The acting credits for this film are woefully incomplete; as listed here at imdb and in the actual film print, several speaking roles get no credit at all. Does anyone know who played Mabuna, Joan Collins' faithful, muscular slave?
shareI too am curious! This actor looks vaguely familiar, and I think I may have seen him in some epic type of film of ancient times (perhaps a biblical epic or maybe depicting ancient Greece...?).
The actor who played Mabuna, Princess Nellifer's slave from Cyprus, is listed in the original 1955 WB pressbook, if anyone has one on hand. Mine is in storage at the moment, but I do recall a full cast credits list in the pressbook.
Dejael
I, too, would like to know who played "Mabuna" in this film. That's a pretty big part, after all; he unleashes the cobra on Khufu's son and then, later, tries to kill Khufu with his own hands. How could a part like that possibly get NO credit?
What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter.
When the film was first released in June 1955, the WB LAND OF THE PHARAOHS movie program books which were available in the lobby of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood certainly had full credits. A collector I know still has one, and I looked through it.
He is most likely an Italian actor since there were many Italian supporting actors in this production, partly filmed on location in the Nile Delta region of Egypt (exteriors), and partly at Cinecitta Studios in Rome (interiors). He was a musclebound man who had a key role in the film.
Somewhere in my storage I have the original WB pressbook for this film, which lists all the principal actors in the production. Consulting this will solve the mystery. If anyone has the 1993 WB Laserdisc, it might have full credits. I used to have it and wish I still did. I only watched it once. It was in full Stereo and CinemaScope wide screen, and the color and image quality was perfect.
I have the WB DVD which is obviously from the same master, and is good quality. The 1992 WB VHS videotape I had was not in wide screen, and was a disappointment.
That's why I got the Laserdisc.
Dejael
He's friggin hot.
shareI thought I had found the actor's name. He is listed as Bud Thompson, an American dancer, in the French entry of Wikipedia for that film ("Terre des Pharaons" - Wikipedia). In French, his voice is dubbed by Henri Djanik. The fact that the French have gone to the trouble of researching the question is proof that this film is considered "serious cinema" in France. I have updated the IMDb data to that effect.
Bud (Robert) Thompson was a dancer and assistant choreographer in American Paul Steffen's ground-breaking ballet company. See: http://www.paulsteffen.org/
Paul Steffen was hired to choreograph "Land of the Pharaohs", which would explain Bud Thompson's casting.
You can see him dance here in "Lo Scapolo" (1955), orch. conducted by Xavier Cugat, voice by Abbe Lane and choreography by Paul Steffen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptTGMYk0Wvs
The only problem is that this "Bud Thompson" doesn't look anything like the bodybuilder in the film. Maybe French Wikipedia made a mistake and identified one of the dancers in the "Land of the Pharaohs" ballet instead.
If none of you are willing to dig for and find the original souvenir program of the film, there is still a source I can explore. The most interesting book about the film is written in French by Howard Hawks's second unit director, (French-born) Noël Howard. His book is called "Hollywood sur Nil" (Hollywood on the Nile).
I have ordered it from Amazon.ca. I will get it at the beginning of November. I will read it and, hopefully, find more information on Mabuna.
Some of you may also have a copy of Joan Collins's memoirs. If so, they may also contain information on this mysterious individual.
Here is footage of Mabuna in the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiFQM5U_vpk
Benoît A. Racine
Toronto (Ontario) CANADA