
In ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) is obsessed with acquiring gold and plans to take it all with him into the "second life". To this end, he enlists the aid of Vashtar (James Robertson Justice), an architect whose people are enslaved in Egypt. The deal: build a robbery-proof tomb and the enslaved people will be freed. During the years that the pyramid is being built, Cyprian Princess Nellifer (Dame Joan Collins) becomes the Pharaoh's second wife, and she plots... (Full plot summary below)
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In ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) is obsessed with acquiring gold and plans to take it all with him into the "second life". To this end, he enlists the aid of Vashtar (James Robertson Justice), an architect whose people are enslaved in Egypt. The deal: build a robbery-proof tomb and the enslaved people will be freed. During the years that the pyramid is being built, Cyprian Princess Nellifer (Dame Joan Collins) becomes the Pharaoh's second wife, and she plots to prevent Khufu from taking his treasure with him when he dies, as well as helping him make the journey early.
Leave your thoughts about Land of the Pharaohs.
| USA TodayMike ClarkJack Hawkins is convincing in the lead role, while Joan Collins does what she does best, playing a ruthless, self-obsessed queen with no redeeming qualities – but we can’t help but love her. |
| Ozus' World Movie ReviewsDennis SchwartzBlockbuster epics are usually not this thoughtfully put together. |
| Entertainment WeeklyTim PurtellJoan Collins and her pointy bras are a hubba-hubba hoot. |
| Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonHoward Hawks’s only attempt at a wide-screen blockbuster (1955), much disparaged afterward by Hawks and many others, is actually fairly awesome if you can get beyond the clunky dialogue (some of it written by William Faulkner, as well as Harry Kurnitz) and the campy evilness of the Joan Collins character. |
| The IndependentLaurence PhelanAlthough the script (by Faulkner, among others) gets stranded with the usual slightly wooden dialogue considered necessary for ancient times, the story moves along at a stately but never sluggish pace, and is scattered with lovely moments, most notably the grim finale when Collins gets her ironic come-uppance. |
| Movie MetropolisJohn J. PuccioNo wars; no battles; one dinky sword fight. But much pageantry. |
| The Observer (UK)Philip FrenchJoan Collins is the only person in this film who seems to be enjoying the fact it's a big camp mess. |
| Classic Film and TelevisionMichael E. GrostIntelligent epic mixes spectacle and social commentary. |
| The New York TimesA.H. WeilerWhile it is impressively sweeping in its eye-filling pageantry, this saga of the building of a colossal pyramid 5,000 years ago is staged on the creaky foundation of a tale of palace intrigue that must have been banal even in the First Dynasty. |
| User ReviewIlona VA childhood favourite and I've since enjoyed historical spectacles. Tongueless monks and Joan Collins as a ruthless concubine, it's fantastic! |