This is essentially a story all of it's own. Though history forms the basis of the subject, Richard Burton's depiction strays quite wilfully from any of the more established legends that are Alexander of Macedonia - or it just chooses to create a completely new one. Frederic March is good as his borderline megalomanic father Philip. with whom Alexander has a love/hate relationship as is Danielle Darrieux - his glamorous, and equally enigmatic mother Olympias who is constantly filling her son's head with tales of his divine origins. The tale leads us on a colourful adventure through his life without much subtlety, artistry or style - indeed Burton is pretty wooden throughout. To be fair, he has little by way of good dialogue to work with and although the assembled cast is impressive, they rarely work together well enough to create anything like a sense of peril, achievement or anything much, really - with Stanley Baker and Clare Bloom as the Persian Princess Barsine proving to be casting at it's most curious. As you'd expect, the budget wasn't meagre and the craft elements are stunningly produced; costumes, scenery and the battle scenes are all staged well with plenty of action. It's far too long however, and the chances to develop the more historically interesting facets of their characterisations are pretty much all missed. Just goes to show that money isn't everything...