The Robe

The Robe in an epic set in ancientRomein the time of Christ.  Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) is a Roman military tribune who is in charge of the men crucifying Jesus.  While he and other Romans are gambling and drinking behind the cross, a red robe worn by Jesus is wagered and won by Marcellus.  As Jesus is dying, a storm of biblical proportions rises up, frightening Marcellus and the other Romans.  Afterward, the robe Marcellus won seems to burn him, so his slave Demetrius (Victor Mature) takes it away with him.

For weeks, Marcellus seems mad and has terrible dreams about that day at the cross.  Leaders of Rome suggest he seek out the robe and destroy it, believing it has bewitched him.  In search of the robe and answers, he travels toPalestineand learns about Christianity from the people who knew Jesus.

There are some developing subplots about Marcellus’s friendship to Demetrius and his romance with childhood sweetheart Dianna (Jean Simmons).  These two characters are sprouted in the beginning, forgotten in the middle and seem to be suddenly important again near the end.  Basically, Dianna is just there so Marcellus can have a girl and Demetrius brings cause for a daring rescue scene.  Later, he spawns a the sequel: Demetrius and the Gladiators.

The Robe is famous for being the first film release in CinemaScope.  This wasn’t planned, so production was shut down for a while, then all the scenes re-shot in the new format.  Like Cinerama and 3D, CinemaScope was just a gimmick.  Sadly, I think this gimmick is to blame for the films Best Picture nomination and Richard Burton’s acting nomination.  He really was wooden.

At many points, this film reminded me of Quo Vadis.  There is a lot of time devoted to driving home the simple message about Romans being brutal men drunk on power versus the more peaceful life of the early Christians.  Unless you’re a small child, this message is almost annoyingly repetitive, but not as annoyingly as in Quo Vadis.  Plus, they both turn the current Roman emperor into quite a character.

In the end, The Robe is more entertaining than Quo Vadis but nowhere near the epic caliber of Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments.  That extra dramatic clap of thunder after meeting Judas goes a long way.  Its safest audience would be within a Sunday school classroom, but could go over well elsewhere.  I guess that would put it in the higher middle rank of the 1950’s biblical epics.

“You crucified him.  You, my master.  Yet you freed me.  I’ll never serve you again, you Roman pig.  Masters of the world, you call yourselves.  Thieves!  Murderers!  Jungle animals!  A curse on you!  A curse on your empire!”

Elmer Gantry

Based on the 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry tells the story of a fast talking, womanizing traveling salesman who becomes the main preacher in a traveling revivalist church.  Both the novel and film were very controversial in their time.  In the twenties, the novel was banned in many cities and denounced in churches the world over.  Director Richard Brooks beings the film with a statement to explain the message and warn audiences of the controversial content:

“We believe that certain aspects of Revivalism can bear examination- that the conduct of some revivalists makes a mockery of the traditional beliefs and practices of organized Christianity!

We believe that everyone has a right to worship according to his conscience, but- Freedom of Religion is not license to abuse the faith of the people!

However, due to the highly controversial nature of this film, we strongly urge you to prevent impressionable children from seeing it!”

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything so gutsy from the year 1960.  For those worried about that statement above, the film does not make a mockery of religion, but rather examines characters that abuse the faith of the public and turn it into a circus.  The film offers some great food for thought and should not be immediately dismissed by religious communities.

Burt Lancaster drives the film and earned an Oscar for his performance as Elmer Gantry.  In his first scene, we see Gantry’s amazing talent from telling dirty stories in a speakeasy, to selling Christmas spirit comparing Jesus to a regular All-American football star.  Gantry seems to rely on the kindness of strangers by putting on a wholesome choirboy attitude, scoring him trusting smiles and places to sleep, sometimes with a female companion.

When he happens upon a Revivalist tent with the beautiful Sister Sharon (Jean Simmons), Gantry works his charm, and hops on their train, to become part of the traveling church group.  His energetic sales pitches, I mean sermons, can range from mocking Darwinism with a cute chimp to ranting and sweating with proclamations of brimstone and hellfire.  He gains the church so much attention and converts that they are invited by Mr. Babbitt (Edward Andrews) to the big city ofZenith, where there’s a lot of sinners to be saved and Gantry’s racy past could ruin his new reputation.

It’s obvious to us that Gantry is a no-account drifter only using this revivalist church to his own gain.  He tries to hide his exploits with booze and women as he becomes a more public figure.  To help further his image, Gantry takes it upon himself to lead the people of Zenith to destroy the local speakeasies and other sinful establishments.  They’re like a mob, complete with torches and chopping down doors with an ax.  Then Gantry happens upon Lulu (Shirley Jones), a one night stand he once had, while overturning the prostitution ring.  Lulu has told her coworkers all about Gantry and how “he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man’s footsteps!”  With the whore house destroyed, Lulu decides to blackmail Gantry and expose his unholy side.

Through all this unwholesome drama and turmoil, Sister Sharon is the one true believer in the story.  From her humble beginnings and no training, she started this revivalist church on her own to spread the word of Jesus.  She has nearly reached her ultimate goal of having a permanent church.  Along the way, she falls for Gantry, which seems nearly scandalous for woman trying to be a pillar of moral fiber.  The real problem Sharon has is that she can trust God too much.  No matter how religious you are, always get out of a burning building.  Or Darwinism will always win.

