The Sign of the Cross (1932)

58% of users liked it
(308 ratings)

Director Cecil B. DeMille returned to Paramount Pictures for this typically epic production, which became his first box office hit after the close of the silent era. Fredric March stars as Roman Prefect Marcus Superbus, a noble military leader of the year 64 A.D. Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) has… More Director Cecil B. DeMille returned to Paramount Pictures for this typically epic production, which became his first box office hit after the close of the silent era. Fredric March stars as Roman Prefect Marcus Superbus, a noble military leader of the year 64 A.D. Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) has just burned down the city and blamed the conflagration on Christians, which has exacerbated anti-Christian sentiment. Marcus encounters a beautiful young Christian woman, Mercia (Elissa Landi), pleading with soldiers over the arrest of her beloved stepfather Titus (Arthur Hohl). The Prefect intervenes on her behalf, hoping for romance. Mercia rebuffs him, however, so Marcus attempts to humiliate her by sentencing her to live with a lesbian (Joyzelle Joiner), who has even less luck seducing the chaste Mercia. The Empress Poppaea (Claudette Colbert) desires Marcus for her own bed and becomes jealous of Mercia. When Nero orders that Christians are to be fed to the lions in the arena, Poppaea seizes the opportunity to get rid of her romantic rival, though Marcus pleads in vain with Nero to spare her life. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Directed By: Cecil B. DeMille
Written By: Waldemar Young, Sidney Buchman
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1932 Wide

Critic Reviews

Scott Nash, Three Movie Buffs
The Caligula of its day.
Bryant Frazer, Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus
The film's generous helpings of sex and violence are overwhelmed by its general air of condescension and phony piety.

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Veronique K

"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… More
"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 lecherous 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?

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Cast

Fredric March
as Marcus Superbus
Claudette Colbert
as Empress Poppaea
Elissa Landi
as Mercia
Charles Laughton
as Nero
Ian Keith
as Tigellinus
Harry Beresford
as Flavius
Arthur Hohl
as Titus
Tommy Conlon
as Stephanus
Vivian Tobin
as Dacia
Ferdinand Gottschalk
as Glabrio
Joyzelle Joyner
as Ancaria
Richard Alexander
as Viturius
Joel Allen
as Bombadier (1944 prologue)
Lionel Belmore
as Bettor
Joe Bonomo
as Mute Giant
Henry Brandon
Clarence Burton
as Servillius
John Carradine
as Leader of Gladiators/Christian Martyr/Cr...
Lane Chandler
as Christian in chains
William Forrest
as Colonel Hugh Mason (1944 prologue)
Dorothy Granger
Harold Healy
as Tybul
Carol Holloway
John James
as Lieutenant Herb Hanson (1944 prologue)
Otto Lederer
Lillian Leighton
Wilfred Lucas
Aline MacMahon
Robert Manning
as Philodemus
Charles B. Middleton
as Tyros
James Millican
as Capt. Kevin Driscoll (1944 prologue)
William V. Mong
as Licinius
Nat Pendleton
as Strabo
Angelo Rossitto
as Pygmy
Ynez Seabury
Arthur Shields
as Chaplain Costello (1944 prologue)
Kent Taylor
as A lover
Tom Tully
as Hoboken (1944 prologue)
Florence Turner
Ethel Wales
as Complaining wife
Horace B. Carpenter
Jerome Storm
Stanley Ridges
as Chaplian Lloyd (1944 prologue)
Gertrude Norman

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The Sign of the Cross (1932)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Veronique K

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