Sign of the Cross (1933)

Cecil B. DeMille's pre-Hays Code Roman costume drama manages to mix fast-and-loose historical facts with melodrama and titillation. Fredric March plays Marcus Superbus, a Roman soldier and womanizer who jeopardizes his position in Nero's storm troopers by developing a crush on a beautiful Christian girl, Mercia (Elissa Landi). With the Christians keeping their faith far underground, Superbus walks a tightrope between his obligations to the state and his love for Mercia until she and her family are rounded up and hauled off to the arena. The Sign of the Cross is not without its problems; by modern standards, it often seems slow and stagy, and its moralistic message comes across as blunt and heavy-handed. DeMille, however, shrewdly knew how to keep an audience's attention in ways that would have been impossible in subsequent years. Consider Claudette Colbert as the alluring, evil Poppaea, lolling in a bath of asses' milk with her breasts almost completely exposed. Or there's the scene where Marcus tries to get Mercia to loosen up a bit; his idea of a fun time is to take her to an orgy where she's groped by a lesbian during an erotic dance. Then there's Charles Laughton as the decadent Nero, his fey manner abetted by an oiled-up boy-toy at his side in nearly every scene. The climactic scenes at the arena are still violent today, with Christians being gnawed by lions, gladiators knocking each other's brains out, and an Amazon spearing a Pygmy and carrying him around like a kebab! The Sign of the Cross was heavily cut for rerelease in later years but is now available again in its uncut form. --Jerry Renshaw Amazon.com

In the third night of the great fire!

Brutal, dramatic and poignant film that recreates the events after the painful destruction of Rome by Nero's caprice: Marcus is the loyal officer who falls in love with a very young and beaty Christian; but in the meantime Poppea is in love with him, and due that reason she will send to death the woman he loves.

Claudette Colbert as Nero' wife is alluring and seductive: Frederic March as Marcus is believe believable too, but Charles Laughton as Nero simply is I top form.

Sometimes uneven and sometimes taut; but despite of the facts, the script maintains its force all the way through.

A film worth to see it.
October 23, 2006

The movie that almost founded camp!

SOTC is so far over the top, it's a classic in spite of itself. Almost laughable all the way through, and 99% prime ham, but at the same time, you can appreciate the whole DeMille brand-stamp of epic films, as well as what they could get away with pre-code! March is a little stiff as the proper Roman patrician party boy with a crisis (Marcus Superbus, fer Godsake. Even his name is campy). Laughton has never been so, well, shall we say, closet-free in a role. He just exudes ultra-high camp. The villian is appropriately slimy, and Claudette Colbert is on fire, she's so hot. The colesseum scenes are still eye-grabbing, with all kinds of 30s-style violence and suggestion, some very unexpected. A definite must-own by any movie buff, so, naturally, it's out of print with, apparently, no plans for a DVD in sight. Thanks again, studios. Greed always wins out.
PS: If you're consider yourself an easily-offended Christian, don't watch this. If you do, you have no justification to complain afterward.
PPS: If you find THIS film gross/gory, have you ever seen any films made after 1957?
February 7, 2005

the roar of the lions, the smell of the crowd

Bizarre and lavish, this 1932 epic is an entertaining curiosity piece. It starts in "Rome...the third night of the Great Fire, 64 A.D.", with Charles Laughton as a flabby, insane Nero, playing a harp and taking delight in the conflagration, with his hatred for Christians the basis for the plot.
It meshes together the faith and determination of a few brave souls with the debauchery of the times and mankind's fascination with the misfortunes of others, culminating in the remarkably well filmed Colosseum scene.
From Claudette Colbert, who plays Poppaea, Nero's wife, bathing in milk (and it was real milk, which started to sour and stink on the second of many days of filming), to the crocodiles on the march, there are depictions of every kind of excess and sensual liberty.

