, Aldo Silvani, Samia Gamal
US Box Office: $3,977,500 ($84,600,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Eastmancolor
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: July 21, 1954 (Egyptian and American premieres)
Plot Summary: In 1900 Egypt archeologist Mark Brandon (Robert Taylor) is approached by Ann Mercedes (Eleanor Parker) who asks Brandon to help her find the tomb of the pharaoh Ra-Hotep. Ann’s late archeologist father believed that he could prove that the Old Testament account of Joseph in Egypt was true by finding evidence of Joseph’s existence in Ra-Hotep’s tomb, and Ann wants to finish her father’s work. Although skeptical, Mark agrees to help Ann, two meet up with Ann’s husband Philip (Carlos Thompson) and soon begin their search for Ra-Hotep’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Unbeknownst to Mark and Ann, Philip has a sinister ulterior motive for wanting to find the tomb…
Production: On November 9, 1950 MGM’s adventure film King Solomon’s Mines, which was primarily shot on location in Africa, was released. King’s Solomon’s Mines was a big hit at the box office and was MGM’s most successful film of 1950. Due to that film’s success, MGM executives were interested in producing another adventure film shot on location in Africa. The executives began work on the new film, Valley of the Kings, in 1952. At the time the studio announced that Sam Zimbalist, who had produced King Solomon’s Mines, was going to produce Valley of the Kings. It is unclear who actually produced the final film, as the film’s producer was not credited. The producer of Valley of the Kings was apparently disappointed with the final product and wished to remain anonymous.
The screenplay for Valley of the Kings was written by Robert Pirosh and Karl Tunberg. MGM executives realized that the plot outline for Valley of the Kings had similarities to historical records from “Robbers in the Valley of the Kings”, a chapter of the archeological history book Gods, Graves, and Scholars (1949) by C.W. Ceram. MGM purchased the film rights to Gods, Graves, and Scholars to avoid any potential legal trouble. Screenwriter Robert Pirosh was chosen to direct Valley of the Kings. Pirosh had recently won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his script for the war film Battleground (1949), which was loosely based on Pirosh’s own experiences in World War II. Valley of the Kings was only the third film Pirosh had directed after the war film Go for Broke! (1951) and the comedy-drama Washington Story (1952). Robert Surtees, who had won an Academy Award for his work on King Solomon’s Mines, was the cinematographer for Valley of the Kings.
Italian actor Vittorio Gassman was originally cast in the lead role of archeologist Mark Brandon. Filming on Valley of the Kings was delayed so Gassman left the project and instead starred in MGM’s musical Rhapsody (1954). The studio considered replacing Gassman with Howard Keel. The much older, but more well known, Robert Taylor was eventually cast as Brandon. Taylor had a contract with MGM and recently starred in the religious epic Quo Vadis (1951) and the adventure film Ivanhoe (1953). Actress Eleanor Parker was cast as Ann Mercedes, the film’s leading lady. Parker was also a contract star with MGM and recently starred in the adventure film Scaramouche (1952) and the western Escape from Fort Bravo (1953). Taylor and Parker previously appeared together in the war drama Above and Beyond (1952).
Director Robert Pirosh began shooting Valley of the Kings on location in Egypt at the start of December 1953. Location filming was done at and near the Egyptian cities of Cairo and Luxor. Several ancient Egyptian temples also served as shooting locations including: the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Karnak Temple complex near Luxor, and the Sphinx of Giza. The scene where Mark and Ann encounter the grave robbers was shot at the Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. Valley of the Kings notably depicts the Abu Simbel temples in their original location as the Egyptian Government would later move the temples in the 1960s to keep them from being destroyed by flooding from the Aswan High Dam. After filming in Egypt wrapped up, the production moved back to Hollywood. Shooting on set at MGM Studios went from January to February of 1954.
Actress Eleanor Parker had a terrible experience shooting Valley of the Kings on location in Egypt. She would later note that the producer didn’t make any special accommodations for the cast and crew, and that she and the other actors had to stay in unsanitary conditions with virtually no privacy on set. Parker also noted that director Pirosh was frequently confused and that the more experienced cameraman Robert Surtees essentially served as the real director on Valley of the Kings.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Valley of the Kings was the first film to feature Leora Dana (the “Lovely Girl”). Though she had been a stage actress since 1947 and had guest roles in a few television series, Valley of the Kings was Dana’s film debut. She would soon receive more prominent roles in the western 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and the Frank Sinatra drama film Some Came Running (1958). Dana notably later played supporting roles in the Disney film Pollyanna (1960) and the war epic Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970).
The dancer in Valley of the Kings was played by Egyptian actress and belly dancer Samia Gamal. Although Gamal only has a minor role in Valley of the Kings her name was included in the credits and on the film’s posters. She was a popular star in her native Egypt and appeared in numerous Egyptian films. In 1954 she also starred in the French comedy film Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Reception: Although Valley of the Kings was originally intended to be released in August of 1954, MGM studio executives moved the film’s release date to July. This was done to take advantage of the publicity generated by the recent discovery of an ancient Egyptian boat used in funeral rites near the Great Pyramid at Cheops, Egypt. Valley of the Kings premiered on July 21, 1954 simultaneously in three cities: Cairo, Egypt; Alexandria, Egypt; and New York City. This was the first time that an American film had its world premiere in Egypt. Valley of the Kings was a disappointment at the box office and lost money for MGM. Valley of the Kings‘ poor box office performance was likely due to competition from 20th Century Fox’s The Egyptian, an Egypt-set historical epic released about a month later.
Valley of the Kings received generally negative reviews from film critics when it was first released. Harry MacArthur of The Evening Star criticized the film’s story for being too generic and also disparaged Valley of the Kings for lacking an exciting finale. Despite this criticism, MacArthur was still impressed with the film’s location shooting and cinematography. The critics at Variety also praised Valley of the Kings‘ Egyptian location shooting but gave the film a negative review because of its “routine story.” A.H. Weiler of The New York Times similarly criticized the story but praised the location shooting.
Valley of the Kings has continued to receive generally negative reviews from modern critics. Dennis Schwarz panned Valley of the Kings as being a “vacuous excavation yarn.” Tom Hutchinson of Radio Times praised the “majestic” score by composer Miklós Rózsa, but noted that he couldn’t otherwise recommend Valley of the Kings. Laura Grieve of Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings conversely gave Valley of the Kings a mildly positive review. She noted that while not perfect, Valley of the Kings was still enjoyable and recommended the film to fans of Taylor and Parker.
Why You Should See It: Valley of the Kings is an average but acceptable 1950s adventure film. The location shooting is fantastic and showcases plenty of ancient Egyptian monuments. Miklós Rózsa’s film score is also quite good. Valley of the Kings has a few standout moments: the horse carriage chase was exciting and the sandstorm was intense. However, I do think that on the whole Valley of the Kings could have been more exciting, and in my opinion the film is hurt by the lack of a truely exhilarating finale.