The Sign of the Cross

My Roman kick continues with Cecil B. DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, made in 1932 and starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert. A bit too heavily overlaid with Christian propaganda, as one would expect, it is moderately entertaining and hits a lot of historical aspects correctly, though many are incorrect and may have even added to the myths that are still perpetuated.

It's 64 A.D. and the great fire of Rome is in full swing. Nero (Charles Laughton) is playing the lyre, mad as a hatter (there's no evidence he was playing any instrument while Rome burned). His aid Tigillinus (Ian Keith), worries that Nero will take the blame, so the batty emperor hits on a strategy--blame the Christians. Bad P.R. was around even then.

A band of Christians, including a beautiful young girl (Elissa Landi) try to worship without being caught, which would mean being fed to the lions. When a couple of them are captured, she tries to save them. The prefect (March), intervenes, and he is so taken with Landi that he lets them go, which Keith sees a chance to knock March down a peg or too.

The film builds toward its huge climax--the spectacle in the arena. The film gets some details wrong--the beast hunting went first, then the executions, then the gladiatorial contests, but otherwise it's keeping the history accurate, especially when it comes to the bloodthirstiness of the crowd. The script includes a few lighthearted moments of Roman citizens complaining about their seats, just like folks at Giants Stadium.

At the end, the Christians go to their deaths, singing, awaiting their salvation. I hope, for their sake, that they were right, because otherwise they got mauled for nothing. No one will be surprised that March will convert by the end of the film--basically he turns Christian because he wanted to get under Landi's toga.

I was amused by an actor in a small role--Nat Pendleton--who played the foil in many early comedies, such as Horsefeathers and many Abbott and Costello movies.

It should also be noted that this film was pre-code, which allows for Colbert, who plays Nero's empress, to take a milk bath. The boys at Mr. Skin may have done an in-depth analysis, but there might have been a nip-slip.