The costuming is skimpy, even to Frederic March's laughable micro-mini outfits, and the dialogue is often silly with some of the hammiest performances on film, but DeMille's talent for orchestrating crowd scenes, and the good/evil theme of the film make for outrageous and sometimes thought-provoking viewing. It's about depravity, courage, and the triumph (if only spiritually) of the underdog, and well worth seeing for the arena sequence alone.
Based on Wilson Barrett's popular 1895 play, the cinematography by Karl Struss (who in his long career also did the '58 cult favorite "The Fly") is brilliant, with many cross images using light/shade and doors. Total running time is 125 minutes. April 6, 2004

SELLER IS A THIEF !

BEWARE ! seller is a THIEF . I bought a vhs from seller . finally emailed after seven days . And sd his computer was down . sd he would check on my order and never emailed me back . kept emailing seller . Never had a response . Take my advise before buying from seller or you will be next . November 14, 2003

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die

...

I found this to be the general attitude of the Roman people, if this movie is at all historically accurate, and I believe it is. A very pitiful, empty, tragic existence. To hate other people so much just because they love and serve God, and to be so deadened in spirit that you don't mind killing en masse.

Well... I watched it last night because it has been years since I've seen a DeMille movie and I wanted to see what it was like. While I will not dismiss DeMille as a director, I think I will dismiss this movie from consideration for my collection. For one thing, the characters weren't very developed. They got somewhat lost in a sea of extras and Roman spectacles and I couldn't really get into their shoes and understand or feel much for them. Yes, it was sad when Mercia had to go face the lions, but by the time it happened, I'd been sickened by so many disgusting spectacles in the Coliseum that I didn't really think I could deal with any more tragedy. I would say that the only character that moved me deeply was the innocent laughing little Christian girl whose mother died. She was so oblivious to what was really happening, and when the kind old man took her up to the lions with him, he told her they were going to see Mother. Very touching.

The main characters....

Charles Laughton was perfect for Nero. You don't want to feel anything good about Nero, and Laughton makes it easy to despise him - the neurotic weirdo with Rome at the mercy of his cruel insanity. He was so disgusting all the way through the movie, and he is last seen calmly eating grapes while human beings are slaughtering and being slaughtered below him.

Claudette Colbert as Poppaea was very strange and I never understood her a bit except that she had designs on Fredric March. Her clothes were slinky and her hair style was weird, and I didn't really like her at all. I did like her pet leopard, though.

Fredric March aka "Marcus Superbus" was okay in his role except for a few minor things. The curled hair was very unbecoming, the outfits he had to walk around in were equally so. They seemed to get worse and worse as the movie wore on, too. And once again the character was undeveloped except for the understanding that he was a womaniser and a roué. (That is an old term meaning cad.)

And there was Mercia, and I can't really say much about her either because her character didn't seem deep enough to jump into. She seemed to be a loving girl devoted to purity and virtue and God, and in the prison it was good to see her ministering to the needs of her fellow prisoners.

Then there was all the risquée display of women... Claudette bathing in her donkey milk bath (gross to begin with) was obviously topless. Then there was the weirdo at Marcus' party who sang "Naked Moon" or whatever it was called and danced around Mercia quite erotically. And in the Coliseum, there were a couple of women being executed who wore nothing but garlands of flowers wrapped around themselves. I just found it weird that a lot of this stuff got past the censors, and I didn't really think it was necessary.

And speaking of the Coliseum, that whole scene was revolting for the simple reason that I don't like to watch people mass murdering each other for the amusement of a degenerated society. It was so disturbing to see the entire audience revelling in the bloodiness of the spectacle.

I won't say that everything in the movie was bad. The motif of the Cross appeared traced in the sand, constructed from branches or twigs, in shadows on the floor from windows... That was very artistic. Mercia once stood against a door as if she was hanging on a cross.

Despite all the negatives and mediocres of this movie there was one element of it that I don't think anyone should ignore. I've known about the martyrdom of Christians in Rome for years, but never really given deep thought to how frightening and terrible it would be. But it is the only cause really worth dying for, and I hope that I would be willing to face lions or fire or whatever else, if I would ever be called to die that way.

So that sums up my opinion of the film. It did leave an impression on me - mostly negative though it may be. Watch it if you want, but I can't highly recommend it, and definitely not for children. September 19, 2002

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