Самсон и Далила

Film by Cecil B. DeMille

Samson and Delilah is a 1949 American romantic biblical drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures. It depicts the biblical story of Samson, a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair, and his love for Delilah, the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret, and then betrays him to the Philistines. It stars Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles, George Sanders as the Saran, Angela Lansbury as Semadar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Prince Ahtur. Pre production on the film began as early as 1935, but principal photography officially commenced in 1948. The screenplay, written by Jesse L. Lasky Jr. and Fredric M. Frank, is based on the biblical Book of Judges and adapted from an original film treatment by Harold Lamb, also drawing from Vladimir Jabotinsky's 1927 novel Samson the Nazarite. Upon its release, the film was praised for its Technicolor cinematography, lead performances, costumes, sets, and innovative special effects. After premiering in New York City on 21 December 1949, Samson and Delilah opened in Los Angeles on 13 January 1950. A massive commercial success, it became the highest grossing film of 1950, and the third highest grossing film ever at the time of its release. Of its five Academy Award nominations, the film won two for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Samson, a Danite Hebrew placed under Nazirite vows from birth by his mother Hazelelponit, is engaged to a Philistine woman named Semadar. At their wedding feast, Samson loses a bet with his wedding guests because of Semadar and attacks 30 Philistines to strip them of their cloaks to pay his betting debt. After paying his debt, Samson searches for Semadar, only to learn that her father Tubal married her to a Philistine once Samson left the wedding to pay his debt. A fight breaks out between Samson and the Philistines, which results in the death of Semadar and Tubal. Samson becomes a hunted man, and in his fury he begins fighting the Philistines. The Saran of Gaza imposes heavy taxes on the Danites, with the purpose of having Samson betrayed by his own people. The Saran's plan works, and frustrated Danites hand over Samson to the Philistines, much to the joy of Delilah, Semadar's younger sister. Samson is taken by Prince Ahtur. He was, in other words, the military governor of the land of Dan, and a regiment of Philistine troops. En route back to Gaza, Ahtur decides to taunt Samson. Samson rips apart his chains and ropes and begins to combat the Philistines, toppling Ahtur's war chariot and using the jawbone of a donkey to club the Philistine soldiers to death. News of the defeat of Ahtur at the hands of Samson reaches the Saran. The Saran ponders how to defeat Samson. Delilah comes up with the idea of seducing Samson, thus having him reveal the secret of his strength and then deliver him for punishment. Her plan works; she cuts his hair, which gives him his strength. To fully neutralize him, Samson is blinded by his captors and put to slave work, and is eventually brought to the temple of Dagon for the entertainment of the Philistines and the Saran. However, Delilah has been in love with Samson ever since his engagement with Semadar, and his blindness and torture make her feel deep remorse over her betrayal. She initially had betrayed him because she wanted to avenge the deaths of her father and sister, which she thought were caused "because of Samson." Delilah later attends the public torture of Samson wielding a whip, which she uses to guide him to the temple's main support pillars. Once he stands between them, he tells Delilah to flee, but she remains, unseen by him, as he pushes the pillars apart. The pillars give way and the temple collapses, burying Samson, Delilah, and all the Philistines, including the court. In the end, the temple lies in rubble, and Saul and Miriam, his two closest Danite Hebrew friends, are left to mourn Samson's death.

In April 1934, Paramount Pictures announced that its next "big picture" and DeMille's follow up to Cleopatra (1934) would be Samson and Delilah, starring Henry Wilcoxon and Miriam Hopkins in the title roles. The film was eventually postponed and DeMille decided to produce and direct The Crusades (1935). In May 1935, Motion Picture Daily informed that Samson and Delilah was "slated to start five weeks after the completion of The Crusades." Paramount bought the film rights to the music and libretto of the 1877 opera Samson et Dalila. Jeanie MacPherson was also hired to do research and collaborate with Lamb on the screenplay. DeMille considered filming it in the new three strip Technicolor. After the release of The Crusades, Paramount negotiated a new contract with DeMille and cancelled Samson and Delilah in 1936. Ten years later, on August 15, 1946, DeMille publicly stated that Samson and Delilah would be his next project after Unconquered (1947). DeMille later recalled in his autobiography that the Paramount executives had doubts about financing a "Sunday school tale." They approved the project when DeMille showed them a sketch by artist Dan Groesbeck depicting a "big, brawny" Samson and a "slim and ravishingly attractive" Delilah. He initially planned to film it in 1947,

In spring of 1948, DeMille hired illustrator Henry Clive to paint the "ideal Delilah" on canvas. He had studied paintings of Delilah by Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Gustave Doré, and Solomon Joseph Solomon, but wanted her to look modern. Adding to his dramatization of the biblical story, DeMille bought the rights to Samson the Nazirite (published in the United States as Judge and Fool), a 1927 novel by Vladimir Jabotinsky, who portrayed Delilah as the younger sister of Samson's Philistine wife. He felt the novel "made possible a connected drama" for the film.

