If Charlton Heston had been born Jewish, he'd have been Jeff Chandler, a lookalike who lost out on both The Ten Commandments AND Ben-Hur to Old Granite Jaw. Had Chandler nabbed those roles, he may have become a superstar himself. As is, he played the leads in studio program pictures, those B+ movies that disappeared with the end of the 'studio contract' system in the early sixties. By then, Chandler was already gone, having died while filming a WWII action flick, Merrill's Marauders, for Sam Fuller in the Phillipines. Anyway, his director for this costume mini-epic was Doug Sirk, an expert out of making magic from routine material. Chandler's the Roman centurion who must push back the invading armies of Atilla the Hun. Ludmilla Tcherina is one of a number of flashy looking women (Blonde Allison Hayes, later the sixty foot woman, is another). Lots of fairly big and semi-spectacular action sequences, with Jack Palance hamming it up even more than usual as Atilla. Nice production values, given a moody atmosphere by the always fascinating Sirk. This is one of those films that have been so completely forgotten that even Turner Movies doesn't revive it. Too bad - for this represents a fun aspect of the Old Hollywood in its final hours that ought to be reclaimed by contemporary viewers.
Review of Sign of the Pagan
