The Last Days of Pompeii

In the old Roman Empire city of Pompeii, brawny blacksmith Preston Foster (as Marcus) suffers a great family tragedy. Desperate for money, Mr. Foster reluctantly becomes a gladiator; he is uncomfortable killing defeated opponents, but must make a living. Wracked with guilt, Foster adopts pre-teen David Holt (as young Flavius) after killing his father in a fight. Foster can no longer fight competitively and makes money trading slaves and horses. He eventually becomes very prosperous...

Foster is unaware he is living during the time of Jesus Christ, who has a following. An old woman instructs Foster to take his son to see the "greatest man" in Judea. Foster considers this to be "prophesy." He crosses paths with Christ, but believes the greatest man is more likely the governor of Jerusalem, Basil Rathbone (as Pontius Pilate). Foster begins working with the notorious leader. After the Christian crucifixion, Foster's son grows up to be John Wood (as Flavius) and clashes with his papa...

Other than the ending eruption, "The Last Days of Pompeii" completely re-works the plot (of the original novel by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton). It's a good (perhaps better), Christian-focused revision, though sometimes stodgy in the production. The concept of slavery is changed, which is nice. Original thinking was that the mistreating of slaves was bad; nice people treated them nicely, and bad people treated them badly. Also, Mr. Rathbone's "Pilate" is given more depth in characterization...

God, however, is still in firm control of natural disasters.

****** The Last Days of Pompeii (10/18/35) Ernest B. Schoedsack ~ Preston Foster, John Wood, Basil Rathbone, David Holt