It is partially an overture to the conservative fathers of the 1960s who can think of nothing worse than their daughters having sex - eww - but it also stands as a replacement for the sexual frustration and awkwardness between Lot and his daughters. Rather than, as in the Bible, Lot offering the two girls as virgins to the city, he fights for their honor and tries to kill the man who took their virginity. Here, he plays the role of corrupter of Lot’s daughters, sleeping with both Shuah (Rossana Podesta) and Maleb (Claudia Mori). Rather than being from the Bible, Astaroth seems to be taken more out of the occult and demonology. King Bera of the Bible turns into Queen Bera (Anouk Aimee) here, the powerful ruler of Sodom who likes to emasculate her brother Prince Astaroth (Stanley Baker). Instead, Aldrich replaces with a love triangle of sorts. It is easily the most morally complex - some readings say it is due to the daughters thinking the entire world had been destroyed, thus they needed to re-populate the Earth were a little quick on that trigger, no? - and, to no surprise, is not found here. Probably the most influential, especially in art, is the seduction of Lot by his daughters after the destruction of the cities and after his wife turns into a pillar of salt. There are three key pieces to the story, only one of which Sodom and Gomorrah gets right and one it does not even include. It is a lot of seduction, being mean, and torture/slavery, the latter of which is made into quite the big deal.
Instead, we get the tepid 1960s film that cuts out all of the lurid and taboo sexuality from the Bible - imagine, the puritanical audiences and production code censored the Bible! - and really downplays the Sodomites.
Give him the budget and he will make a strong argument on God’s behalf for destroying these people. However, if this came out in the 1970s with Ken Russell as director, would it ever be something to behold. Sadly, this is the only time a film like this could come out with the cast/talent behind it, considering the run of religion-based movies at the turn of the 50s/60s. Starring Stewart Granger as Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah just feels like it came out in the wrong era. Nothing says Easter like watching God smite the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Robert Aldrich’s epic.