I remember seeing this short film during Latin class in junior high school: Claudius: Boy of Ancient Rome. It is remarkable for utilizing the elaborate sets of the Roman Forum built on a plain outside of Madrid for the 1964 blockbuster The Fall of the Roman Empire ... sets which were soon afterward demolished for lack of funding to turn them into a theme park ... alas! This was one of three ambitious Encyclopaedia Britannica Films for school children shot in mainly on that plain in Spain, with child actors in sandals and tunics cavorting about those magnificent sets from Samuel Bronstons epic. Even more amazingly, the dialogue was dubbed into Latin (by boy voice actors with twangy American accents) although you can plainly see from the lips of the boys on screen that they were speaking English. It is a bittersweet story of a Patrician boy named Claudius and his only friend Vistus, a slave boy. BFF ... Best Friends Forever ... until one sunny day when the Fates set their feet upon diverging paths. For half a century I have wondered what happened to Claudius and Vistus ... and if their paths ever crossed again. youtu.be/jOo7dLrJmYU
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:58:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015