The ancient Greek Aesop wrote a simple fable about being kind to animals and it will be returned in kind by them. From that George Bernard Shaw used the fable to write a satire on the early Christian religion. And now RKO studio brought it to Hollywood under the supervision of Howard Hughes. I'm not sure what Aesop or Shaw might have thought of Androcles And The Lion in this form.
It's an interesting film and above all the acting of Alan Young in the title role as the almost child like Androcles the tailor carries the film over a couple of bumpy spots. Later on Alan Young played that ultimate of animal lover Wilbur Post in Mister Ed.
Shaw was trying to say that there are many kinds of Christians and there are other forces in personality that will determine which tenets of Christianity or for that matter any religion will dominate in one. Faced with the choice of being martyred or standing up for oneself, Robert Newton decides the sword is mightiest of all and makes short work of six of Emperor Maurice Evans's gladiators. Gentle Christian woman Jean Simmons spurns the love of praetorian Victor Mature, but Newton's performance in the arena saves them all.
Finally there's Young who is thought of as a sorcerer and that scares them more than possibly being a Christian. He gets to go in the arena and face a lion. Wouldn't you know it's the same lion he took a thorn out of a paw. Naturally the lion isn't about to make a meal of his friend. That puts the whole empire under his thumb if he wanted it. But it's not in the gentle and kind Young nature. He's as meek, as Newton is aggressive and Simmons is pious. Just their basic personalities that religion did not change in any way.
One performance that is not normally commented on is that of Elsa Lanchester as Young's shrew of a wife. One of the reasons that Young likes animals is that they don't pester him the way she does. He bears the cross of his partner with a cheerful acceptance, but you get the feeling that Christian martyrdom might just be a way out of a bad marital situation.
Aesop might not recognize his tale, but enough of Shaw's observations on life remain intact in Androcles And The Lion.
It's an interesting film and above all the acting of Alan Young in the title role as the almost child like Androcles the tailor carries the film over a couple of bumpy spots. Later on Alan Young played that ultimate of animal lover Wilbur Post in Mister Ed.
Shaw was trying to say that there are many kinds of Christians and there are other forces in personality that will determine which tenets of Christianity or for that matter any religion will dominate in one. Faced with the choice of being martyred or standing up for oneself, Robert Newton decides the sword is mightiest of all and makes short work of six of Emperor Maurice Evans's gladiators. Gentle Christian woman Jean Simmons spurns the love of praetorian Victor Mature, but Newton's performance in the arena saves them all.
Finally there's Young who is thought of as a sorcerer and that scares them more than possibly being a Christian. He gets to go in the arena and face a lion. Wouldn't you know it's the same lion he took a thorn out of a paw. Naturally the lion isn't about to make a meal of his friend. That puts the whole empire under his thumb if he wanted it. But it's not in the gentle and kind Young nature. He's as meek, as Newton is aggressive and Simmons is pious. Just their basic personalities that religion did not change in any way.
One performance that is not normally commented on is that of Elsa Lanchester as Young's shrew of a wife. One of the reasons that Young likes animals is that they don't pester him the way she does. He bears the cross of his partner with a cheerful acceptance, but you get the feeling that Christian martyrdom might just be a way out of a bad marital situation.
Aesop might not recognize his tale, but enough of Shaw's observations on life remain intact in Androcles And The Lion.