Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

weezeralfalfa Interesting quasi-historical period romantic drama surrounding the building of the Suez Canal in 1859-69,utilizing primarily French capital and expertise and Egyptian labor, much of it essentially slave labor in the early years. Although the run time is listed as 98 or 104 min., the copy I saw was only 74 min., missing about 25min. I'm not sure which sections were deleted, but the beginning and last part were there.Most of the main characters are uncommonly handsome or beautiful. This includes Tyrone Power, playing Ferdinand de Lesseps, a real person, who played an important part in building the Canal. Beautiful Loretta Young played Countess Eugenie de Montijo: who wanted to make up her mind whether she wanted to marry Ty or Napoleon III: soon to be emperor. She turns down Ty when he asks for her hand, keeping the Napoleon(Leon Ames) option open. Napoleon sent Ty to Egypt as a diplomat, his father being the chief consular there. He hoped this would put a damper on his romance with Loretta, which it did. Meanwhile, Ty soon discovered a new French beauty in Egypt: Annabella, as Toni. Her French accent was still rather thick at this time, but she provided quite a contrast to Loretta's character, who preferred the trappings of court life: lavish wardrobes, grand parties with dancing and such. Annabella's Toni was a tomboy, who preferred outdoor sports, including nude swimming, as Ty discovered. Apparently, she was sufficiently provided so that she could be carefree. WARNING: SPOILER ALERT.As things turned out, Ty's romantic relationship with both would not last. Loretta's character married Napoleon, while Annabella drowned in a horrible watery sandstorm, where the canal was being built.(Of course, in real life, Ty and Annabella would soon marry). When Ty returned to Paris, having completed the project, there was an emotional reunion with Loretta, as she congratulated him. The actual emperor's wife went to Egypt to formally dedicate the canal.Napoleon initially refused to back the canal project, but later changed his mind, allowing construction to begin. Ty also had to court the viceroy of Egypt, Sa'id(not Said!) for his approval of the project. He was nearly independent of the authority of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, which technically included Egypt. Enjoy either the abbreviated version or the full version, presently at YouTube

Michael_Elliott Suez (1938) *** (out of 4)Entertaining, if fairly flawed, look at Ferdinand de Lesseps (Tyrone Power) and the lose of his love (Loretta Young), which sends him off on a quest to build the Suez Canal. Along his mission he encounters political issues and a natural disaster as he tries to complete the work. There's no question that this movie was made to cash in on the wave of disaster flicks that followed the success of SAN FRANCISCO. Power and Fox had made one the previous year in IN OLD CHICAGO so they tried their luck again and for the most part it worked. I think there are some major problems with the screenplay and a lot of this is around the romance with Young's Countess Eugenie de Montijo. I never really bought her in the role and it's interesting that Young knew her role wasn't all that important so she made the studio agree to let her do her own costumes. This is important because the costumes that were designed for her were so large that many of the sets had to be redone just so she could fit through them. Her costumes certainly outshines her character and I also felt that Young just didn't feel too comfortable with the role, which I believe is the first time I've said that about my favorite actress. The screenplay also doesn't seem to know if it wants to center on the love story, the political stuff or the actual building of the canal. In the end I think the screenplay bites off much more than it can chew but there's still plenty here to enjoy. The best thing going for the film is some tremendous special effects that show up at the very end when a sand storm hits the crew as they're working. The effects are incredibly realistic, for the most part, and there are many times where you'll be asking yourself how they pulled off the trick. There are a couple terrific sequences where large drums of water fall over and take people with them that was very intense. This also leads to an incredibly powerful finale that I won't ruin but how it plays out on the love story was very effective. Power is his typical good self as he manages to be very believable in the role but he's also quite charming and he certainly knows how to woo the ladies. The real star of the movie is Annabella who is simply magnificent in the role of the girl who falls in love with Power but must sit behind the Young character. I thought Annabella did a terrific job with the accent, the charm, the flirtatious nature and she just really made a complete character and nailed every inch of it. Her scenes at the end with Power are extremely effective and really take the film to another level. As with many of the disaster films from this era (and the 70s for that matter) there's way too much story than what was probably needed but the performances and effects make this worth sitting through.

bkoganbing Probably one of the least accurate historical dramas done by the old Hollywood Studio System is Suez with Tyrone Power cast as Ferdinand DeLesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal. Any resemblance to the facts involving the canal and its construction are purely coincidental, in fact both English and French history gets badly skewered in Suez.Ferdinand DeLesseps should only have been as dashing and as handsome as Tyrone Power, he probably wishes he was. He was never involved in any romantic way with the Empress Eugene of France played by Loretta Young. As for the character that Annabella who was Mrs. Tyrone Power at the time plays, we've sure got no basis in fact for what she does to save Power and the canal itself. Take my word it's quite the sacrifice.The film has DeLesseps taking over the assignment his father had as consul general for France to Egypt. While there DeLesseps conceives the idea of rebuilding the ancient canal over the isthmus of Suez. And as the film's story unfolds he sacrifices everything to get it. Of course it's all fiction. The name of Benjamin Disraeli is as linked in history to the Suez Canal as DeLesseps. But how he got involved is also complete fiction. It took place after the canal was complete and while quite a coup for the British at the time, it was hardly anything heroic. Miles Mander plays Disraeli without quite the same flair as George Arliss did nor even Ian McShane in the acclaimed BBC series in the Seventies.But if you like historical romance than Suez is definitely the film for you.

Neil Doyle SUEZ is a stodgy romantic drama, a highly fictionalized biographical account of the builder of the Suez canal. It's got some nice costuming (for Loretta Young especially), some decent performances (Tyrone Power does nicely in the leading role and Annabella has a certain exotic charm), and the big storm scene is extremely well done as far as special effects go.Power and Young were both at the height of their physical appeal and their close-ups are as stunning as Miss Young's wardrobe.But it struggles to stay alive through the first few reels and it takes an interminable time for the plot to be resolved. It goes on and on at great length without making any sort of impression as a reasonably faithful biography of the man. The romance between Power, Young and Annabella seems no more than a cardboard romantic triangle such as the kind Hollywood often invented for biographies. (As, for example, in the Bronte biography, DEVOTION).As historical drama, it's flimsy. Only the most faithful fans of Power and Loretta Young (both of whom are attractively photographed for maximum glamor) will really be satisfied with this one. All of the production elements are there, but the end result is not quite what audiences expected.Most satisfying element is the great cast of supporting actors--Henry Stephenson, Joseph Schildkraut, J. Edgar Bromberg, Miles Mander, Nigel Bruce and George Zucco. Only standout flaw in casting is Leon Ames as Napoleon (before he became MGM's favorite father figure in "Little Women" and "Meet Me In St. Louis"). He just seems out of place.The sandstorm is magnificent but comes too late to save the film.