Demetrius and the Gladiators
Encyclopedia
Demetrius and the Gladiators is a 1954 sword and sandal
drama film
and a sequel to The Robe
. It was made by 20th Century Fox
, directed by Delmer Daves
and produced by Frank Ross
. The screenplay was by Philip Dunne
based on characters created by Lloyd C. Douglas
in The Robe .
It starred Victor Mature
as Demetrius
, a Christian slave made to fight in the Roman arena as a gladiator
, and Susan Hayward
as Messalina
. The cast also included Ernest Borgnine
, William Marshall
, Michael Rennie
, Jay Robinson
as depraved emperor Caligula, Debra Paget
, a young Anne Bancroft
in one of her earlier roles and Julie Newmar
as a briefly seen dancing entertainer. The film is in color and in Cinemascope
, with an English language stereo
sound track, and runs for 101 minutes.
ed for their Christian
beliefs on the order of the Emperor Caligula
. Before being executed, Diana hands the robe to Marcellus' servant Marcipor, telling him that it is "for the Big Fisherman," meaning Saint Peter
, who was a fisherman before being called as an apostle.
Peter hands the robe to Demetrius while at the funeral of Marcellus and Diana before leaving on a journey to live in 'the north'. Caligula becomes interested in the robe, thinking that it is has magic powers and will bring him eternity. He accosts his uncle Claudius
, wanting to know what had happened to it.
Demetrius, looking out for his Lucia and the robe and refusing to reveal its location, is arrested for assaulting a Roman soldier, and sentenced to the arena. Meanwhile, Lucia disguises herself to gain entrance to the gladiator school to see Demetrius. However, the two are forcibly separated on orders of Messalina, Claudius' wife, and Lucia is then assaulted by Dardanius and the other gladiators. Demetrius in desperation prays for God to save her, and suddenly it appears that Dardanius has broken Lucia's neck. In anger Demetrius is freed, and allowed to join the Praetorian Guard
. Caligula asks if Demetrius renounces Christ
; once Demetrius does this Caligula frees him and inducts him into the guard with the rank of Tribune
.
As a Tribune, Demetrius rejects the teachings of Christ (and of Isis
when encountering Messalina praying to her statue), beginning an affair with Messalina. When Peter comes to visit them, he turns him away too. The affair continues for several months, and eventually Caligula finds out about it.
Demetrius takes the robe to the Emperor, who takes the robe down below to a prisoner. He has the prisoner killed, and tries to resurrect him. Furious that he cannot, Caligula accuses Demetrius of having brought him a fake, and that both the robe and Christ are frauds. Demetrius is taken back to the arena. When the Emperor tries to have Demetrius executed, the Praetorian Guard (already angry at Caligula over worse pay and conditions) finally turns against Caligula and kills first Macro
, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, then Caligula. Claudius is installed as Emperor
by the Praetorian Guard almost immediately after Caligula is killed.
Soon after his installation, Claudius says that he is neither a god, nor would he likely become one
anytime soon. Claudius says that he maintained the appearance of being weak to survive Caligula's rule, and that he would now take on the role of Emperor to the best of his ability. He gives Demetrius his final orders as a Tribune, to go to Peter and the other Christians, and tell them that as long as they do not act against the Empire that they have nothing to fear from Claudius. Messalina re-vows her constancy to her husband. Demetrius and Glycon take the robe to Peter, and they leave the Imperial palace together.
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
and a sequel to The Robe
The Robe (film)
The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
. It was made by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, directed by Delmer Daves
Delmer Daves
Delmer Daves was an American screenwriter, director, and producer.-Life and career:Born in San Francisco, Delmer Daves first pursued a career as a lawyer...
and produced by Frank Ross
Frank Ross (producer)
Frank Ross was a film producer, writer, and actor.A graduate of Princeton University, Ross began acting in 1929's The Saturday Night Kid, starring Clara Bow and Jean Arthur, whom he married in 1932. He only appeared in two more films...
. The screenplay was by Philip Dunne
Philip Dunne (writer)
Philip Dunne was a Hollywood screenwriter, film director and producer, who worked prolifically from 1932 until 1965. He spent the majority of his career at 20th Century Fox crafting well regarded romantic and historical dramas, usually adapted from another medium...
based on characters created by Lloyd C. Douglas
Lloyd C. Douglas
Lloyd Cassel Douglas born Doya C. Douglas, was an American minister and author.He was born in Columbia City, Indiana, spent part of his boyhood in Monroeville, Indiana, Wilmot, Indiana and Florence, Kentucky, where his father, Alexander Jackson Douglas, was pastor of the Hopeful Lutheran Church...
in The Robe .
It starred Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
as Demetrius
Demetrius
Demetrius, also spelled as Demetrios, Dimitrios, Demitri, and Dimitri , is a male given name.Demetrius and its variations may refer to the following:...
