Samson and Delilah (1984) Online

A couple of Australians, Anthony Hamilton and Belinda Bauer, play the title roles in this television version of Samson And Delilah. But this film is mostly known for hauling Victor Mature out of retirement to play the small role of Samson's father. During the film Mature is kept very clothed with flowing robes of the desert and I suspect that 71 Mature did not have quite the physique that he had when he was Samson back in the day with Cecil B. DeMille.

In fact even with the way DeMille's spectacles are thought of today by more sophisticated audiences this Samson And Delilah comes off as a second company road show product. Whatever else DeMille did, he put style and sex into his film even with the Victorian era dialog that also went into them. Both the slaying of the Philistines with the ass's jawbone and the climatic pulling down of Dagon's temple were done so much better by Cecil. And no other film ever had the gaudy color cinematography than the DeMille Samson And Delilah.

I also suppose this film really does belong on the big screen because of its subject matter. That's where I saw the DeMille version when Paramount re-released it when I was a lad.

Belinda Bauer is a beautiful Delilah, but there was only one Hedy Lamarr.

Veterans of some biblical films Max Von Sydow and Jose Ferrer contribute what they can, but it isn't enough.

However after finally getting to see this it was nice to see Victor Mature in both his farewell performance and in the film in which he made the legendary quote that the reason he did the film was that "for the money they were paying me, I'd have put on a dress and played Samson's mother". Fortunately for Vic the producers got another big screen veteran Maria Schell to be Samson's mother.

As for Mature he walks through the scenes like a man in a hurry to get back to his retirement and a ranch he owned in those years. The paycheck must have cleared. Mature as he grew older took himself less and less seriously, an interesting phenomenon in a town loaded with king size egos.

This Samson And Delilah is all right, but you'll never see anything like what Cecil B. DeMille did with that story.

This movie heralded the "introduction" of bona fide Australian adonis Antony Hamilton, though he had done television and a low budget cult film, "Nocturna" previously. Hamilton in various stages of undress is the only reason to watch this film -- which is a good enough one -- though in the version I saw some of the body parts were vaselined out. The dialogue is 20th century American dreck; Victor Mature, the movie star Samson, gives an embarrassing performance eating a chicken leg; and Belinda Bauer is no Hedy Lamarr and let's face it, Hedy Lamarr was not the most exciting actress to hit the screen, even if she was one of the most beautiful. This movie concentrates on bodies making out in the pool, a near-naked Samson getting tossed into the lake by his buddies, love-making between nearly naked Samson and nearly naked Delilah and good looks at Samson's muscles throughout. As far as I'm concerned, this is a no miss, having nothing whatsoever to do with the story. It is depressing, however, to realize that Hamilton died at such a young age and, all kidding aside, that is a very sad loss.

This was an interesting film, I was expecting something that would be fairly Biblical in its storytelling, but although it was based on the Bible, some of the elements were out of order, missing, added to or changed too much for it to be an accurate representation of what the Bible tells us in the book of Judges about the life of Samson.

This film starts off when Samson is about to marry a Philistine woman (not Delilah, but his first wife) and after that some bits are missed out and Delilah comes into the scene early on before Samson marries his first wife. Yet the Bible makes no mention of her until long after she is dead.

I thought the acting was good, especially from the famous actor Max von Sydow, and Belinda Bauer was good as Delilah. And let's not forget that great actor Jose Ferrer who plays the high priest of Dagon.

This is an entertaining film, but I would have liked to see it follow the Bible more closely. If you want to see an account of Samson that follows the Bible, this is not it. For example, the Bible says that Samson did not have his hair cut or his beard shaved, in accordance with the vow he took, yet in the first scene we see Samson as a young man and clean shaven. His hair is long at the back, but on top and at the sides it looks normal, not long at all. The vow that he took where he was forbidden to cut his hair or shave, or drink alcohol, is very important to the story of Samson, and especially to how he eventually loses his strength when his hair and beard are shaved off. Yet in this film he drank wine and generally did not do the things the Bible tells. And in this film Delilah cuts off a small bit of his pony tail and he loses his strength, the Bible tells us that he was shaved by a professional barber hired by Delilah. And they missed out all the times when he tricked Delilah and did not tell her the true way to lose his strength, and the Philistines attacked him but he was still strong. So the filmmakers could have made this better and been more true to the true story of Samson, but instead I think they wanted a more romantic and idealistic story so they changed it. And there was too much of Delilah in the film overall, and too much of her showing in her revealing clothing and when she was naked.