When DeMille first commenced production on the film in 1935, Dolores del Río, Paulette Goddard, and Joan Crawford were suggested for the part of Delilah. DeMille chose Paramount actress Miriam Hopkins as Delilah and his new star Henry Wilcoxon as Samson. Once production restarted in 1947, DeMille and his staff considered dozens of Hollywood actors and actresses for the title roles. He said, "For Samson, I want a combination Tarzan, Robin Hood, and Superman. For Delilah a sort of distilled Jean Simmons, Vivien Leigh and a generous touch of Lana Turner." but the film was never realized. However, he was content with Lamarr's performance as Delilah, describing it as "more than skin deep." He also described her as "a gazelle–incapable of a clumsy or wrong move", and she would flirtatiously refer to herself as "Delilah" and DeMille as her "Samson." Burt Lancaster was the original choice to play Samson, but he declined due to a bad back. Body builder Steve Reeves was also considered and DeMille lobbied long and hard to get the studio to pick up Reeves, but both DeMille and the studio wanted Reeves to tone down his physique, which Reeves, still young and new to the industry, ultimately refused to do. DeMille finally decided to cast Victor Mature as Samson after admiring his performance in the film Kiss of Death (1947). Phyllis Calvert was originally cast as Semadar, but she relinquished the part due to illness. Therefore, DeMille cast Angela Lansbury in the role in July 1948. When Lawrence Perry of The Pittsburgh Press interviewed Lansbury on September 24, 1949, he told her that the Bible does not describe Delilah as having a sister. Lansbury replied, "Anyway, if Delilah didn't have a sister, Mr. DeMille has supplied one." But DeMille told her, "You're too pretty and you're too young", and Rogers was cast as a Philistine spectator in the temple scene and credited in the film as Laura Elliot. Despite the renown of this iconic Biblical story depicting their battle against the Philistines, the oppressed people represented by Samson are never once referred to as "Israelites", "Hebrews" or "Jewish" people. They are referred to only as Danites, members of the Tribe of Dan. This omission—or avoidance—occurred in the early days of the witch hunt into Communist—often Jewish—influence when Hollywood studio chiefs were very sensitive to the fact that the film industry was generally considered to be run by Jews.

DeMille's legendary status led him to play himself in Billy Wilder's film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950). The film is about a fictional silent film star named Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson) who, no longer active, once worked as an actress for DeMille. For the scene in which Desmond visits DeMille at Paramount, an actual set of Samson and Delilah was reconstructed to show the director at work. The first day scheduled to shoot the scene was May 23, 1949, months after filming on Samson and Delilah had ended. After the scene was shot in a total of four days, Wilder patted DeMille on the back and humorously told him, "Very good, my boy. Leave your name with my secretary. I may have a small part for you in my next picture." Wilder later said that DeMille "took direction terrifically. He loved it. He understood it. He was very subtle."

Here—for me—is the climax of thirty seven years of motion picture making, the dream of a lifetime come true.|Cecil B. DeMille, an excerpt of a half page DeMille statement about Samson and Delilah published in New York newspapers in late 1949. Samson and Delilah received its televised world premiere on December 21, 1949, at two of New York City's Broadway theatres, the Paramount and the Rivoli, in order to "accommodate the 7,000,000 movie goers in the greater New York area." People who attended the event included Mary Pickford, Buddy Rogers, and Barney Balaban. The film eventually went into general release on January 13, 1950. It was successfully re released in November 1959 following the box office triumph of Joseph E. Levine's Hercules (1958).

Samson and Delilah received rave reviews upon its release in 1949. Showmen's Trade Review wrote that the film "bids fair to stand as this veteran showman's most impressive and magnificent spectacle since that history making 1923 religious epic [The Ten Commandments]." The Harrison's Reports reviewer commented: "Mr. DeMille has succeeded, not only in keeping the story authentic, but also in presenting it in a highly entertaining way. Its combination of spectacularity and human interest will grip the attention of all movie goers." The Modern Screen reviewer remarked, "It's tremendous, impressive, and beautiful to look at." Boxoffice considered it the "most prodigious spectacle ever conceived," while The Film Daily stated that it "[s]tands monumental alongside any contender." The Exhibitor, a trade magazine, declared: "This will be classed with the big films of all time." After he saw the film, Groucho Marx is said to have quipped, in language that may have been sanitized for publication, "No picture can hold my interest when the leading man's bust is bigger than the leading lady's."

Samson and Delilah was enormously successful, earning $9 million in theatrical rentals in its initial release, thus making it the highest grossing film of 1950. At the time of its release, it was the third highest grossing film ever, behind Gone with the Wind (1939) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). It was the second most popular film at the British box office that year. In its reissue in 1959 it earned another $2.5 million in rentals.

In 1979, Paramount Home Video released the film on VHS and Betamax as a two tape set. The VHS was released again in 1981 as a single tape release, and then again in 1988 and 1990. MCA DiscoVision was originally set to release the film on LaserDisc as part of a set of titles from Paramount Pictures in 1978, but their version was scrapped for unknown reasons. The first LaserDisc edition of Samson and Delilah was finally released in 1982. Ten years later, Paramount released a new LaserDisc edition that featured digital video transferred from a new 35mm interpositive of the original 3 strip Technicolor negatives. DiscoVision's transfer, however, was used in the 1979 VHS and 1980s home media releases. In 2012, a digital restoration of Samson and Delilah was completed. The original three strip Technicolor camera negatives were scanned at 4K on a Northlight scanner and then registered, cleaned, and color corrected in 4K by Technicolor Los Angeles. Paramount Home Media Distribution released the film on DVD (with English, French, and Spanish audio and subtitles) on March 12, 2013. The film was released on Blu ray Disc (with the original theatrical trailer) on March 11, 2014.