Alexander the Great (1968)

Alexander the Great (1968), directed by Phil Karlson.

Charismatic Alexander is maneuvering for a big battle with King Darius in Persia (which looks just like Utah). He's trapped, missing and thought dead for a while but shows up again without explanation how. Festivities, bathing, dancing girls, much forced hearty laughter. Problem: they have a traitor in the camp, have to sort that out during the big battle.

I list this for others who, from time to time, may enjoy a William Shatner film festival as much as I do. It's pretty bad but is only 50 minutes long and the bad-TV nostalgia rush of my youth was strong in this one. I always described it as Rat Patrol in ancient Persia. In retrospect, Rat Patrol was better. I remember when this was first broadcast and it has been on my want-list for a long time.

It was made as a series pilot episode around 1964 but not shown until several years later when Shatner had become famous for Star Trek and Adam West for Batman. Also with John Cassavetes, Joseph Cotten, Simon Oakland, and very familiar character actor John Doucette.

What if it had been a successful series? Trek with a different Kirk? The mind boggles.

Amazon has a cheap DVD. The image is poor.

Repeat: it's bad.