Like the Thomas B. Costain book, the picture is overdrawn and sometimes tedious, but producer-director Victor Saville still manages to instill interest in what's going on, and even hits a feeling of excitement occasionally.

Like the Thomas B. Costain book, the picture is overdrawn and sometimes tedious, but producer-director Victor Saville still manages to instill interest in what’s going on, and even hits a feeling of excitement occasionally.

The picture introduces Newman who handles himself well before the cameras. Helping his pic debut is Pier Angeli, and it is their scenes together that add the warmth to what might otherwise have been a cold spectacle.

The plot portrays the struggle of Christians to save for the future the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. On the side of the Christians is a Greek sculptor, played by Newman, who is fashioning a silver chalice to hold the religious symbol. On the side of evil are the decadent Romans, ruled over by an effete Nero, and Simon, the magician (a real character), played by Jack Palance, who wants to use the destruction of the cup to further his own rise to power.

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1954: Nominations: Best Color Cinematography, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture

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The Silver Chalice

  • Production: Warner. Director Victor Saville; Producer Victor Saville; Screenplay Lesser Samuels; Camera William V. Skall; Editor George White; Music Franz Waxman; Art Director Rolf Gerard, Boris Leven
  • Crew: (Color) Widescreen. Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1954. Running time: 142 MIN.
  • With: Virginia Mayo Pier Angeli Jack Palance Paul Newman Natalie Wood Joseph Wiseman

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