Sept. 27, 1962 - Sophia Loren (left) will join Alec Guinness, Richard Harris, and Stephen Boyd (right) in the color spectacle, “The Fall of the Roman Empire,” which Anthony Mann will direct for producer Samuel Bronston starting January in Madrid. When filming for “El Cid” had finished, Mr. Mann saw a copy of Edward Gibbon’s 1776–1789 six-volume series “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” inside a bookshop. He pitched a film adaptation of the book to Samuel Bronston, who then agreed to produce the project. The film's name refers not to the final fall of the Roman empire, which in fact survived for centuries after the period depicted in the film, but rather to the onset of corruption and decadence which led to Rome’s demise.
