Sign of the Cross The (1932)

A pre-code epic by director-producer Cecil B. DeMille featuring one of my favorite actresses Claudette Colbert in the famous milk bath scene as well as the great Fredric March. It’s near the end of the Roman Empire Nero fiddles while Rome burns and Christians are fed to the lions. Karl Struss (Sunrise (1927)) received an Oscar nomination for his Cinematography. Another version of the story can be seen in Quo Vadis (1951).

In 64 A.D. Marcus Superbus (March) is the great warrior of Rome who falls for Mercia (Elissa Landi) a Christian girl. However Marcus is coveted by Poppaea (Colbert) the wife of Nero (Charles Laughton) who can influence the Emperor. Another with this ability is Tigellinus (Ian Keith) a warrior jealous of Marcus’s power. Tigellinus asserts his influence over Nero to have the blame for Rome’s burning blamed on the Christians so that they can be rounded up and/or executed.

Titus (Arthur Hohl) brings news from Jesus’s disciple Paul making the acquaintance of fellow Christian Favius (Harry Beresford) by making the "sign of the cross" on the ground. Nat Pendleton a loyal Roman "thug" witnesses this as well as Marcus’s saving of Mercia Titus and her father Favius and reports it to Tigellinus. Meanwhile the Christians are planning a big meeting for Titus’s report and Favius’s son Stephan (Tommy Conlon) will be used to pass the secret location & time to others. However he is captured (by Pendleton) and tortured by the Romans to reveal the information such that Tigellinus takes his troops to ambush and kill the Christians.

When Marcus hears of this he and men loyal to him rush to the scene but are delayed by Poppaea who is jealous of anything which draws him away from her. So they arrive too late to stop Tigellinus’s slaughter of many of the Christians including Titus and Favius. The rest are imprisoned to later be fed to the lions bears alligators and even crushed by elephants as entertainment for spectators in the Colosseum. However Marcus has his second in command Lecinius (William Mong) take Mercia to his home where she can be protected. There she witnesses debauchery as he tries to get her to renounce her religion to be safe and live with him. She resists and instead tries to "save" him. There’s a great dance sequence featuring Ancaria (Joyzelle Joyner) as she & Marcus’s house guests try to corrupt Mercia. There’s another scene in which Poppaea (with Colbert dressed to kill;-) tries to sway Marcus’s favor only to be rejected such that she uses her influence with Nero to have Mercia taken from his residence.

I won’t reveal the ending except to say that it’s both tragic and hopeful. Also Charles Middleton plays Tyros and Mischa Auer (My Man Godfrey (1936)) & John Carradine appear uncredited in this large production.

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