Land of the Pharaohs

Set in ancient Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs follows the pharaoh Khufu as he commissions a monumental pyramid to hold his body and treasure for the afterlife. The captured architect Vashtar is forced to design a tomb that cannot be broken into, and he agrees on the condition that his enslaved people go free, while Khufu demands labour from his subjects to finish the work. In the meantime, Princess Nellifer of Cyprus arrives after her country fails to pay tribute, and the pharaoh takes her as his second wife. She has her own ambitions regarding his power and wealth, which set her against the project and the court around it.

Howard Hawks directed and produced the film, the fifteenth of the nineteen features he made, coming between Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Rio Bravo. The screenplay was written by Harold Jack Bloom, William Faulkner and Harry Kurnitz, and the cast includes Jack Hawkins as Khufu, Joan Collins as Nellifer, James Robertson Justice as Vashtar, Dewey Martin, Alex Minotis and Luisella Boni.

The production, made by Warner Bros. Pictures with Continental Film, cost about 3 million dollars and returned roughly 2 million at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from about 5,300 votes, and on TMDB 6.5 out of 10 from 112 votes. A critics' rating of 5.8 out of 10 from 10 reviews places it close to both audience scores.