If made today, they'd call this The Robe II. Mostly a beefcake fest and spectacle rather than a first class religious drama--which is what "The Robe" was. This one has lots of gladiator fights in the arena and "a day in the life " at gladiator school stuff. The action is quite excitingly staged, but lessened by the handicap of early Cinemascope, where close ups and even medium closeups looked distorted and were very seldom used.
Susan Hayward is fun to watch as a sexually ravenous and manipulative noblewoman. Victor Mature confirms his acting chops (see "My Darling Clementine") by making a the struggling hero part believable, in a part that could have been cardboard rendered by many an action hero actor.
The video quality on this DVD is disappointingly mediocre; Fox obviously didn't spend any money on restoration, as they do with many of their titles from the 1950's. Colors are muddy, and the print, while perfectly watchable, is scratched. Stereo sound is so-so, and at least on my system, I didn't hear any surround sound, which this movie certainly had (this was a significant aspect of early Cinemascope presentations).
The actor playing bad guy Caligula gives one of the most hammy, over the top performances I can remember; he seems to have studied at the Simon Legree school of melodrama.
Susan Hayward is fun to watch as a sexually ravenous and manipulative noblewoman. Victor Mature confirms his acting chops (see "My Darling Clementine") by making a the struggling hero part believable, in a part that could have been cardboard rendered by many an action hero actor.
The video quality on this DVD is disappointingly mediocre; Fox obviously didn't spend any money on restoration, as they do with many of their titles from the 1950's. Colors are muddy, and the print, while perfectly watchable, is scratched. Stereo sound is so-so, and at least on my system, I didn't hear any surround sound, which this movie certainly had (this was a significant aspect of early Cinemascope presentations).
The actor playing bad guy Caligula gives one of the most hammy, over the top performances I can remember; he seems to have studied at the Simon Legree school of melodrama.