, a Christian slave made to fight in the Roman arena as a gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
, and Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
as Messalina
Messalina
Valeria Messalina, sometimes spelled Messallina, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Claudius. She was also a paternal cousin of the Emperor Nero, second cousin of the Emperor Caligula, and great-grandniece of the Emperor Augustus...
. The cast also included Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
, William Marshall
William H. Marshall
William Horace Marshall was an American actor, director, and opera singer. He is best known for his title role in the 1972 blaxploitation classic Blacula and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream , as the "King of Cartoons" on the 1980s television show Pee-wee's Playhouse beginning with its second...
, Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
, Jay Robinson
Jay Robinson
Jay Robinson is an American actor specialising in character roles. He was born in New York City.-Career:Robinson began his acting career in summer stock theatre and repertory companies, and eventually made his way to the Broadway stage, where he appeared in Shakespeare's As You Like It and Much...
as depraved emperor Caligula, Debra Paget
Debra Paget
Debra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
, a young Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
in one of her earlier roles and Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
as a briefly seen dancing entertainer. The film is in color and in Cinemascope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, with an English language stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
sound track, and runs for 101 minutes.
Plot summary
The film begins with a clip from the previous film, showing its central characters Marcellus and Diana going to be martyrMartyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
ed for their Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
beliefs on the order of the Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
. Before being executed, Diana hands the robe to Marcellus' servant Marcipor, telling him that it is "for the Big Fisherman," meaning Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, who was a fisherman before being called as an apostle.
Peter hands the robe to Demetrius while at the funeral of Marcellus and Diana before leaving on a journey to live in 'the north'. Caligula becomes interested in the robe, thinking that it is has magic powers and will bring him eternity. He accosts his uncle Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, wanting to know what had happened to it.
Demetrius, looking out for his Lucia and the robe and refusing to reveal its location, is arrested for assaulting a Roman soldier, and sentenced to the arena. Meanwhile, Lucia disguises herself to gain entrance to the gladiator school to see Demetrius. However, the two are forcibly separated on orders of Messalina, Claudius' wife, and Lucia is then assaulted by Dardanius and the other gladiators. Demetrius in desperation prays for God to save her, and suddenly it appears that Dardanius has broken Lucia's neck. In anger Demetrius is freed, and allowed to join the Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...
. Caligula asks if Demetrius renounces Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
; once Demetrius does this Caligula frees him and inducts him into the guard with the rank of Tribune
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
.
As a Tribune, Demetrius rejects the teachings of Christ (and of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
when encountering Messalina praying to her statue), beginning an affair with Messalina. When Peter comes to visit them, he turns him away too. The affair continues for several months, and eventually Caligula finds out about it.
Demetrius takes the robe to the Emperor, who takes the robe down below to a prisoner. He has the prisoner killed, and tries to resurrect him. Furious that he cannot, Caligula accuses Demetrius of having brought him a fake, and that both the robe and Christ are frauds. Demetrius is taken back to the arena. When the Emperor tries to have Demetrius executed, the Praetorian Guard (already angry at Caligula over worse pay and conditions) finally turns against Caligula and kills first Macro
Naevius Sutorius Macro
Quintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard, from 31 until 38, serving under the Roman Emperors Tiberius and Caligula...
, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, then Caligula. Claudius is installed as Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
by the Praetorian Guard almost immediately after Caligula is killed.
Soon after his installation, Claudius says that he is neither a god, nor would he likely become one
Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State...
anytime soon. Claudius says that he maintained the appearance of being weak to survive Caligula's rule, and that he would now take on the role of Emperor to the best of his ability. He gives Demetrius his final orders as a Tribune, to go to Peter and the other Christians, and tell them that as long as they do not act against the Empire that they have nothing to fear from Claudius. Messalina re-vows her constancy to her husband. Demetrius and Glycon take the robe to Peter, and they leave the Imperial palace together.
Cast
- Victor MatureVictor MatureVictor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
- Demetrius - Susan HaywardSusan HaywardSusan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
- MessalinaMessalinaValeria Messalina, sometimes spelled Messallina, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Claudius. She was also a paternal cousin of the Emperor Nero, second cousin of the Emperor Caligula, and great-grandniece of the Emperor Augustus... - Michael RennieMichael RennieMichael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
- Peter - Debra PagetDebra PagetDebra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
- Lucia - Anne BancroftAnne BancroftAnne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
- Paula - Jay RobinsonJay RobinsonJay Robinson is an American actor specialising in character roles. He was born in New York City.-Career:Robinson began his acting career in summer stock theatre and repertory companies, and eventually made his way to the Broadway stage, where he appeared in Shakespeare's As You Like It and Much...
- Caligula - Barry JonesBarry Jones (actor)Barry Jones was an actor seen in British and American films, on American television and on the stage.-Biography:...
- Claudius - Richard EganRichard Egan (actor)Richard Egan was an American actor. In some films he is credited as Richard Eagan.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United States Army as a judo instructor during World War II...
