Demetrius and the Gladiators

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Demetrius and the Gladiators
Original Film Poster
Directed by	Delmer Daves
Produced by	Frank Ross
Written by	Philip Dunne Lloyd C. Douglas
Starring	Victor Mature Susan Hayward William Marshall Michael Rennie Debra Paget Anne Bancroft Jay Robinson Ernest Borgnine Barry Jones Richard Egan
Music by	Franz Waxman
Cinematography	Milton R. Krasner
Editing by	Robert Fritch Dorothy Spencer
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	18 June 1954
Running time	101 min
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	US $4,500,000
Preceded by	The Robe
IMDb profile

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, Debra Paget and a young Anne Bancroft in one of her earlier roles. The film is in color and in Cinemascope, with an English language stereo sound track, and runs for 101 minutes.

1 Plot Summary
- 1.1 Historicity
2 Cast
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie begins with a clip from the previous film, showing its central characters Marcellus and Diana going to be martyred for their Christian beliefs on the order of the Emperor Caligula. Before being executed, Diana hands the robe to a bystander, telling him that it is for the fisherman, meaning Peter, who was a fisherman before being called as an apostle.

The scene after this shows Peter entrusting the robe to Demetrius while at the funeral of Marcellus and Diana before leaving on an extended journey to evangelise in 'the north'. Caligula meanwhile becomes interested in the same robe, believing that it has magical powers and would bring him eternal life. He accosts his uncle (and eventual successor) Claudius, demanding to know what had happened to it.

Demetrius, defending his sweetheart Lucia and the robe and refusing to reveal its location, is arrested for assaulting a Roman soldier, and sentenced to the arena. After refusing to fight Glycon (Marshall) to the death, Caligula forces him to fight three tigers - despite being seriously injured, he is able to defeat the animals. Despite being offered his freedom by Claudius in return for divulging the whereabouts of the robe, and enticed into an affair by Claudius' wife Messalina, Demetrius refuses them both and is returned to the gladiatorial school.

Meanwhile, Lucia disguises herself to gain entrance to the gladiator school to see Demetrius. The two are forcibly separated on Messalina's orders, however, and Lucia is then assaulted by another gladiator. Demetrius in desperation prays for God to save her, and suddenly it appears that Lucia is dead. In anger Demetrius goes into the arena the next day (on a day he is not due to fight), and kills every gladiator sent against him - fighting several men at once. As a result, the prefect of the praetorian guard asks that Demetrius be 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, 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.

Sent by the Emperor to find the robe, Demetrius finds that Lucia is still alive. Clutching the robe, she is in a catatonic state and refuses to let the robe go. Demetrius prays for forgiveness, Lucia comes out of her catatonic state, and Demetrius comes back to his Christian faith.

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 angered by Caligula by worse pay and conditions) finally turns against Caligula and kills first Macro, 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.

[edit] Historicity

It is unknown whether Peter was in Rome during Caligula's reign.
Caligula was assassinated, but in a different way - see Caligula's Assassination.
Claudius was only married to Messalina in 38, late in Caligula's reign.
Claudius is depicted here without the stutter, limp and other disabilities mentioned in the classical sources.
Macro was praetorian prefect under Caligula, but he was not raised from the gladiatorial school as is mentioned here.
In the background of the arena scenes is depicted the statue Michelangelo's David which is an anachronism