Esther and the King

In one of her early lead roles, Joan Collins stars in Raoul Walsh’s muscular Biblical epic, a genre of films popular in the 50s and 60s. Richard Egan plays fourth-century Persian king Ahasuerus, who returns from conquering Egypt to find his queen Vashti (Daniela Rocca) has been unfaithful and his vizier Haman (Sergio Fantoni) has been undermining his authority. Banishing Vashti, he must choose another queen and Haman plans for his choice to be crowned to maintain his power in the court. But Ahasuerus chooses the beautiful Esther (Collins) and Haman must turn to another plan: he demands the Jews in the kingdom must renounce their faith or perish. Can Esther use her influence to save her people?, Old Testament events, turned into a costume hodgepodge. Esther: Joan Collins. Ahasuerus: Richard Egan. Haman: Sergio Fantoni. Mordecai: Denis O’Dea. Simon: Rik Battaglia. Queen Vashti: Daniela Rocca. Klidrates: Renato Baldini. Tobiah: Folco Lulli. Samuel: Gabriele Tinti. Directed by Raoul Walsh., In this biblical costume epic, set in Persia, during the 4th-century B.C., a Judean maiden is selected by the King of Persia to take the place of his murdered queen. He does this to ease the persecution of her people.