Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

edwagreen Eleanor Parker, a wonderful actress, just didn't seem right for this part. You needed someone more gritty, say a Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, or just someone else. Her costume, most reflective of the period, made me think that any minute she would burst out as Deborah Kerr did in "The King and I." Why not? We could get Marnie Nixon singing for Parker here as she did for Kerr in the latter film.At the beginning of the film, she shows co-star Robert Taylor a statue. It looked more like the coveted Oscar she lost 3 times and Taylor never even being nominated for in his lengthy career.This biblical epic is scored by Miklos Rosza, who had such a talent for fine melodic biblical dramas. This film is no exception.A tale of looking to prove the story of Joseph was a correct one from the bible, falls short because the writing is so very obvious. Parker's husband in the film has his own agenda and of course we know what will become of him so that Taylor and Parker can ensue romance.There is a nice sandstorm here; however, "Lawrence of Arabia," it's not.

Robert J. Maxwell Robert Taylor is the hard-boiled, pragmatic American archaeologist in turn-of-the-century Egypt. I don't know if the character was meant to be but he struck me as a little coarse too. Who else would insult a woman as beautiful as Eleanor Parker with so little reason. The reason is that she's an idealist, trying to prove her father's theory that the Biblical Joseph visited Egypt during the reign of Ra Hotep. Taylor is interested more in the material side of things and less in the spiritual.Parker and her husband, Carlos Thompson, hire Taylor to guide them from one tourist spot to another, covering some dangerous territory in between. We know as soon as we meet Carlos Thompson that he's not quite kosher. Something is wrong with this guy, polite though he may be. For one thing, he speaks with a foreign accent and has a tenor voice. That's strike one right there. For another, he's a little too smooth for our tastes. Those foreigners all have something up there sleeves, don't they? For another, the simple and direct Robert Taylor tells him right away, "I don't like you much." For another, he's married to Eleanor Parker, meaning that he stands in the way of the inevitable clinch between Taylor and Parker. You can see why he's got to die.If there's a desert-linked adventure that was missed in this movie, I must have nodded out. There is, for instance, a dissolve to Eleanor Parker asleep in the tent, still in full make up. We watch her toss a bit and turn in her sleep. Now, if this were a jungle movie, a leopard or hyena would make its way into the tent and she'd begin shrieking. But this is a desert movie and I expected a cobra -- only to be disappointed. It was a deadly scorpion. The scene wasn't without suspense. It was just predictable. So was the sand storm, the sword fight, the capture by a hostile tribe of nomads, Parker fainting from exhaustion, the hidden burial vault, the mano a mano combat between Taylor and Thompson, the finding of shelter in a pile of stones, the discovery of the two colossal legs of a long-dead ruler named Ozymandias. Well, I just made that last up but it would have fit the narrative. The plot itself reminded me a little of John Wayne's "Legend of the Lost." The location shooting is just fine. It's convincingly Egyptian. And the production design and set dressing are impressive. Nice job in setting the stage. And what goes on, on the stage, isn't unexciting, though much of it can be anticipated. Robert Taylor seems more animated than usual. I wish he weren't so unlikable. When the poor guy tries to smile, there is an agonizing creak, as of wood about to crack. I'm not sure how convincing he is as a scholar who can read runic and hieroglyphics and whatnot. He always seems on the edge of anger.

wes-connors In 1900 Egypt, archaeologist Robert Taylor (as Mark Brandon) helps well-heeled Eleanor Parker (as Ann Barclay Mercedes) look for proof regarding Joseph of the Old Testament. They also find themselves mutually attracted, which puts her husband Carlos Thompson (as Philip Mercedes) in a nasty mood. Not that he needed much help. Oddly enough, threatening adultery doesn't derail the mission, perhaps because God has someone to put asunder. The colorful and authentic location cinematography by Robert Surtees is the picture's main strength; its weaknesses are just as obvious.*** Valley of the Kings (7/21/54) Robert Pirosh ~ Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Carlos Thompson, Kurt Kasznar

C.K. Dexter Haven The Egyptology in this picture is strictly Hollywood nonsense, so don't even remotely expect a storyline with accurate historical details. Also, don't expect Robert Taylor learned how to act by 1954. His performance in this is as bland and stiff as anything he ever did. Eleanor Parker is eye candy, but her role leaves a lot to be desired. The plot is flimsy and routine, the story clunky and too often melodramatic, and the villains 2 dimensional at best. The film runs only 86 minutes, which indicates the writers had no real ideas how to make this the kind of exciting, exotic two fisted adventure it should have been.That all said, there is some good stuff in this, and though disappointing overall, it is still a fairly entertaining hour and a half if you like these kind of adventure yarns. Taylor, as mentioned, is a drag, but he does manage to get into a couple of nifty scrapes ala Indiana Jones. The Egyptian locales are stunning and used to maximum effect in Technicolor. The classic adventure elements - camel rides in the desert, exotic temples, pitfalls and puzzles - are all served up and this film was surely one of the templates Spielberg/Lucas/Kasdan used for Raiders of the Lost Ark.For the adventure aspect alone this film is worth a look. It promises much more than it delivers in most areas but there are thousands of worse films you could spend an hour and a half on.