Demetrius and the Gladiators

We've got one more movie showing up on FXM Retro to recommend this week: Demetrius and the Gladiators, which will be on at 11:40 AM tomorrow.

The action in the movie begins about where the action in The Robe left off. You may recall from that movie that the two main characters played by Richard Burton and Jean Simmons (Marcellus and Diana), were executed at the end for their Christian beliefs, with the titular robe referring to the garment that Jesus was wearing on the way to his crucifixion. The robe is given to an elderly Christian witness to the Marcellus/Diana crucifixon for safekeeping, until that guy can give it to "the fisherman", referring to Peter (Michael Rennie), the closest the earliest Christians had to a leader since he wasn't Pope yet.

Emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson) hears about the robe, and the rumore that it confers its owner life everlasting. It may, in the Christian sense of the afterlife, but not in the biological sense. But that's another story. Caligula wants that robe, and he'll stop at nothing to get it. Why can't he be more sensible, like his uncle Claudius (Barry Jones) and aunt Messalina (Susan Hayward)? Caligula sends a Roman legion out to the provinces to find that robe.

Demetrius (Victor Mature) and his girlfriend Lucia (Debra Paget) live in the town where the robe is temporarily secreted until Peter can get it. Demetrius was Marcellus' slave, but a free man now. Not for long, though, because the Romans come through looking for the robe and treat Lucia like dirt, so Demetrius defends her honor. Oh, you don't do that to a Roman legion. Demetrius is taken to Rome, where he'll be made a gladiator.

Although Demetrius as a Christian is supposed to be non-violent, there is some self-defense instinct when Caligula decides to send multiple tigers after Demetrius in the arena. Demetrius slays them all, leading the crowd to want to save him, even though Caligula would rather he died. Messalina in particular takes notice of Demetrius, and tries to tempt him with her love. But Demetrius is a good Christian.

At least until Lucia shows up. She wants to see Demetrius, but the other gladiators get to her first and the way they treat her results in her having a nervous breakdown, not that anybody in ancient Rome knew what that was at the time. Demetrius is powerless to stop it, and God certainly isn't going to do anything about it, so Demetrius abandons his faith and starts taking up with Messalina. At least, until Caligula sends him out to get that robe....

The biggest disappointment for me with the movie is that FXM's print was both letterboxed and pillarboxed. This wasn't the case with Thunder Island, which I mentioned yesterday. The story is OK; there's nothing particularly wrong with it but nothing particularly standing out either. If you like the sword and sandal movies of the 1950s, you'll probably enjoy Demetrius and the Gladiators. I just wish it were a bigger print.

Both the TCM Shop and Amazon claim to have the movie available on DVD, although it's on different box sets.