Valley of the Kings (film) Valley of the Kings (film) Valley of the Kings is a 1954 Eastmancolor adventure film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was written and directed by Robert Pirosh from a screenplay by Robert Pirosh and Karl Tunberg, "suggested by historical data" in the book "Gods, Graves and Scholars" by C. W. Ceram. The music was by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography by Robert Surtees. The title of the film refers to the valley on the west bank of the Nile River in Egypt, where the tombs of the Ancient Egyptian kings are located. The film was based on an original story by
Ursus in the Valley of the Lions "Valley of the Lions" (Ursus' name was omitted from the title for some reason). This film was also distributed as "Son of Atlas in the Valley of the Lions". An interesting note is that the actors who played the two villains in this film both appeared in Italian cult horror films as well. Alberto Lupo (King Ajak) had played the monster in "Atom Age Vampire" (1960), while Gerard Herter (who played Ajak's henchman Lothar in the film) had played a maniacal killer in "Caltiki, the Immortal Monster" (1959). The evil dictator Ajak sends his armies to attack a neighboring kingdom,