The Sign of the Cross poster & wallpaper

Arthur Hohl, Charles Laughton, Charles Middleton

Flixster Users

59% liked it

223 ratings

Unrated, 2 hrs. 5 min.

Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille

Release Date: January 1, 1932

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: May 23, 2006

Stats: 19 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

None yet... Got one?

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (19)

  • groaningbitch
    February 6, 2008
    groaningbitch
    "the sign of the cross" is one of cecil b. demile's epic flicks, introducing the story of the prosecutions on christianity in the ancient empire rome.

    it has charles laughton as the sinisterly merciless niro who enjoys witnessing his palace burned, claudette colbert as the lec...( read more)herous empress who would arbitrarily disposes of her love rival due to the bitter jealousy, and fredric march as the love-crazed roman official who sacrifice himself for his love toward a fanatic christian woman. colbert exuberates the aristocratic sensuality in the floral bathing pond with her breasts vaguely baring, and lasciviously willful enough to respond her reluctant candidate of paramour "i love you" while he spitefully addresses her as tramp. except the slightly unproper curl bang, colbert paves the stepping stone for her niche of the 1934 cleopatra, another collaboration with director demile.

    laughton's obese insolence also savors up (or uglifies) the image of empirer niro. fredric march's gallant is a flat character who could barely move anyone, and his dedication of love could be explained by the proverb "what you can't get is always the best." elissa landi's blonde christian lily is a dreary character with uncomprehesible religious fever. maybe demonstrating how sincere christian martyrs explored the path of this widely converted religion itself is a preachy topic, and it makes you probe how could a former cult with so many stubbornly radical followers get so overwhelmingly popular? the sign of the cross was the the zodiac mark then, and the main difference is it's been validified with pragmatic hegemony today.

    demile's trademark is his lush vaudevilles, and the most intriguing one would be the snake-swaying lustful dance from a sedutress clinging to another female while the christian martyrs are marching outside with their jarring gospels. and mostly controversial of all, the circus theater of ancient rome plays various rousingly vile beast-human sequences, such as tiger nibbing child, ape rapping a tied naked woman on the pole, amazonian decapitating midget, crocodiles looming over a confined woman....and the last one, lions devouring christians. they're all disturbingly gory manifested by the stark tone of black and white, with enough explicit insinuations to suggest the brutality of roman mob, and the most unsettling of all, the wailing excitement and morbid amusement on the audience's faces.

    you may wonder if christiany is really such a great religion that people are willing to be consumed by wild felines alive for it...is march's last-min pledge out of his sudden elightenment or he's just a romantic steer willing to die with his lover?
  • beachpeach
    October 1, 2008
    beachpeach
    Some awesome costumes in this entertaining and very well made film that draws you in and you don't want to let it go! :)
  • dfreebyrd59
    August 23, 2008
    dfreebyrd59
    As a christian makes one think.

View All The Sign of the Cross Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

View more The Sign of the Cross reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "The Sign of the Cross" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

The Sign of the C... : Watch Free on TV

The Sign of the Cross Trivia

  • In the movie Super Cross what it the name of the company how sign K.C. Carlile?  Answer »
  • I played a runaway heiress an egyptian queen and was in DeMille,s 1932 sign of the Cross ,who am I  Answer »
  • The church scene involving Kurgan, Clancy Brown, in Highlander (1986) was filmed at night with the permission of the priests in charge. Brown's lines were ad-libbed and were reportedly considered so sacrilegious that the priests off-camera were making the sign of the cross as he said them.  Answer »
  • Booby makes the sign of the cross every time he passes a church in Brooklyn Rules ?  Answer »
More The Sign of the Cross Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for The Sign of the Cross. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add The Sign of the Cross to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?