ULYSSES (1954) with Kirk Douglas - Kino Lorber Blu-Ray Review

[AndyDursin]

One of the earliest “Pepla” films from Italy, ULYSSES (94/103 mins.), offered Kirk Douglas as the titular sailor of Homer's poem, trying to get home to Ithaca and his beloved wife Penelope, but whose adventures at sea bring him into confrontations with the horrifying Cyclops, dangerous Sirens and alluring Circe. Not as broadly performed as subsequent Hercules fantasies starring the likes of Steve Reeves, this Dino DeLaurentiis/Carlo Ponti production has long been viewed in substandard home video releases in North America, but has at last been restored in a new Kino Lorber Blu-Ray featuring a spectacular 4K Studio Canal remaster.

The movie itself is presented in two different versions: the 94-minute English dub as well as a longer 103-minute Italian language print. Both transfers look utterly spectacular compared to past versions you may have come across: not only is the source material itself unblemished, but the transfer is detailed and filled with color, enhancing the picture's production. Mario Camerini helmed the film but Harold Rosson (“Singin' in the Rain”) shot it, giving the U.S./Italian co-production an interesting fusion of Italian and American filmmaking sensibilities. The film is fairly faithful to its source as well, with a screenplay credited to some seven different writers including Ben Hecht – and while “Ulysses” is not a classic, it's still entertaining. Certainly it starts off on the rocky side, but once it settles into Ulysses' quest at sea, the film becomes entertaining and saves its best portions for the end. Douglas looks physically fit and consistently engaged here, while Anthony Quinn is a particular standout as Antinous, who has his designs on Penelope (Silvana Mangano) while her husband is missing in the Aegean.

It's a film whose positive attributes are made much more palatable in this Blu-Ray restoration debuting in the U.S. from Kino Lorber. The single-disc includes both versions along with English opening and closing credits offered in the supplement (a must to understand the film's closing, unless you're fluent in Italian) and trailers. Another standout is Tim Lucas' essential commentary on the Italian cut, which outlines the movie's then-unique cinematic origins – rich in anecdotes and production detail, and itself highly recommended.