Sodom & Gomorrah (4) Special Effects

I'm going to write some more about Sodom & Gomorrah (see my previous posts about the film) and I will concentrate on the special effects and technical aspects. The battle scene required 4,000 people among which were the Moroccan army, the extras, the actors, and 150 crew members. It was shot between Ouarzazate and Marrakesh using three helicopters.

Maurice Binder's title sequence

I mentioned James Bond production designer's work Ken Adam on the film : if you wish to see a sample of his work, there is a storyboard of the dam sequence on the French cinematheque website.

The torture of the captured slave required a complex mechanism with 6 fans, motors and ice to cool down the temperature for the stunt men tied to a giant wheel dipped in fire.

Stunt man in the throne room

Obviously the sequence that required the most screen trickery was the destruction of Sodom. The throne room was a set that could be tilted and many pieces, columns, statues could be operated to fall on cue. It took seven days to build it and cost $15,000 (for a total budget of $6 million) with an extra $10,000 device needed for the fall of over 180 y3 of debris on the 650 extras.

A rare look at a deleted scene of the dying queen

The whole scene was filmed by 5 film cameras as well as video cameras on a closed-circuit especially for the attending journalists. Unlike so many CG movies of today, what you see on the screen is really happening. The whole room collapsed.



These two picture appear to come from deleted scenes with Anouk Aimée. It seems unlikely that the first one could have been included in the final film without eroding the believability of the previous scene : in the film, it is clearly seen that the queen is smashed by an enormous rock. Yet she is seen here agonizing with only half of her body trapped under it.

The second one is from an unknown scene not in the film since Anouk Aimée is never seen in the film with that hairdo.

These are rare behind-the-scene quality pictures of Stewart Granger performing the miracle scene in front of the camera.

This is what appears to be a re-release trailer (since the film is advertised under the alternate title "The Last Days Of Sodom And Gomorrah").

More pictures on A Lost Film Facebook page.

That’s all for today folks!