The Egyptian (film)

The Egyptian is an American 1954 epic drama film made by 20th Century Fox. Filmed in CinemaScope with color by DeLuxe, it was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on Mika Waltaris novel of the same name and the screenplay was adapted by Philip Dunne and Casey Robinson. Leading roles were played by Edmund Purdom, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Gene Tierney, Peter Ustinov and Michael Wilding. Cinematographer Leon Shamroy was nominated for an Academy Award in 1955.

While out lion hunting with his sturdy friend Horemheb Victor Mature, Sinuhe discovers Egypts newly ascendant pharaoh Akhnaton, who has sought the solitude of the desert in the midst of a religious epiphany. While praying, the ruler is stricken with an epileptic seizure, with which Sinuhe is able to help him. The grateful Akhnaton makes his savior court physician and gives Horemheb a post in the Royal Guard, a career previously denied to him by low birth. His new eminence gives Sinuhe an inside look at Akhnatons reign, which is made extraordinary by the rulers devotion to a new religion that he feels has been divinely revealed to him. This faith rejects Egypts traditional gods in favor of monotheistic worship of the sun, referred to as Aten. Akhnaton intends to promote Atenism throughout Egypt, which earns him the hatred of the countrys corrupt and politically active traditional priesthood.Life in court does not prove to be good for Sinuhe it drags him away from his previous ambition of helping the poor while falling obsessively in love with a Babylonian courtesan named Nefer Bella Darvi. He squanders all of his and his parents property in order to buy her gifts, only to have her reject him nonetheless. Returning dejectedly home, Sinuhe learns that his parents have committed suicide over his shameful behavior. He has their bodies embalmed so that they can pass on to the afterlife, and, having no way to pay for the service, works off his debts in the embalming house. ........

Source: Wikipedia