The Sign of the Cross (1932)

A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Waldemar Young (screen play), Sidney Buchman (screen play),

Stars:

Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fredric March	...	Marcus
Elissa Landi	...	Mercia
Claudette Colbert	...	Poppaea
Charles Laughton	...	Nero
Ian Keith	...	Tigellinus
Arthur Hohl	...	Titus
Harry Beresford	...	Favius
Tommy Conlon	...	Stephan
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Glabrio
Vivian Tobin	...	Dacia
William V. Mong	...	Licinius
Joyzelle Joyner	...	Ancaria (as Joyzelle)
Richard Alexander	...	Viturius
Nat Pendleton	...	Strabo
Clarence Burton	...	Servillius

Storyline

After burning Rome, Emperor Nero decides to blame the Christians, and issues the edict that they are all to be caught and sent to the arena. Two old Christians are caught, and about to be hauled off, when Marcus, the highest military official in Rome, comes upon them. When he sees their stepdaughter Mercia, he instantly falls in love with her and frees them. Marcus pursues Mercia, which gets him into trouble with Emperor (for being easy on Christians) and with the Empress, who loves him and is jealous.

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Plot Keywords:

nero | empress | arena | spear | dog | 

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Taglines:

A picture which will proudly lead all the entertainments the world has ever seen

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Im Zeichen des Kreuzes

Filming Locations:

Fresno, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 122 min (without intermission)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play was first performed in the United States as part of a theatrical tour which started in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1895, but became a sensation when it opened in London, England, UK on 27 May 1895.

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Goofs

In the Coliseum, we see a woman tied up and is at the mercy of a gorilla. Europeans had no knowledge of gorillas' existence until more than 15 centuries later.

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Quotes

Emperor Nero: My head is splitting... the wine last night, the music... the delicious debauchery!

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Connections

References Quo Vadis? (1913)

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Soundtracks

"Ancaria's Song and Dance (The Naked Moon)"
(1932) (uncredited)
Music by Rudolph G. Kopp
Lyrics by Sidney Buchman
Played at the orgy and danced and sung by Joyzelle Joyner

User Reviews

Enjoyable Roman epic

The Sign of the Cross is clearly a movie about the Roman way of living more than the virtues of Christianity. There are scenes of graphic violence, debauchery and nudity as well as overtones of lesbianism - intermingled with scenes displaying the morality of Christian followers. It is a movie which perhaps the Christian community of that time would have been proud of. The character of Mercia (Elissa Landi) is portrayed as a Christian martyr whose sole aim in life is to follow her faith.

On the other hand, there are too many scenes in which Cecil B DeMille lets his imagination run riot and too many beautifully portrayed characterizations of evil for this film to be a religious film. It plays like a biblical epic but its content is very different from its silent predecessors. The characterizations of Poppaea (Claudette Colbert) and Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) are perfectly realised as a personification of evil. The scenes of brutality in the arena and scenes during Marcus' (Frederic March) banquet leave us without doubt that this movie is for the voyeur.

The direction by De Mille is inspired, as are Laughton and Colbert's performances. However, Frederic March has the difficult task of standing up to these two egos as well as acting alongside an ineffective leading lady. It is not surprising that his performance suffers because of this.

Overall, the movie is very interesting because of the era it was made in, because of the wonderful direction, and because it has stood the test of time - it can still shock audiences now!