Burt Lancaster was the original choice to play Samson, but declined due to a bad back. How different do you think this would have turned out if Burt had ignored his back pain and accepted the Samson role?
Or what would have happened if they had gone with the future Hercules star Steve Reeves or even somehow picked up a then unknown Charlton Heston?
It was a great insult and injury to George Reeves (TV's Superman) that he auditioned for the part of Samson in DeMille’s epic, only to be thrown a bone to play a wounded messenger, losing out to beefcake Italian-American star Victor Mature for the title role. In retrospect, DeMille chose Mature wisely, he was the best choice for the part.
Dejael
Really? George Reeves auditioned for the role of Samson? Interesting... imagine how differently his career might have turned out...
shareAre you sure that it was George Reeves who auditioned for the lead? I think it may be Steve Reeves you're thinking of. Here's what the American Film Insitute has to say about Reeves.
According to a Paramount News item, the studio launched a publicity campaign with a "Mr. Samson" and "Miss Delilah" contest held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, which included Awinners of A.A.U. contests held over the nation, DeMille then granted the winners auditions. Steve Reeves won the "Mr. Samson" contest...And here's Steve Reeves' own version:
One of Cecil B. De Mille's talent scouts saw me and brought me into Paramount, New York City, for a screen test for Samson and Delilah. I did the test in my street clothes but I passed it, and he sent me a seven year contract. So, on my 22nd birthday, I left New York City on a plane to Hollywood and got myself a little apartment within walking distance of Paramount Studios, because I didn't have a car. I arrived at Paramount and walked into Mr. De Mille's office. He had five two-foot by three-foot blow-ups of pictures on his wall. The pictures were of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Alan Ladd, and me, in a pose called "Perfection in the Clouds," where I'm standing with my hands over my head stretching toward the sky.Asked what he thought of Mature, Steve Reeves commented in the same interview:
And he said, "This is my Samson." Then he added, "But you must realize that the motion picture camera puts on 15 pounds, so you're going to I have to lose 15 pounds. You understand?" I said, "Yes, sir." He gave me a coach who would spend a couple of hours a day with me, and he'd invite me to have lunch with him every day. [...] Once a week I would have to do a skit for him. I would study it, and they'd give me other actors to work with. I was on a stage where they had a glass window between the seats and me, and I couldn't see him. I did this on and off, I guess, for about three months. Then he called me into his office and said, "You've lost seven pounds in three months. Some days your skits are really good; and some days they're terrible. It looks like you=re preoccupied with something. I'm going to start the picture a month from now, and I'm going to have to use Victor Mature. He's not ideal for it, but he's an experienced actor, and I can depend on him."
Nothing against Victor Mature, but I learned that a person has to have the sympathy of the public. In Samson and Delilah, in the scene where they blinded him, there were little 'oohs' and 'ahs,' but within six months I saw Captain From Castille with Tyrone Power, where he gets wounded on the side of his head, and all the women in the audience went 'Ohhhh!' Tyrone Power had the sympathy of the audience and Victor Mature didn't - at least in that picture.Of course, all that doesn't mean that George Reeves didn't also read for the part...
I just read in Victor Mature's site here in IMDB, that George Reeves never auditioned for the part of Samson..go check it out. Mature said he was friends with George and got him the part of the wounded soldier. Up to that time George was just a bit player, until he got his so called break on television as Superman. In fact, Mature was involved in getting some of his friends as the extras during the wedding scene.
shareMaybe Groucho Marx would not have come up with the line about not liking movies where the leading man had bigger t-ts than the leading lady.
shareAs much as I like the film (especially for the climactic destruction of the temple of Dagon, the gorgeous costumes, and the more or less historically accurate architecture and props), I think Burt Lancaster would have made a FAR better Samson. He had better muscle tone than Mature, whose chest was a bit flabby, in my opinion. And, although Mature was a reasonably good actor, he was not in the same calibre as Lancaster. Steve Reeves had a handsome face and was indisputably the most muscular of all three, but also the least talented. And, as for Charlton Heston, I think that he would have been too "wiry" -- not bulky enough.
shareYou make a good case, raphael65. Nothing against Victor Mature who, by his own admission was not a great actor, Mature always looked more stocky than actually muscular, whereas Burt Lancaster had more definition/tone to his physique, having been an acrobat and athlete. I wouldn't be surprised though if someone else on here said Lancaster wasn't "bulky" enough though.