5 out of 10, which is mostly for the good acting and generally well made film, but would be higher if they had followed the Bible more.

Samson came after Moses and he was commanded by God to deliver his people from slavery. As I watched this film I saw when Samson was speaking to Sidka and Delilah at different times and in all those times.He never once mentioned any of God's Ten Commandments most especially God's 1st and 2nd Commandments.At Samson's wedding he was told by Sidka he was going to join the garrison and even though he refused to serve them he still didn't mention God the way he should have.If I myself was Samson and in his position,I would've reflected on several things.I would have told Sidka there is only one God-The one who gave Moses The Ten Commandments,the one who parted the red sea,the one drowned over 600 of the Pharaohs chariots in the water after the Hebrews made it safely while the red sea was parted.I would have taken great joy in telling Sidka and Delilah there is only one God and he made it clear in his 1st Commandment.More so when God punished the Hebrews for worshiping a golden calf calling it a god of gold.I would have stood in front of everyone and told all of them what proof do you people need here about God.If God ever gave me the kind of strength that he gave Samson along with a sacred vow to God never to reveal it,I would have never revealed it to Delilah or anyone for that matter.Because he gave into Delilah he lost his strength as well as his eye sight and all the humility with it,until God forgave him and restored his strength.I am not surprised at this biblical film or any others,because when it comes to God's Ten Commandments they are never mentioned for what they actually stand for.

What a truly atrocious movie! Even the 1950s shtick biblical epics (Samson with Victor Mature, Solomon with Yul Brunner) failed to observe the exact biblical accounts too, but that didn't give the producers the permission to come up with tacky, poor quality movies as a result. Samson And Delilah should be seen as an exercise in how to make the worst B-movie in human history and hope that it sells. I'd shudder to think which TV network would've aired this nonsense. Firstly, the music comes across as a soundtrack made for some low-grade 1940s movie, which was resurrected and dusted off for this film. Wide shots of the Nevada desert or Grand Canyon overlay a crummy narration about the Israelites and Phillistines living in Gaza. Since when did Gaza look like Arizona!? The camera-work is poor quality. The actors are accomplished and therefore deliver a passable performance, but are severely limited by the quality of the whole product. When Samson fights the lion, shots of a real lion and close-ups with a stuffed prop with lipstick red lips are inter cut. Give me a break! When Samson fights Sidqa's forces with the ass's jawbone, he's supposed to slaughter a thousand men, but in this version he dispatches about fifty while Von Sydow and his sidekick watch stiffly in the hammiest fight scene in movie history. If I could vote 0/10 I would. Truly appalling.

Okay but not entirely satisfying TV account of the life & times of Samson, the last judge of Israel who dared to love the very Philistine women whose male counterparts he was supposed to defend his people from, slayed his enemies with the jawbone of an ass (donkey/mule), lost his mighty strength thanks to the machinations of the lovely yet devious Delilah, was blinded, cast into slavery by his enemies who then shamed and humiliated him every chance they got afterwards... until he tore down their temple, killing himself in the process. Granted, the other versions didn't get everything right either.

As the title character, the late Antony Hamilton (an openly gay/homosexual actor & former ballet dancer who sadly died of AIDS at the tender age of 43 in 1995) certainly looks the part in terms of his physique. Like Eric Thal in the Samson TV film made in 1996 (a year after Hamilton died) unlike the movie Samson of 1949, the late Victor Mature (who died in 1999 and had a cameo in this TV film as the father of Samson, his first in many years since he retired from the film business and ultimately his last as he returned to retirement soon after), the 6'2" golden boy Hamilton actually was muscular and athletic looking, whereas Mature was just stocky/bulky looking. And yet, despite his superior physique and overall sincere performance, Hamilton lacked the magnetism that Victor Mature exuded so effortlessly, even though Hamilton was probably the better actor (a case Mature himself would not have argued over, as Mature knew he wasn't exactly the greatest actor in the world anyway).

Belinda Bauer is seductively beautiful as Delilah, though one has to wonder: why is Delilah always given so much screen time when her actual part in the story, while crucial, was very small in the Bible.

