The Prodigal

1955
A
1h 52m

IMDb RATING

5.2/10

776

YOUR RATING

Lana Turner and Edmund Purdom in The Prodigal (1955)

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37 Photos

Drama Mystery

A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after he is seduced by an alluring pagan priestess and cheated of his fortune by the High Priest as well.A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after he is seduced by an alluring pagan priestess and cheated of his fortune by the High Priest as well.A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after he is seduced by an alluring pagan priestess and cheated of his fortune by the High Priest as well.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.2/10

776

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 4:03

The Prodigal

Photos37

+ 32

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Lana Turner in her autobiography: [on "The Prodigal"] "The Prodigal Son they named Micah, and to play him, chose Edmund Purdom, a young man with a remarkably high opinion of himself. His pomposity was hard enough to bear; worse yet was the garlic breath he brought back from lunch. My lines were so stupid I hated to go to work in the morning. Even the costumes were atrocious. They were ornate concoctions dripping with heavy beads, and the material was so stiff that I felt I was wearing armor." "Well," I thought, "I may be trapped in this picture, but I'm going to make myself as sensuous, sexy, and gorgeous as possible."

Goofs
In one scene, Edmund Purdom's character, Micah, writes a message on a wall, "Samarra, 1 piece of silver, Micah," but it's written in English, a language no one used in Damascus in 70 B.C. and wouldn't exist in written form for another few centuries.

Quotes
Micah: [referring to his first sight of Samarra] Nahreeb, you said that everything has its price.
Nahreeb: She is not for a follower of Jehovah!
Micah: I mean to have her one way or the other!

Connections
Featured in 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955)

User reviews26

Featured review

lackluster mini-epic

Lana Turner always shown in strong contemporary dramas but for some reason was cast in this silly bible epic. She hated the whole thing and snipped pieces of her costumes off to be more revealing. Posters and publicity pictures had to paint on veils. After his brief shot at stardom in The Eqyptian,replacing Marlon Brando,Edmund Purdom was given another chance to see if he had star quality. He didn't, A competent enough player but obviously no Brando. It's OK if u watch epics for the sets and costumes but beware the overripe dialogue and tedious but efficient direction of Richard Thorpe. Thorpe's main claim to fame was he was replaced as director on the Wizard of Oz for lack of originality. He also helmed a lot of Esther Williams' swim pics. She dismissed him as a studio hack and tried unsuccessfully to have him replaced. Still,Lana looks great,manages to infuse what life she could into the proceedings,