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| The Last Days of Pompeii | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mario Bonnard Sergio Leone |
| Written by | Sergio Corbucci Ennio de Concini Sergio Leone |
| Produced by | Paolo Moffa Lucio Fulci |
| Starring | Steve Reeves Christine Kaufmann Fernando Rey |
| Cinematography | Antonio L. Ballesteros |
| Edited by | Eraldo Da Roma Julio Peña |
| Music by | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | United Artist (USA) |
Release date | November 12, 1959 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | English |
The Last Days of Pompeii (1959) (Italian: Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) is an Italian sword and sandal action film, starring Steve Reeves, Christine Kaufmann and Fernando Rey, and directed by Sergio Leone. Mario Bonnard, the original director, fell ill on the first day of shooting, so Leone and the scriptwriters finished the film.
The film is characterized by its beautiful CinemaScope framing, an unexpectedly lavish look, and is one of the many films produced at the Cinecittà studios in Rome during the 1960s as part of the "peplum" sword and sandal craze, originally launched by Pietro Francisci's 1958 film Le fatiche di Ercole, released as Hercules in the United States by Joseph E. Levine.
The film is also interesting as an early example of Leone's work, which would soon become internationally popular with his series of spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood. In his use of widescreen, as well as his penchant for colorful violence and outlandish plot twists, Leone displays a visual flair that would soon propel him to directorial fame.
