The Sign of the Cross (1932)

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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

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 58 min.
Directed By: Cecil B. DeMille
Written By: Waldemar Young, Sidney Buchman
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1932 Wide
On DVD: May 10, 2011

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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Featured Audience Ratings

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?

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/Crowd Voice

            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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