Valley of the Kings (film) to Robert Taylor, who had successfully teamed with Parker in "Above and Beyond". Carlos Thompson played the second male lead. Charles Schnee was the supervising producer. MGM bought the rights to the archaeology text "Gods, Graves and Scholars" for "protection purposes", as it contained a chapter titled "Robbers in the Valley of the Kings", which might have been seen as having influenced the film's script. They paid a reported $25,000. Filming started in November 1953. The film was shot on location in Egypt over six weeks in Cairo, Luxor, Faiyum, Suez, the Western Desert and at the Pyramids of Giza.
Valley of the Kings as unimportant by previous investigators. The West Valley tombs often carry the prefix "WV", but they follow the same numbering system. Some of the tombs are unoccupied, others remain unidentifiable as regards to their owners, and still others are merely pits used for storage. Most of the open tombs in the Valley of the Kings are located in the East Valley, and this is where most of the tourist facilities are located. The Eighteenth Dynasty tombs within the valley vary quite a bit in decoration, style, and location. It seems that at first there was no fixed plan. The tomb