''Queen of the Nile'' (, also known as ''Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile'') is a 1961 Italian adventure drama film directed by

Fernando Cerchio Fernando Cerchio (7 August 1914 – 19 August 1974) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 30 films between 1940 and 1972. Selected filmography * ''Men of the Mountain'' (1943) * ''Mistress of the Mountains'' ...

and starring

Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in ''Pinky (film), Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films ''In the Meantime, Da ...

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

Edmund Purdom Edmund Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19261 January 2009)

and

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 – 5 November 1979) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Although he emerged as ...

Plot

Cast

as Tanith /

Nefertiti Nefertiti () () was a queen of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Great Royal Wife, great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for their radical overhaul of state religious poli ...

as Benakon *

Edmund Purdom Edmund Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19261 January 2009)

as Tumos *

as Amenophis IV *

Liana Orfei Liana Orfei (born 6 June 1937) is an Italian actress and circus artist. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1959 and 1971. Life and career Born in San Giovanni in Persiceto, the daughter and niece of famous circus artists, since her chi ...

as Merit * Carlo D'Angelo as Seper *

Alberto Farnese Alberto Farnese (3 June 1926 – 2 June 1996) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows from 1951 to 1989. He starred in the film '' Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the ...

as Dakim *

Clelia Matania Clelia Matania (28 March 1918 – 14 October 1981) was an Italian film and voice actress. Life and career Born in London, the daughter of the Capri-born naturalized Briton painter Fortunino Matania (best known as Saturnino), Matania attended ...

as Penaba * Giulio Marchetti as Meck *

Piero Palermini Piero Palermini (18 September 1925 – 28 January 1996) was an Italian film actor. He was cast by Riccardo Freda in the 1949 swashbuckler, possibly due to a physical resemblance to the Hollywood actor Gene Kelly. Freda would come to regret this cas ...

as Nagor * Umberto Raho as Zeton * Luigi Marturano as Melad *

Raf Baldassarre Raffaele "Raf" Baldassarre (17 January 1932 - 11 January 1995) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born Raffaele Baldassarre in Giurdignano, Lecce, Apulia, he started his career in the late 1950s, being cast in many peplum and advent ...

as Mareb

Release

The film was released in Italian cinemas by Euro International Films in 1961, and grossed 388 millions lire.

Reception

The film was generally badly received by critics. In a contemporary review in ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'', the film is praised for its visual appearance, especially its colors, sets, and mass scenes, but criticized for its cartoonish dialogues and an overly unconstrained screenplay.

Jeffrey Richards Jeffrey Richards (born c.1945)Chris Arno"Fast Forward: Jeffrey Richards" ''The Guardian'', 11 January 2005 is a British historian. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, he is Professor of Cultural History at Lancaster University Lancaster ...

wrote: "Despite colourful costumes and sets and an action-packed finale, this was a stilted and one-dimensional affair ..with a plethora of sub-plots". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' describes it as "one of those countless inferior-quality Italian biblical epics".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title 1961 films Italian historical adventure films 1961 drama films 1960s adventure drama films Films directed by Fernando Cerchio Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli Sword-and-sandal films 1960s historical adventure films 1960s historical drama films Cultural depictions of Nefertiti 1960s Italian films Films set in the 14th century BC