The Sign of the Cross (1932)

After burning Rome, Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) puts the blame on the Christians, and issues the edict that any caught are to be sent to the arena to die. When two Christians- Favius (Harry Beresford) and Titus (Arthur Hohl) are caught, Mercia (Elissa Landi) tries to intercede when Marcus Superbus (Fredric March), the highest military official in Rome and Nero's most loyal subject, comes upon them. When he sees Mercia, he falls for her and allows the Christians to be set free. Knowledge of this gets back to Tigellinus (Ian Keith) who wants to get back into Nero's favor. He sets out to find where the Christians are meeting and is about to have them imprisoned when Marcus intercedes again and has them imprisoned at his palace. Marcus would have gotten their sooner but he was held up by Poppaea (Claudette Colbert), Empress to Nero, who loves him, but Marcus, out of respect for Nero, will not have an affair with her. When she learns of his love for Mercia, she persuades Nero not to kill Marcus, whom Tigellinus says is disloyal but instead, Mercia. Poppaea wants Marcus for herself- even by command if neccessary.




Once Marcus has Mercia in his home he tries to persuade her to live his sort of life. Mercia realizes then that Marcus only wants to enslave her, keep her as a posession. His friends interupt him and an orgie commences where Marcus persuades Ancaria (Joyzelle Joyner) to encourage Mercia to let go and live a little. Ancaria's performance is interupted by the imprisoned Christians who are singing as they are taken to the arena for the next days activities. Ancaria incurs Marcus' wrath when she slaps Mercia for smiling only when she hears her fellow Christians people sing. He kicks everyone out and is to the point of raping Mercia when Tigellinus intercedes and takes her away to the arena.






In the next scenes the viewer is exposed to the horrors of the arena. Naked virgins used as food for aligators, apes, and lions; dwarves and Amazon women dismembering each other; gladiators killing for sport; elephants crushing human heads. Some scenes are more graphic than others, all scenes are hallmark DeMille. Before Mercia is scheduled to go out and die in the arena alone (as Poppaea has arranged), Marcus, who realizes he really does love her, has come to plead with Mercia one last time. Nero is willing to spare her if she will simply renounce her Christianity. When Mercia refuses, Marcus, out of love for her, decides to enter the ring with her a la We Live Again (1934). Unfortunately, we don't get to see the looks on everyone's faces, especially Poppaea's, when this happens.



This film had many wonderful, naughty things going on. Colbert's breasts. March's legs and wicked perm. Laughton's effiminate characterization of Nero. Joyner's lesbianesque dance admidst an orgy. Naked, sacfricial virgins. The use of blood, so sorely lacking in most classic cinema. DeMille mixes realism with fantasy well and this period piece despite it's length, moves quickly. I probably wouldn't have cast Nat Pendleton as a character in this type of period film, he sounded like he was from the streets of New York, not the streets of early Rome. Also some of the ladies, like Dacia (Vivien Tobin) were squarely stuck in the thirties era with their comportment and dialogue not to mention the wardrobe choices---high heels, ladies? Tsk, tsk. However, anytime I see these little idiosyncracies, I am reminded of what stars like Bette Davis and John Wayne said upon reflecting on the way cinema was heading when they were winding down their careers. Both were of the opinion that cinema was becoming too involved with realism. People went to the movies to escape and when they made movies there was always a sense of make believe, of fantasy. They believed all movies should return to that edict. I'm inclined to agree. Let them wear heels!

Fredric March was particularly delicious in this film with his well-honed speech and graceful stances well suited to the part of Marcus Superbus. He was a wonderful mixture of wicked, sensual, and sweet, and a perfect example for DeMille to display how true Christianity conquers temptation. Superbus is mightily persuasive but Mercia's faith is stronger.

Pre-Code Dip: A Man's Castle (1933)

Trina (Loretta Young) meets a dapper looking Bill (Spencer Tracy) in the park when he’s feeding popcorn to the pigeons. When Bill notices her staring longingly at the popcorn he asks her what she’s about. When Trina admits that she hasn’t eaten in two days Bill reluctantly takes her to dinner. After she consumes an enormous meal in a fancy restaurant, Bill announces to the manager that he has no money and, points out that the restaurant throws away food every day so, what’s the harm in feeding two people for free? After threatening to plead his case aloud before the other patrons, the manager lets them leave. That’s when Bill reveals to Trina that the tuxedo he is wearing is one of his many odd jobs. He walks around in it with a lighted sign on his chest to advertise the store. Bill then takes her to the riverside shantytown where he lives. He agrees to have Trina live with him on a temporary basis as he can’t stand to be tied down, and even insists on sleeping under a hole in the roof so that he can always see the sky. The periodic whistle of the nearby trains rolling through is a constant reminder to Trina that she has no hold over Bill. Despite this she takes care of Bill, does not interfere with his independence, and even ignores his fling with a singer named Fay (Glenda Farrell). Eventually however, Trina becomes pregnant. Although Bill tries to hop a train out of town, his conscience gets the better of him and he has a fellow neighbor, Ira (Walter Connolly) marry him and Trina. Bill then turns to another neighbor Bragg (Arthur Hohl) and agrees to help him rob his former employee for big cash. Bill, despite just getting married, still has plans on leaving Trina but doesn’t want to leave her without money. When the robbery fails, Bragg, who has designs on Trina, calls the police to arrest Bill, hoping to have her for himself when Bill is in jail. However, Flossie (Marjorie Rambeau), another neighbor and drunken former girl friend of Bragg has different plans. She warns Bill of Bragg’s plan but Bill, now realizing he loves Trina refuses to leave so, Flossie suggests that Bill and Trina run away together. To ensure that Bragg will do them no further harm, Flossie shoots him, then herself as Trina and Bill head toward the railroads and their future.

A Man’s Castle is a typical pre-code ignoring all morals by letting a man and woman shack up together without the sanctity of marriage and a constant reminder of what the Depression was doing to people as evidenced by the shantytown Trina and Bill lived in and the speech that Bill gave the restaurant manager. Although I enjoyed looking at the youthful Young, I thought she came off too clingy and sappy. Tracy was bullish and the whole story revolved around whether or not he would stick around. Personally, I would have hit him over the head with a pan and called it a day.

Tonight on TCM! Sweet! Joan wielding her axe!

Strait-Jacket (1964) Murder follows an axe murderer home when she's released from a mental hospital.Cast: Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Howard St. John Dir: William Castle