THE EGYPTIAN

As he records his memoirs, the elderly Sinuhe (Edmund Purdom) narrates the story of his amazing life during Egypt’s 18th dynasty, in the 13th century BCE. Adopted as a foundling rescued from a reed basket on the Nile, Sinuhe rises to become a renowned physician and trusted adviser to the Pharaoh Akhnaton (Michael Wilding). But multiple court intrigues threaten peace in the kingdom. The impressive cast includes Victor Mature, Jean Simmons, Gene Tierney and Peter Ustinov. Film historian Foster Hirsch expands upon the cinematic scale of THE EGYPTIAN in his 2023 book “Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties”: “[It marks] the high point of first-wave Fox CinemaScope. This sumptuous re-creation of ancient Egypt during the reign of Akhnaton, the sun-worshiping pharaoh and a rebellious monotheist, was the first film to be shot in a new and improved version of CinemaScope, one that the Fox publicity department described as providing ‘greater flexibility, range, and depth...greater clarity of image and a new sense of intensified audience participation.’ Indeed, with 67 sets, over five thousand extras and more than a million objects — including swords and amulets, vases, jars, baskets, wall paintings, a gilded throne, all certified as authentic by the Fox research department, the best in the business at the time — THE EGYPTIAN evokes a bygone era in big-budget, pre-CGI filmmaking that will never return.” DIR Michael Curtiz; SCR Philip Dunne, Casey Robinson, from the novel by Mika Waltari; PROD Darryl F. Zanuck. U.S., 1954, color, 140 min. NOT RATED

Run Time: 140 Minutes

Opening Date: Sunday, July 12, 2026

Genre: Drama

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