Film

Samson and Delilah

Name: Samson and Delilah
Genre: Romance, Drama, History
Released: 1949
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Henry Wilcoxon

Other titles called Samson and Delilah: the 2007 film, the 2009 film.

A 1949 biblical epic where spectacle and melodrama collide. Victor Mature's Samson and Hedy Lamarr's Delilah embody desire, betrayal, and tragic consequence across DeMille's characteristically lavish canvas. It's earnest and florid, a movie that believes deeply in its own grandeur. For anyone drawn to Old Hollywood's maximum-volume approach to ancient stories.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love big, sweeping Hollywood spectacle where lavish sets, Technicolor splendor and old-fashioned melodrama carry the weight, and a doomed romance between two proud, stubborn people feels more thrilling than tidy.

Skip it if you want a faithful, sober retelling of the Old Testament story, since this one is a glossy costume epic with romance front and center and a rather tongue-in-cheek sense of its own grandeur.

What it asks of you: It runs well over two hours at a stately pace, so settle in for long stretches of talk, scheming and grand set pieces rather than quick scenes.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Ten Commandments1956

DeMille's even more ambitious biblical spectacular, with armies, plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea. If you loved Samson and Delilah's scale and sincerity, this is the director firing on all cylinders.

But Four hours long and relentlessly earnest. The pacing crawls in places, and modern audiences sometimes find the solemnity unintentionally funny.

Quo Vadis1951

A grand Roman epic with similar DNA—romance, faith, spectacle, and moral reckoning. Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner navigate love and ideology against a burning city. Equally committed to its own scale.

But The romance feels secondary to the religious themes, and the film can feel static compared to action-heavy epics. The pacing is deliberate.

The Robe1953

Another biblical epic with Richard Burton as a Roman soldier grappling with faith and consequence. VistaVision grandeur, sincere drama, and the same tactile commitment to period detail that makes Samson feel lived-in.

But The religious messaging is heavy-handed, and the second half drifts into preachment. Some will find it preachy rather than moving.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Samson and Delilah

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman1951

Both centre on a beautiful woman whose sexuality becomes a weapon; both treat desire as genuinely tragic rather than cautionary; both use Technicolor to make temptation visually overwhelming.

Ava Gardner in colour Technicolor, shot in Spain, as a woman whose love destroys men. Like Samson and Delilah but with Gothic mystery, surrealism, and Albert Lewin's painterly obsession with beauty as curse. Equally melodramatic but far weirder.

But The narrative is fragmented and dreamlike. If you want clarity and linear plot, this will frustrate you. It's slow and asks a lot from viewers.

Ben-Hur1959

The apotheosis of the biblical epic: Charlton Heston, a chariot race that redefined cinema, and a story of betrayal and redemption that actually earns its emotional climax. Pure Old Hollywood at peak confidence.

But Nearly four hours, and the first half is exposition-heavy. The religious resolution may feel imposed on viewers looking for pure drama.

King of Kings1961

Nicholas Ray's Christ epic is visually stunning and surprisingly intimate despite its scope. Shares Samson's commitment to making biblical material feel tactile and human-scaled, even within massive sets.

But The dialogue can feel overwrought, and the film struggles with how to dramatize faith without sermon-like moments. Some scenes drag.

Barabbas1961

Anthony Quinn in a biblical tale of redemption and consequence. Darker and more morally ambiguous than Samson, with art direction that feels genuinely lived-in. A better film hiding in a similar genre.

But Less flashy than the other epics on this list, and the story is deliberately bleak. If you want spectacle and romance, you'll find it muted here.

The Greatest Story Ever Told1965

George Stevens' monumental Christ epic. Composed like a Rembrandt painting, it trades DeMille's melodrama for spiritual contemplation, but shares the same commitment to making the ancient world feel real and vast.

But Slow, static, and almost painterly to a fault. Many scenes feel more like tableaux than drama. Modern viewers often find it tedious.

Sodom and Gomorrah1962

Robert Aldrich's biblical action film: less reverent, more interested in spectacle and moral chaos. Stewart Granger and Pier Angeli in a pre-destruction society. More cynical than Samson, but equally committed to its world.

But The dialogue is often stilted, and the film veers between seriousness and camp without quite landing either. Effects don't hold up, and pacing is uneven.