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“The Last Duel” and the Subversion of Epic Heroism
“The Last Duel” and the Subversion of Epic Heroism
Ridley Scott’s newest film is, in many ways, a critique of his earlier epics, including and especially Gladiator.
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Oct 26, 2021
Atomic Anxiety and the Futility of Heroism in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments
Atomic Anxiety and the Futility of Heroism in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments
Released a mere three years after the testing of hydrogen bombs rendered collective humanity more powerful — and more vulnerable — than…
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Sep 10, 2020
Experiencing the Horrors of History in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Sign of the Cross”
Experiencing the Horrors of History in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Sign of the Cross”
No director could so deftly weave the sexy and the sacred so deftly as Cecil B. DeMille. As he once aptly stated, “An audience of…
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Sep 8, 2020
Queer Villainy and the Sadistic Pleasures of the Classic Hollywood Epic
Queer Villainy and the Sadistic Pleasures of the Classic Hollywood Epic
Queer characters have been present in epic films about antiquity almost from the beginning of the form. The 1932 film The Sign of the…
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Sep 3, 2020
Desire and Death in Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah
Desire and Death in Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah
As Cecil B. DeMille recounts in his autobiography, when he pitched the story of Samson and Delilah to the studio heads at Paramount, he…
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Sep 1, 2020
Messianic Ambivalence in Nicholas Ray’s “King of Kings” (1961)
Messianic Ambivalence in Nicholas Ray’s “King of Kings” (1961)
In his review of Nicholas Ray’s King of Kings (1961), the critic Ivan Spear noted that part of the film’s appeal lay with its “connotated…
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Oct 1, 2020
Death-in-Desire in David and Bathsheba (1951)
Death-in-Desire in David and Bathsheba (1951)
The postwar epic expresses a profound ambivalence about the nature and influence of sexual desire.
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Oct 20, 2020
10 Under-appreciated Epic Films
10 Under-appreciated Epic Films
Sometimes, even “bad” movies have hidden depths that are worthy of examination.
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Oct 30, 2020
“Spartacus” (1960) and the Despair of the Future
“Spartacus” (1960) and the Despair of the Future
The 1960 film Spartacus is one of the bleakest and most despairing of the midcentury cycle of epic films set in antiquity, and as such, it…
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Nov 11, 2020
The Foreclosure of Utopian Futures in “Cleopatra” (1963)
The Foreclosure of Utopian Futures in “Cleopatra” (1963)
One of classic Hollywood’s most notoriously expensive productions expresses a profound skepticism about the future.
Dr. Thomas J. West III
Jan 5, 2021
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