Max Von Sydow and the other actors carry themselves well enough.

The production values waver between acceptable to ridiculous (the jawbone Samson uses to slay his enemies is way too big), though the final scene where Samson tears down the temple is pretty impressive.

The movie begins somewhat like the Cecile B DeMile film of 1949 with the big muscular Samson being carried down to the river by soldiers the way that Victor Mature appeared at his mother's home and was first seen from the impressive back of his garments. The 1984 version probably takes liberties with the Bible story though, such as Israeli soldiers being conscripted by the Philistines to patrol their own territory.

Many will criticize the Antony Hamilton version for not having lavish props like the 1949 film but to be fair the 1984 film was MADE FOR TV -- our victor mature film was made for audiences who didn't yet know about television. For example, slaying 1000 soldiers was much more spectacular in the Victor Mature version than in the Hamilton version.

Antony Hamilton is decidedly more muscular and chiseled than the beefy Victor Mature who was not living in our age of nutrition and weightlifting but Hamilton probably achieved his muscularity from sheer exercise more than from the weights -- he was a dancer with the Australian Ballet before becoming a model and then an actor.(Doubtless he was an actor on stage in his ballet roles -- he had to show all his feeling and thoughts on his face as he danced his various roles just as Lou Degni used the acting skills he had learned in his films when he studied opera.

We don't know exactly how Samson fell asleep with Delilah after he had revealed the secret of his great strength and in this film Delilah sensuously pours her wine on her breasts and Samson licks off the drug-laden wine from there and falls asleep, only to find his strength gone and his hair cut when he awakes.

This was perhaps Antony Hamilton's second film role only and he went on to do Mission Imppossible and many other television adventure series. He was closeted while doing Samson and Delilah in the 1980's and even stayed at fellow Australian Belinda Bauers beach house for the filming. eventually he became part of the gay scene who gathered on Coney Island , New York on the weekends and finally succumbed to HIV Aids. I was told that he had little money when he died -- so uncaring the film community seemed to be for him unlike Elizabeth Taylor with Rock Hudson -- so it makes sense that Hamilton went home to Australia to die of Aids-related pneumonia. A very sad end to a breathtakingly exciting career for a perfectly chiseled man.

This movie sucks, but not entirely. The MAIN reason to view it is for the title characters played by Hamilton and Bauer. If looking at beautiful people is your thing then this film is for you. Strange that both these actors went on to have short Hollywood careers so there is not much of their work for us to enjoy. Hamilton was gay and died from aids and Bauer was typecast and apparently tired of acting quickly. Too bad for us. Max Von Sydow overacts and is not very interesting in this. The 1949 version is a superior production in terms of visuals and acting. Victor Mature and Heddy LaMarr were also attractive to watch and that is what holds your interest in these productions. We all know the story of Samson and Delilah and this film sticks to that story fairly well but is still boring and tedious. This makes it difficult to watch in one sitting. Thank God for home video! Once again, the two leads are beautiful but there is not much else here. If they can hold your interest then this film is for you. RIP Mr. Hamilton.

As a horror fan, I have been known to appreciate the occasional biblical epic, many a yarn from 'the good book' delivering as much sex, violence and general chaos as your average scary movie. This made-for-TV version of the oft-told tale Samson and Delilah has been watered down a bit for the medium, but there is still plenty to enjoy here, even if some of it is for the unintentional laughs.

Dancer turned actor Antony Hamilton may have batted for the other side in real life, but he is convincingly macho here as the Hebrew beefcake with the flowing locks who stupidly puts his trust in promiscuous Philistine Delilah (sultry brunette Belinda Bauer). The supporting cast is also pretty damn good, with Max von Sydow as nasty Philistine governor Sidka, a young(ish) Daniel Stern as Samson's best bud Micah, and Cecil B. DeMille's Samson, Victor Mature, in a small role as the hero's father.

As usual with this type of film, treachery and deceit abounds, the innocent tend to wind up dead, there are bloody battles galore, and a unquestionable faith in God helps in defeating the bad guys. Considering its humble origins (this is no massive Hollywood extravaganza by any means) the production values aren't too shabby, with decent sets and costumery; some cheap props, however, lead to some of that aforementioned hilarity, funniest bits being Samson's fight with a lion-skin rug and his smiting of an army with the rubber jaw-bone of an ass.