If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This November, 2016 is Natalie Wood month on Turner Classic Movies, so it's time once again to show one of her earlier screen efforts, 1954's "The Silver Chalice", a film near the top of my "so bad it's fun to watch, classic clunker" list. Natalie plays the younger Helena, a slave in the house of Ignatius (E.G. Marshall). Ignatius has adopted a young poverty-stricken boy who already shows promise as a carver and sculptor. Ignatius names the young boy Basil and makes Basil his heir, much to the dismay of Linus, Ignatius' brother. Linus, much overacted by Herbert Rudley, denounces the adoption, outraged as he is by the thought that this urchin will inherit most of Ignatius's fortune. After Ignatius's death, Linus has the inheritance fraudulently voided and, equally fraudulently, sells Basil into slavery.Well, that young slave sculptor grows into Paul Newman, a little-known stage and TV actor making his screen debut. Natalie Wood's Helena, whom young Basil had helped to escape from slavery, morphs into a curvy Virginia Mayo, now assistant to Simon the Magician, actually played quite well by Jack Palance. Fortunately for Wood, Newman, and Mayo, their other, more memorable screen work has long since eclipsed their efforts here. But one of the worst aspects of the film is that its plot is based on the Costain novel, which alone qualifies the film for "classic clunker" honors.For some unknown reason, Thomas B. Costain's 1952 "The Silver Chalice" novel made the best seller list. Although any copyright protection had long expired, a suit against Costain by Lew Wallace's estate might still have been in order, even if just on general principles. The "Silver Chalice" plot looks for all the world like a "Ben-Hur" makeover. A young man in biblical times, this time a poor boy raised to great wealth, is wrongfully deprived of that wealth and sold into slavery. His struggle to regain his name and fortune helps him to know Jesus --- this time not through slavery and a chariot race, but through slavery and struggling and finally succeeding to carve an image of Jesus's face for a chalice he's making to house the Holy Grail. Hardly original, it would seem.Not only that, though---Thomas B. Costain posited that for 20 years after the last supper and Jesus's death, the Holy Grail had been in the possession of Joseph of Arimathea --- who knew? Anyway, according to all four canonical gospels, Joseph retrieved Jesus's body from Calvary and, according to some tradition, gave up his own tomb so that Jesus's body would have a place of interment. And according to Mr. Costain, Joseph got hold of the grail as well, keeping it hidden for 20 years. Joseph and Luke the Physician, played by Alexander Scourby, determined to house the grail in a suitable chalice, which is where Basil comes in. Basil had acquired quite a reputation as an accomplished silversmith, so Luke sought him out for the chalice job. Basil makes the chalice, but in all the ensuing battles and riots depicted in the film, the chalice and grail are lost again, maybe for all time. Aside from a subplot involving Simon the Magician and Helena---Simon does tricks to amuse the officers at Antioch's Roman garrison, while Helena apparently turns tricks to gratify those selfsame officers. But Simon eventually imagines his magic is greater than Jesus's reported miracles---so much so that he convinces himself that he can fly unassisted. To prove it Simon jumps off a very tall tower and expects to fly away; it doesn't work out too well for him. Other reviewers have chronicled most of film's, ah, interesting aspects: the cardboard sets, the 1950s dance routines performed at Caesar's Palace (no, supposedly the one in ancient Rome!), the hilarious costumes and makeup, and the over-the-top, kitschy-biblical dialogue.The best performance in the dialogue category is awarded to Lorne Greene, who as St. Peter remains on the dock delivering a farewell speech as Basil, his inheritance now recovered, and his new bride Deborra (Pier Angeli) sail away. Lorne is then left standing there, preaching to absolutely no one, but preaching nonetheless about the grail's return. When the grail does return, he says, it will be into " . . a world of evil and long bitter wars (and election campaigns). In such a world as that the little cup will look very lonely. But it may be in that age when man holds lightning in his hands, and rides the sky as Simon the Magician strove to do. It will be needed more then than it is needed now." OK, I added that "election campaigns" part. But yeah, if ever that "little cup" is to reappear, now is as good a time as any. In the meantime, I might watch "The Silver Chalice" again. As with other "classic clunkers," the more times you watch, the more weird stuff you see!

I will start by saying that I found this movie entertaining in a very untraditional way. It had none of the cohesiveness, realistic sets, and quality camera work usually characteristic of a movie, but it still managed to keep me entertained for approximately two hours. Without a doubt, I have to say the reason is Jack Palance's Simon the Magician. As an actor, he may have made the only plausible decision to keep the film from being an absolute snoozer. He perhaps realized the entire thing was supremely cartoonish and he turned Simon into a cartoon character with his over-the-top performance. Other than that, like I said, The Silver Chalice isn't really a movie in my eyes, or at least not one ready to be released. The direction was pitiful, the writing equally bad, the set design was ridiculous, and most of the performances were lifeless (only Pier Angeli and Jack Palance seemed to actually be giving some sort of performance). It is no small wonder why Paul Newman found such enjoyment in ripping the film to shreds whenever possible. His performance might have been the worst of the bunch, as he was by no means believable in the role of Basil--a Pagan Greek seeking to see the face of Jesus. On a side note, there was one casting decision that left me completely baffled. A young slave girl is played by Natalie Wood and through some odd twist of fate the girl grows into Virginia Mayo. This would be akin to having a young Mickey Rooney portray the teenage version of a Frank Sinatra character. Regardless of any changes in the aging of a person, their natures (the unconscious make-up of an actor) do not allow them to play the same character in a convincing fashion. There's much more to be said about this film, but I will leave some mystery for those of you interested in watching Paul Newman's debut film.

I started watching "The Silver Chalice" without having read any reviews. It did not take long for this highly stylized presentation to annoy me. I think I lasted about 30 minutes.First, it employs minimalist sets which, in themselves, are sometimes beautiful but, when combined with the stylized delivery of dialogue are distracting.The dialogue is stilted and silly. And the actors were obviously directed to deliver it in a somewhat emotionless way. Don't feel too bad for Natalie Wood, who would soon have "Rebel Without a Cause" to counteract the effect of "The Silver Chalice".And Paul Newman, in his film debut, would soon have "Somebody Up There Likes Me". How sad that he passed up "East of Eden" for this drivel.This film is hokey and almost without any merit. I did find Jack Palance's performance (what little I saw) to be realistic enough to enjoy. But he could not provide enough magic to bring this boring film to life.

It truly does stink. Newman was right. I like the black sperms on "Simon the Magicians" clothes. The sets wouldn't even do for an Off-Broadway production. What's the deal with the sky? Always blank blue, no clouds. And the pristine Roman streets, perfectly smooth walls, shadows from three angles,streets that look like swept parking lots? Actors trying hard not to laugh, delivering lines like,"head of mutton"! There is no "silver lining" in this dark cloud of a movie. Forget the, "Well, you gotta put it in context!".This movie was bad on the day it was released, and time has been even less kind. Get really stoned and have pizza delivered, turn down the sound and have a great time!