''Theodora, Slave Empress'' ( it, Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio) is a 1954 film about Theodora, a former slave who married

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

, emperor of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium' ...

in AD 527–565. It was directed by Riccardo Freda.

Cast

Gianna Maria Canale Gianna Maria Canale (12 September 1927 – 13 February 2009) was an Italian film actress. Biography Canale was born in 1927 in Reggio Calabria. In 1947, she competed in the Miss Italia beauty contest, where she was runner-up to Lucia B ...

as " Theodora" * Georges Marchal as "

" * Renato Baldini as "Arcal", Theodora's would-be lover *

Henri Guisol Henri Guisol (12 October 1904 – 11 May 1994) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than seventy films from 1931 to 1980. He enjoyed a career in French '' who done its'' and film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily t ...

as " Giovanni di Cappadocia" * Irene Papas as "Faida", Theodora's step-sister * Olga Solbelli as "Egina", Theodora's step-mother *

Roger Pigaut Roger Pigaut (birth name Roger Paul Louis Pigot) (8 April 1919 – 24 December 1989) was a French actor and film director. He appeared in 40 films between 1943 and 1980. Partial filmography * ''Retour de flamme'' (1943) - Maurice * ''Love ...

as "Captain Andres" * Nerio Bernardi as "General Belisarius" *

Carletto Sposito Carlo Sposito (1 May 1924 – 9 September 1984) was an Italian character actor, sometimes credited as Carletto Sposito. Born in Palermo, he was among the most active actors in the post-war Italian genre cinema. He was also pretty active on sta ...

as "Scarpios" *

Alessandro Fersen Alessandro Fersen (5 December 1911 – 3 October 2001) was a Polish-born Italian dramatist, actor, theater director, author and drama teacher. Born Aleksander Fajrajzen in Łódź to a Jewish family, Fersen he moved to Genoa with his family in 1 ...

as "The Metropolitan"

Release

''Theodora, Slave Empress'' was distributed theatrically in Italy on 29 September 1954 by Lux Film. It grossed a total of 592 million Italian lire on this domestic release. It was also distributed in France by Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France as ''Théodora, impératrice de Byzance''. The film was the first of director Riccardo Freda's film to obtain a wide distribution outside Italy. It was also released in the USA in December, 1954, distributed by Lux Film America as an I.F.E. release. For this occasion, the film was dubbed into English and edited to 88 minutes (from its original runtime of 124 minutes). The editing was accomplished by simply removing the middle 4 reels of film, covering the plotline from the marriage of Theodora and Justinian to the start of the nobility's revolt against Justinian and his reforms.

Reception

In a contemporary review, The '' Monthly Film Bulletin'' spoke of the film in negative terms, calling it a "dispiriting experience". The piece referred to Freda's direction as "laboured", stating that he "brings neither gusto nor honest vulgarity to the narrative". Regarding the action scenes, the reviewer felt that only the chariot race was staged with "any suggestion of real flamboyancy or flair" and that Canale's erotic dance before Justinian was "painfully unexciting".

References

Footnotes

Sources

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External links

* 1954 films 1950s Italian-language films Films set in the Byzantine Empire Films set in the 6th century Films set in Istanbul Italian biographical films French biographical films Peplum films Films directed by Riccardo Freda 1950s biographical films 1950s historical films Biographical films about Roman emperors Cultural depictions of Justinian I Cultural depictions of Theodora I Lux Film films Sword and sandal films Films scored by Renzo Rossellini 1950s Italian films 1950s French films {{historic-film-stub