Movie Review: Alexander the Great (1963) directed by Phil Karlson
It is approximately 334 B.C., and Alexander of Macedonia (William Shatner), who men call “Great”, has come to Persia to defeat King Darius III. Previous Persian kings had attacked Greece, and Alexander considers their rivalry to be an existential threat to his homeland. He will bring peace and freedom to the Persian people, whether or not that’s what they want.
As the story opens, Alexander is looking for his good friend Cleander (Adam West), who hadn’t reported back to camp from his patrol. They find several men hanging upside down from a tree, one of whom survives long enough to report that Cleander was captured by the Persians, who only just left. Alexander pursues, and is able to free Cleander, only to discover that they’re surrounded by Persian archers. It’s a trap!
Alexander is separated from the others, and after five days of no news, is feared dead. The aged General Antigonus (Joseph Cotten) is the most experienced, but he feels that the younger and up to now very reliable General Karonos (John Cassavettes) should take charge. Karonos learns that the dangerous Persian general Memnon (Cliff Osmond) is amassing the largest Persian army yet and decides that caution is advised. He orders a withdrawal to a more defensible position.
It’s at this point that Alexander turns up alive, much to the delight of most of the army, as well as Persian princess Ada (Ziva Rodann) who has apparently defected out of love for Alexander. Turns out he’s been scouting out a route for the Greek army to attack the Persian encampment in two days’ forced march rather than a week of regular marching through terrain that favors the home team.
Karonos claims also to be pleased by Alexander’s return, but in reality he had cut a deal with Darius to take the Greek army back to Greece in exchange for (never explained), Since the Persians failed to dispose of the young king, Keronos and his secret cabal will need to take matters into their own hands.
This film started as a pilot episode for an “Alexander the Great” television series. It wasn’t what the network executives were looking for at the time, and got shelved. A few years later when both Shatner and West got relatively famous in Star Trek and Batman respectively, the film was slightly re-edited to be a TV movie.
And it’s helpful to keep in mind that this is a pilot episode, with all the roughness and anomalies that entails. Star Trek fans in particular will remember how much that show changed between pilot and actual series. For this one, battle sequences had to be spliced in from an older movie, for example.
Shatner’s Alexander shows the roots of the energy he’d bring to the Captain Kirk role. Bravery, measured impulsiveness, shirtless scenes, a martial arts bout, luck with the ladies… There’s even a dancing girl (Tanya Lemani) sequence. He might have done well if the series had gone to air.
By comparison, Cleander is a dull, wooden role that wastes Adam West’s talents. Perhaps if the script had allowed a little more homoeroticism in the friends’ relationship? He was better off moving on.
Cotten and Cassavettes are good in their guest star roles. Cliff Osmond is decent as Memnon, but his role is circumscribed by not having direct contact with Alexander.
As expected from mainstream television of the time, Alexander is an unproblematic figure, whose invasion of Persia is entirely justified due to the evil of its rulers. (The enemy Persians are treated roughly the way Klingons were in Classic Trek.) Modern audiences might find this framing too simplistic.
So, an enjoyable just less than an hour of vintage television. Mostly recommended as a novelty to Star Trek fans who like to see William Shatner shirtless.
