{"product_id":"fall-of-the-roman-empire-1964-original-cinema-brochure-sophia-loren-alec-guinness-stephen-boyd-bronston","title":"The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) Original Cinema Brochure – Sophia Loren, Alec Guinness, Stephen Boyd, Samuel Bronston","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn original souvenir cinema brochure for \u003cstrong\u003eSamuel Bronston’s The Fall of the Roman Empire\u003c\/strong\u003e (1964), directed by \u003cstrong\u003eAnthony Mann\u003c\/strong\u003e. Screenplay by Academy Award winner \u003cstrong\u003ePhilip Yordan\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eBen Barzman\u003c\/strong\u003e. Produced by \u003cstrong\u003eSamuel Bronston\u003c\/strong\u003e, Associate Producer \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Waszynski\u003c\/strong\u003e. A Samuel Bronston Production for Paramount Pictures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cover features a bold dark marbled stone texture ground with large-format gold serif lettering: \u003cstrong\u003eSAMUEL BRONSTON’S \/ THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE\u003c\/strong\u003e — monumental in design and entirely appropriate for one of the most ambitious epic productions in Hollywood history. The back cover carries the same marbled design, showing honest age-related creasing consistent with a 60-year-old brochure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe interior opens with a magnificent \u003cstrong\u003edouble-page spread colour photograph\u003c\/strong\u003e of the Roman Forum production set — a full-scale recreation of ancient Rome built at the Ciudad de la Cinematografía studios near Madrid, at the time the largest film set ever constructed. Thousands of costumed extras fill the frame before a soaring Corinthian temple, a great central column topped with gilded victory figures, colonnaded galleries, and a colossal Egyptian statue — an astonishing image of Hollywood epic-making at its absolute zenith.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA further full-page colour production photograph, captioned in the brochure: \u003cem\u003e“Marcus Aurelius with Timonides, the philosopher, and Livius, the warrior, pleads with his Legions for support of the Pax Romana and his dream of world peace.”\u003c\/em\u003e The image shows \u003cstrong\u003eAlec Guinness\u003c\/strong\u003e as Marcus Aurelius and \u003cstrong\u003eStephen Boyd\u003c\/strong\u003e as Livius, in full armour before the assembled Legions — one of the great images of 1960s Hollywood cinema.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe brochure includes dedicated cast profile pages: \u003cstrong\u003eSophia Loren\u003c\/strong\u003e as Lucilla, daughter of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius — described as “a Roman to the bone” — her 36th film, with credits including her Academy Award-winning performance in \u003cem\u003eTwo Women\u003c\/em\u003e and the unforgettable Chimene in \u003cem\u003eEl Cid\u003c\/em\u003e. The profile notes her command of Italian, French, Spanish, English and Portuguese, her patronage of major European restaurateurs, and her discovery as a tall, slender girl sitting beside her anxious mother among the spectators at the Fondo Carlo Ponti beauty contest. \u003cstrong\u003eStephen Boyd\u003c\/strong\u003e as the warrior Livius — born in Belfast, trained at the Windsor Repertory Company, internationally known from \u003cem\u003eBen-Hur\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Man Who Never Was\u003c\/em\u003e, described as one of the most popular actors in films today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe interior essay \u003cstrong\u003e“Profile of an Epic”\u003c\/strong\u003e by Samuel Bronston describes the extraordinary production: $100,000 a day in running costs; 35 days of filming in the Legion City set alone; research drawn from Dio Cassius, Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, and Suetonius; and the assembling of historians, writers, sculptors, and engineers to authenticate every detail of the Roman world. The story centres on the philosopher-emperor \u003cstrong\u003eMarcus Aurelius\u003c\/strong\u003e and his succession — and the threat of his son \u003cstrong\u003eCommodus\u003c\/strong\u003e, who “crowded all that was best and worst of the Roman world into the 12 blazing years that he reigned.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSophia Loren\u003c\/strong\u003e is one of the great names of world cinema — the only person to win an Academy Award for a non-English-language performance, an international icon, and one of the most collectible names in film memorabilia. \u003cstrong\u003eAlec Guinness\u003c\/strong\u003e needs no introduction. An original souvenir brochure from this Bronston epic, with both stars’ profiles and magnificent colour production photography, is a desirable piece of golden age Hollywood cinema history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Wear consistent with age, may show light creasing or minor marks. Please refer to all photos for a full assessment. This is an old brochure, don’t expect mint condition!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nostalgia Shack","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60830713643342,"sku":null,"price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/4187\/0670\/files\/20260912_160105_ce84aa87-e21d-4e71-81d1-ba0a7432b45c.jpg?v=1789491962","url":"https:\/\/nostalgiashack.co.uk\/products\/fall-of-the-roman-empire-1964-original-cinema-brochure-sophia-loren-alec-guinness-stephen-boyd-bronston","provider":"Nostalgia Shack","version":"1.0","type":"link"}