Demetrius and the Gladiators *** (1954, Victor Mature, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie, Debra Paget, Anne Bancroft, Jay Robinson) – Classic Movie Review 2251

Director Delmer Daves’s routine but entertaining 1954 sword-and-sandal follow-up to the 20th Century Fox blockbuster movie The Robe is cinema’s only sequel to a biblical epic. Made in CinemaScope and Technicolor, it was another huge hit, grossing $26million in North America on its cinema release on a budget of less than $2million, making it the fourth highest grossing film of 1954. Philip Dunne’s fictional screenplay is based on characters created by Lloyd C Douglas in The Robe.

It stars Victor Mature again as the slave and dedicated Christian Demetrius, who is ordered to fight as a gladiator in the Roman arena for the entertainment of the crazed and depraved Emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson), thus attracting the eye of sexy Messalina (Susan Hayward), who’s married to Claudius (Barry Jones). Messalina leads him into the path of temptation. Demetrius succumbs to her attractions and forgets his belief in Christ only to have it restored by the good work of Peter (Michael Rennie) who proceeds to save his soul.

Director Daves fails to add anything much that is new to the sword-and-sandal epic tradition of gladiator movies. And the movie tends to drag at times before the impactful final conflict and concluding redemption. But there’s a large amount of extravagant acting, swirling action, epic sweep and visual grandeur to keep it entertaining.

Also in the starring cast are Debra Paget, Anne Bancroft, William Marshall, Richard Egan, Ernest Borgnine, with Charles Evans, Everett Glass and Karl Davis, while Julie Newmar is briefly seen as a dancing entertainer.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2251

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