I can't really say if Steve Reeves (whom I enjoyed in many low budget B-films) was talented or not seeing as how his voice was almost always dubbed by some other guy. You can tell a lot by an actor's range just by listening to the way they say their lines. Not that audiences have ever seemed to demand much of the former weight-lifters-turned-actors lot.
Anyone else with ideas/insights on this?
Steve Reeves always did his own voiceover dubbing for his own voice in his films, so that is his own true voice you hear in his movies.
It is also true that BOTH Steve Reeves (age 22) and George Reeves (age 35) did in fact audition for the part of Samson, and lost to Vic Mature (age 30 in 1949, according to his official studio bios, which put his birth year at 1919, yet he actually was born in 1913, making him actually 36 in 1949).
Steve Reeves fortunately had an inside track with DeMille, but the movie mogul was fickle (just look at his pronouncements to Steve Reeves above) and caved in to studio pressure to use an experienced actor and box office draw.
Steve Reeves, although grateful for the recognition, was very disappointed when his film career failed to take off in 1949, and had to wait until 1954 when he was featured in MGM's ATHENA and JUPITER'S DARLING. This brought him to the attention of producer Joseph E. Levine, who was putting up money for the Italian epic HERCULES, which was filmed and released in Italy in 1957, with U.S. release in English six months later in 1958. HERCULES and HERCULES UNCHAINED made Steve Reeves an international superstar.
George Reeves was at the lowest ebb of his film career in 1949, having starred in a poorly-made low-budget Columbia Sam Katzman dud movie serial, The ADVENTURES OF SIR GALAHAD, for which he was rightfully embarassed. He was also personally embarassed by his appearance as the messenger in DeMille's SAMSON AND DELILAH. The lack of meaningful work for a star of his high quality contributed to the breakup of his marriage to Ellanora Needles.
Dejael
I think Burt Lancaster would have made a FAR better Samson.Me too.
Interesting posts -- and fun. I, too, think that Lancaster could have pulled it off quite well (Reeves - either one - no). Remember, though, Mature was a much bigger box office draw then, and had a marvelous Old Testament looking face, which was on screen even when other parts of him weren't. BTW, I think, at that time, Mature was a better actor, certainly more tested, than Lancaster and always a little underrated (He was wonderful in "My Darling Clementine", "Kiss of Death", "The Robe", and this one).
I may be all alone in this but, since Samson's strength was to have come directly from God, why did he have to have a Gold's Gym developed physique? The hair and committment were the thing, no? Just his looking big, tough, meaty and, well, reasonably suited to the feats of strength depicted would have been sufficient wouldn't they? I mean, I doubt God required isometrics and a low-fat diet between the drinking bouts and feminine encounters His Judge was supposed to have been drawn to.
Nothing against Victor Mature, who did have an undeniable "Old Testament looking face" (Mature often credited his success in these films to his ability to "make with the Holy look") but off the record, I wonder if having Burt Lancaster - who's career ultimately outshined Mature's - as the lead would have gotten this film onto a proper DVD by now - which it still hasn't got.
As for super-strength and big muscles, well, what can I say - people associate strength with muscles. Tis the American Way. ;)
You're probably right on both counts.
shareOne seems to forget that their would of been a large age difference had Steve Reeves been chosen. He was 22 at the time and Hedy was pushing 35 ( although that age didn't hamper her beauty ). Don't forget she was suppose to be Angela's younger sister, where in fact Angela was younger than Hedy. Mature was a year or so older than Hedy, so the fit was perfect. Lancaster was a newcomer at the time, not really established as a top movie star, and inexperienced as an actor, which he improved upon in his later years. Steve Reeves had the body...and that was all.
shareSteve Reeves wasn't just very young, he LOOKED very young. And even after he became Hercules and had huge name recognition, he was never able to translate that into true Hollywood stardom. That all indicates that the acting "talent" we see in his sand and sandals movies was probably the best he could come up with. DeMille was no fool. He almost certainly brought Reeves to Hollywood and spent a little bit of money on the boy while deciding who he REALLY wanted to play Samson. And, of course, getting the salary demands of someone like Victor Mature down as low as possible by dangling Reeves in front of him.
Personally, I think Mature was the best choice. Lancaster may have been one heck of an actor, but he "looked" modern. Mature had the believable look of a Biblical hero. I just wish that he'd looked a little more buff than he did. Groucho's quip about not watching movies where the guy's breasts are bigger than the girls is all too accurate for Mature. His pecs were really more like breasts than pecs.
