My fascination for history and antiquity certainly started by all sorts of "peplum" movies of which "Sign of the Pagan" was the first, setting my standards for this type of film for a long time, being a schoolboy of 10 at it's release. The first startling images of hordes of Huns on their small horses sweeping over plains and burning villages made my own imagination galloping for starters.

Then the impact of what followed still remains unforgettable: all that turmoil and fire brutally cut by the sudden appearance of Jack Palance on his battling horse, accompanied by some grave voice introducing "Attila... the HUN"!!!

Grinning Jack Palance, in silvery armour as well as bare-chested, immediately stole my youngster' Heart & Soul, sometimes conflicting though with some encouraging feelings for the silver-hared Jeff Chandler as the good guy: his becoming emperor in the end even started off a search as for the movie's accuracy in telling these events...

As for now I know that at first Chandler was chosen for the role of Attila but declined it out of a Hollywoodian fear for a "bad" image. As has been rightly said by some french author: in this movie the "bad" eclipsed the "hero", the brutal conqueror turning into the "tragic hero", and Jack Palance (whom I had never seen) made an overwhelming appearance with his face as kind of a expressive, terrifying and pathetic masque, and certainly ideally casted for the historic barbarian the real Atilla was.

Two more scenes to remember, brilliantly directed by Sirk : the pope encountering Atilla (who as a pagan clearly panicks for this ghostlike creature coming out of the mists as of creeping out of the underworld even he fears), and the confrontation of Atilla with a shining cross, driving him out of a burned-out church and, as I imagined, driving him to his fateful end by a woman's dagger instead of by Marcianus' sword.

Even if this kind of film-making is outdated by movies as Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Gladiator or Troy, this Sign of the Pagan can still be appreciated ... on the condition it's pellicule is restored and is seen in 16:9 version!

If Charlton Heston had been born Jewish, he'd have been Jeff Chandler, a lookalike who lost out on both The Ten Commandments AND Ben-Hur to Old Granite Jaw. Had Chandler nabbed those roles, he may have become a superstar himself. As is, he played the leads in studio program pictures, those B movies that disappeared with the end of the 'studio contract' system in the early sixties. By then, Chandler was already gone, having died while filming a WWII action flick, Merrill's Marauders, for Sam Fuller in the Phillipines. Anyway, his director for this costume mini-epic was Doug Sirk, an expert out of making magic from routine material. Chandler's the Roman centurion who must push back the invading armies of Atilla the Hun. Ludmilla Tcherina is one of a number of flashy looking women (Blonde Allison Hayes, later the sixty foot woman, is another). Lots of fairly big and semi-spectacular action sequences, with Jack Palance hamming it up even more than usual as Atilla. Nice production values, given a moody atmosphere by the always fascinating Sirk. This is one of those films that have been so completely forgotten that even Turner Movies doesn't revive it. Too bad - for this represents a fun aspect of the Old Hollywood in its final hours that ought to be reclaimed by contemporary viewers.

An enjoyable spectacle, though some of the plot was a bit unconvincing. For a tough guy, Marcian was very eager to volunteer details of his mission when he was captured by Attila, and I don't know he he got intelligence of the pagan hordes' move on Rome and was able to rush some of his troops to its defence across considerable distances. And I was also puzzled by how Attila came to be in awe of Christianity. But Palance made an excellent Hun, and was every bit as good a villain as he was in Shane and Arrowhead. And Chandler has never looked better, thanks to his Roman armour and longer hair than usual. It was also fun to try to recognise lesser actors such as Pat Hogan and Leo Gordon in their barbarous costumes. A good 90 minutes of entertainment.