The Last Days of Pompeii

1935
Approved
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

In the doomed Roman city, a gentle blacksmith becomes a corrupt gladiator, while his son leans toward Christianity.In the doomed Roman city, a gentle blacksmith becomes a corrupt gladiator, while his son leans toward Christianity.In the doomed Roman city, a gentle blacksmith becomes a corrupt gladiator, while his son leans toward Christianity.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.3K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Top cast61

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Preston Foster

Marcus

Basil Rathbone

Pontius Pilate

David Holt

Flavius (As a Boy)

Alan Hale

Burbix

John Wood

Flavius (As a Man)

Louis Calhern

Prefect (Allus Martius)

Dorothy Wilson

Clodia

Wyrley Birch

Leaster

Betty Alden

Calpurnia
(uncredited)

Bebe Allen

Woman
(uncredited)

Agnes Anderson

Noblewoman in Prefect's Box
(uncredited)

Sam Appel

Porridge Seller
(uncredited)

Reginald Barlow

The Janitor of the Slave Market
(uncredited)

Nathan Barragar

Prefect's Guard
(uncredited)

Maurice Black

Attendant in Gladiators' Training Room
(uncredited)

Ward Bond

Murmex of Carthage, a Gladiator
(uncredited)

Symona Boniface

Slave Auction Observer
(uncredited)

Tom Brower

Runaway Slave
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Trivia
According to the book The RKO Story, this film cost $237,000 more than it grossed in its original release, but it finally broke even with the box office from a 1949 re-release, paired with She (1935).

Goofs
The central subplot of the meeting with Jesus is impossible, as Pompeii was destroyed after his death in A.D. 79. Given these dates, Flavius would have been a middle aged man, clearly not a young man as portrayed.

Quotes
Pontius Pilate: My boy, I've heard such ideas, a long time ago. They are dreams - beautiful dreams, I know, but dreams nonetheless.
Flavius, as a Man: Was it a dream that once I knew a man who said "Love thy neighbor as thyself"?
Marcus: There never was such a man, I tell you.
Pontius Pilate: Don't lie to him, Marcus. There was such a man.
Flavius, as a Man: What happened to him?
Pontius Pilate: I crucified Him.

Crazy credits
The foreword at the beginning is a disclaimer stating that this film is not based on Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's novel. (It does not use the novel's plot, nor does it have any of the novel's characters.) However, the disclaimer goes on to say that the filmmakers are indebted to him for the description of the destruction of Pompeii.

Alternate versions
A colorized version was made of this film in 1990.

Connections
Edited into The Toast of New York (1937)

User reviews42

Review

Featured review

7/10

Enjoyable disaster movie from the King Kong team

Two years after King Kong, the same team went on to make this enjoyable disaster movie about life in Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It is directed by Kong's Ernest B Schoedsack and the impressive eruption at the end was also done by the same people who did the effects for Kong including Willis O'Brien.

The excellent cast includes Preston Foster, Alan Hale, a pre Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone and Edward Van Sloan (Dracula, Frankenstein).

The Last Days of Pompeii seems to be quite a rare movie and I was pleased when BBC2 screened it several years ago and I still have it on video.

Catch this if you are lucky. Enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.