Burt Lancaster had the right physique to play Samson ... but the wrong face. Heston would have been the best Samson, if only he had waved at De Mille a few years earlier. There is a very interesting article about Steve Reeves playing Samson in the Perfect Vision Magazine. Read it if you can, it's very good.
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Interesting thought. But completely wrong. Hedy Lamarr was gorgeous, intelligent and elegant. The idea that her character was able to seduce kings and commoners alike was completely plausible. DeCarlo was great but she didn't have the mystery, aristocracy and allure of Hedy.
Lancaster, on the other hand, had too much intelligence behind his eyes to be so easily duped as Samson. Mature didn't have that problem. His Samson was earthy, not all that bright and "common" enough that you could totally believe that Hedy could manipulate him with very little difficult.
I don't think that the casting could have been better.
The casting was ideal as it was! And George Sanders was great as the Saran!
shareLancaster, on the other hand, had too much intelligence behind his eyes to be so easily duped as Samson
Are you trying to say that only numbskulls get duped by gorgeous femails?
Even the cleverest man in the world would have given in to Hedy LaMarr.
http://www.secretoftheincas.co.uk
"since Samson's strength was to have come directly from God, why did he have to have a Gold's Gym developed physique? The hair and committment were the thing, no? Just his looking big, tough, meaty and, well, reasonably suited to the feats of strength depicted would have been sufficient wouldn't they? I mean, I doubt God required isometrics and a low-fat diet..."
Check the Bible. Samson was a particular type of Nazirite. A nazirite in general is a man or woman who swears to abstain from certain foods and alcohol and not cut their hair, but this is a vow that can last for a specific period of time. Nazirites like Samson were a group of select warriors who had a very specific diet and many other restrictions and requirements... one of which was that their hair must never be cut. They were supposed to be a bunch of big, tough, muscular guys -- somewhere between Marines and monks. That Samson's strength was restored when his hair grew back is in keeping with the tradition which allows Nazirites to renew their vows and status if their vows are broken.
Pardon the pun. Lancaster would had given a stronger performance.
Its that man again!!
What about Burt Lancaster as Samson and Susan Hayward as Delilah!
That casting would have been so hot they would have burned a hole in the screen.
Heck, I'd have loved to see DeMille's first choice, Henry Wilcoxon! He was considered too old by the time DeMille got ready to actually make the picture, so they made him Prince Atur instead. He was a wonderful and much underrated actor.
shareAs much as I would love to see a movie with Burt Lancaster in his prime with pecs burnished by Middle Eastern oils, I have to admit that the casting worked out very well for this spectacle.
Victor Mature was a clear precursor for Sylvester Stallone, without the over-inflated ego. To see him duped by wily Lamarr seems like Biblical accuracy to me.
Given how people noticed/criticised the film for being camp and 'vulgar' on it's release I don't think Lancaster would have made much difference. A DeMille film was a Demille film down to the bone no matter how talented the onscreen performers were or weren't(THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH as an example).
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Victor Mature as the original Stallone? Wow...brilliant observation, you're so exactly right!
shareI thought the Victor Mature-Hedy Lamarr combo worked well, but the film would’ve been brought to a whole other level with Burt Lancaster as Samson, though not with Hedy Lamarr...Ava Gardner would’ve been PERFECT for this opposite Lancaster. They were wonderful together several yrs before this in The Killers. Another actor from the era that may’ve worked well in this role opposite Lamarr is Kirk Douglas. Or Anthony Quinn might have been good for this role, in the same vein or type as Victor Mature, but not with Lamarr.
Wouldn't Kirk Douglas have been a bit short for Samson? ;)
If the film had been made a few years later, Charlton Heston may have made a good Samson, though at the time the film was made (late 40s) Heston probably would have been too young.
I read in the Imdb trivia for Ben Hur that Lancaster was a devout athiest (oxymoron anyone?) and avoided anything biblical.
shareWell its done its over so let it be. No compliants on my part..they were both excellent in their parts, considering the campy dialogue. Of course if your a Susan Hayward fan, you would pick her, the same for Ava, and Rita and Za Za Pitts...DeMille had Hedy in mind from the beginning after seeing her as Tondelayo in "White Cargo".,,and of course being known as the most beautiful woman in the world at that time and even today i do not see anyone that could come close to her beauty.
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