- Dardanius - Ernest BorgnineErnest BorgnineErnest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
- Strabo - Charles EvansCharles EvansSir Robert Charles Evans M.D., DSc, , was a British mountaineer, surgeon, and educator.Born in Liverpool, he was raised in Wales and became a fluent Welsh language speaker. Educated at Shrewsbury School and Oxford University, where he studied medicine, he qualified as a doctor in 1942 and joined...
- Cassius Chaerea - Everett GlassEverett GlassEverett Glass was an American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and television shows from the 1940s through the 1960s, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers and episodes of The Adventures of Superman, Lassie, and Perry Mason.He began as a stage actor and had a long career...
- Kaeso - Jeff YorkJeff YorkJeff York was an American film and television actor who began his career in the late 1930s using his given name Granville Owen Schofield...
- Albus - Carmen De LavalladeCarmen De LavalladeCarmen De Lavallade is a dancer, choreographer, professor and stage and film actress.-Early Years:Carmen De Lavallade was born in Los Angeles on March 6, 1931, to Afro-Creole parents from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was raised by her aunt who owned one of the first African American history...
- Slave girl - John Cliff - Varus
- Barbara James - Specialty Dancer
- Selmar Jackson - Senator
- Fred GrahamFred Graham (actor)Fred Graham was an American actor and stuntman, who performed in scores of films from the 1930s. A semi-professional baseball player, Graham appeared mainly in Westerns, doing stunts and playing opposite John Wayne among others. He also featured alongside Wayne in several films with director...
- Decurion - Dayton LummisDayton LummisDayton Lummis. Sr. , was an American actor of film and television who specialized in the genre of anthology and western series, often playing authority figures. From 1959-1960, he appeared as Marshal Andy Morrison in nine episodes of NBC's Law of the Plainsman western, with Michael Ansara and...
- Magistrate - Paul KrugerPaul KrugerStephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger , better known as Paul Kruger and affectionately known as Uncle Paul was State President of the South African Republic...
- Courtier - Paul StaderPaul StaderPaul B. Stader, sometimes known as Manny Stader , was an American actor best known for having performed stunts for Johnny Weismuller, Lex Barker, Gregory Peck, and John Wayne. He was also the underwater director of the 1978 film The Return of Captain Nemo.-Working with Weismuller and Barker:Stader...
- Gladiator - Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
- In Clip from The RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster... - Harry CordingHarry CordingHarry Cording was a British character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films from the 1920s to the 1950s. Due to his stocky build and imposing 6'0 height, he usually portrayed thugs and henchman to the main villain....
- Guard-escort of prisoners - Allen Kramer - Clerk
- William ForrestWilliam ForrestWilliam Forrest was an American film actor. He appeared in over 250 films between 1932 and 1976.He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died in Santa Monica, California from heart failure....
- William MarshallWilliam H. MarshallWilliam Horace Marshall was an American actor, director, and opera singer. He is best known for his title role in the 1972 blaxploitation classic Blacula and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream , as the "King of Cartoons" on the 1980s television show Pee-wee's Playhouse beginning with its second...
- Glycon - George Bruggeman
- Dick Sands - Gladiator
- Jack Finlay
- George EldredgeGeorge EldredgeGeorge Eldredge was an American character actor. Although he never became a major performer, Eldredge played in over 180 movies during a career that stretched from the 1930s to the early 1960s. He also had a prolific television career during the '50's...
- Chamberlain - Gil PerkinsGil PerkinsGil Perkins was an Australian film and television actor.-Early life:As a teenager, Perkins was a trackman and an athlete. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the crew of a Norwegian cargo ship as a deck hand.-Early career:In his early adult life, he left for Hollywood...
- Gladiator - Paul NewlanPaul NewlanPaul Emory Newlan was an American film and TV character actor from Plattsburgh, New York. He was best known for his role as Captain Grey on the NBC police series M Squad and for his roles in films including The Americanization of Emily and The Slender Thread.-Career:Newlan appeared in dozens of...
- Potter - Shepard MenkenShepard MenkenShepard Menken was an American voice actor and character actor.Menken began his career at the age of 11, when he started appearing on children's radio programs...
- Woody StrodeWoody StrodeWoodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode was a decathlete and football star who went on to become a pioneering black American film actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960...
- Gladiator - Jean SimmonsJean SimmonsJean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
- In Clip from The RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster... - Ray Spiker - Gladiator
- Peter MamakosPeter MamakosPeter Mamakos was an American film actor. best known for playing Greek, Indian, Hispanic, French, Italian and Middle Eastern villains from 30s up until the 90s he had a reaccuring role as Jean Liffite on the ABC western The Adventures of Jim Bowie...
- Karl Davis - MacroNaevius Sutorius MacroQuintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard, from 31 until 38, serving under the Roman Emperors Tiberius and Caligula...
- Paul E. Richards - Prisoner