A biblical epic (& sequel to 1953's The Robe) from 1954 directed by Delmer Daves (3:10 to Yuma/Jubal). Victor Mature (already having mined biblical territory when he played Samson in Samson & Delilah in 1949) plays the free man in Rome who was lucky enough to get the robe which Jesus wore when he was crucified. News of the robe reaches Caligula's ears, played w/gleeful scene gummery by Jay Robinson, who believes the garment has God like properties commands his minions to recover the prized cloth but Mature, who is the robe's protector, steps forth when the centurions come a-calling but when one of them gets rough w/a fellow neighbor, played by Debra Paget (from The 10 Commandments), Mature defends her honor & lands himself in the coliseum fighting for his life (even though the strictures of his Christian beliefs preclude him from taking another life). Gaining favor w/the emperor after a fight w/another warrior, played by Blacula's William Marshall, draws a tie, he soon gains employment as a bodyguard to one of Robinson's circle, played by Susan Hayward but during a visit w/Paget, who is attacked & believed dead by another of his fellow warriors, Mature forsakes God & soon acquiesces to the hedonist lifestyle afforded him even as Robinson's reign soon becomes unbearable. Will Mature rekindle his faith anew or fall prey to the godless environment he's surrounded by? Not as deep as other epics of the period like Ben Hur or Spartacus, this saga still delivers the goods (Mature takes on a trio of tigers) w/Hayward vamping any chance she can get & the aforementioned Robinson, sounding like Paul Lynde on helium, doesn't disappoint as he struts firmly in camp. Also starring Ernest Borgnine as the gladiator trainer (he'd work w/Daves in Jubal in 1956), Anne Bancroft plays a woman who plies her trade w/the gladiators & Michael Rennie plays Simon Peter, Mature's spiritual guide on Earth.
Review of Demetrius and the Gladiators