“The mob don’t like their Gods to be human.”

One Foot in Heaven

One Foot in Heaven is the story of a minister and his family over the years as they move from parish to parish.  William Spence (Fredric March) was originally studying to be a doctor when he realized his true calling was to become a Methodist minister.  This comes as quite a surprise to Hope (Martha Scott) and her parents just shortly after her engagement to William had been announced.  Nonetheless, she stays with Will, even as they move from their home in Ontario to Iowa.

Soon, Hope realizes what a huge shift in lifestyle she will have to deal with.  Their first house as newlyweds is a dump provided by the church community that she cannot decorate to her pleasing for fear of upsetting those who have taken care of it.  As years pass and the family grows, money becomes tighter.  For a while, it seems that the fashion is just to the courthouse to get married rather than seeing a minister.

As the family moves all around the country, the children grow and realize the stress of being the minister’s children.  By their father, they are expected to be a good example for the rest of the young community.  They are well aware that they represent the church and their father’s work, but it can be hard for them to just be normal kids.  When Eileen (Elisabeth Fraser) is in her teens, she feels left out that she isn’t allowed to go to dances.  As a young man, Hartzell (Frankie Thomas) is unsure of himself in a modern dating situation.

One of the best scenes in this film is when Hartzel is just a boy, after he is caught exiting the movie theater, Will takes him to the movies to explain to his son how immoral they are.  They see a silent picture called The Silent Man, a good old western.  The theater is full of the town’s children who aren’t sure how to react seeing the minister at the movies.  Will takes the first chance he sees to teach his son about the immoral behavior on the screen once the outlaws are shown whooping it up in a saloon.  As the film goes on, the kids in the audience boo and hiss at every dastardly move the villain makes and cheer for the dashing hero.

By the end of the film, Will sees that the film is not glorifying any bad ideas, but in fact has a good moral.  Even better, the children in the audience are obviously understanding that, distinguishing the good and the bad with their boos and cheering.  Afterward, Will is inspired to preach about being more open minded about new ideas emerging in the culture.

Later in the film, Will is minister to another church full of rich snooty people who only use the church to improve their social status.  They especially love being in the choir, just to be heard and seen at the front of the church.  It’s obvious that they do not donate like they should, since the house the Spence family lives in is unbelievably leaky.  One day, Will hopes to rebuild the whole rickety church and even add a youth recreation center, but first he has to fix the church from within the community.  Rather than be angry and ask for more donations, Will finds more creative ways to quietly punish the old crones by forming a children’s choir to give them a break during the summer.  You may be able to guess how the rich choir ladies react to this isn’t exactly wholesome.

The whole film is a wonderful display of heartfelt and realistic approaches to modern Christianity, as well as pointing out the hypocrisies present in many communities.  Will and his family are not perfect, but they are good people who live well for each other and for the parish they help represent, no matter how humbly they have to live.

I strongly suggest this film for anyone who considers themselves part of a religious community.  Some of the struggles the Spence family faces are not too far from what many people may be struggling with today.  Not everything they do has to do specifically with religion and the church, but simply living in an ever changing community.  Regardless of creed, everyone today can recognize that old ideas cannot always meet the new needs of the youth.  Though this film is seventy years old, yet it holds enough merit for the new generations who have graciously put it on YouTube for all to see.

“He who speaks to only one generation is already dead.  And he who listens to only one generation is deaf.”

Quo Vadis

The film takes place in ancient Rome just after the Crucifixion.  Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) has just returned home after three years at war for Rome.  He meets the beautiful Lygia (Deborah Kerr) who once was a hostage is now considered a daughter in her home.  Marcus tries to pursue her, with the arrogant idea that a Roman General can have any woman he wants.

Right away, we see that Marcus is bursting full of Roman ideals.  He constantly talks of conquest and sacrificing doves in honor of Lygia’s beauty.  When he sees a large muscular man and comments that he would be a great gladiator.  But it’s these big-talking, manly Roman man that pushes Lygia away.

You see, Lygia and all in her house are Christians.  At the time, that was like being in a secret cult, since Rome obviously showed their disapproval by killing their savior.  There’s even a great scene where Paul and Peter preach in secret near a cave.  A good portion of this film is spent exploring Christian ideals, reciting the Beatitudes and making sure you see the huge differences between brute Romans and docile Christians.

With a bigger look on ancient history, the film also focuses on Emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov), who spends most of his day lounging and complaining like a tantrum toddler.  He seems to be having issues trying to find a way to be immortal.  While watching Nero’s childish outbursts you may conjure an image from your childhood.  Perhaps the animated skinny lion portraying Prince John in Disney’s Robin Hood. And it’s completely acceptable, since Ustinov later provided the voice for that character.  Anyway, Nero tries to write songs and epic poems to seal his immortal fame, but he’s terrible at it.  When he finally thinks he’s found something so amazing that he’ll be remembered being as powerful as the gods, it’s worse than anyone could have imagined.  And then he decides to blame the Christians for it.

As I read the little summery on my Netflix envelope I got kinda excited.  I love ancient Roman history with all the gladiators, crazy Nero burning everything and all that senseless gore in the Colosseum.  Unfortunately, I just felt like I was in Sunday school.  I really appreciated the contrast between Roman and Christian ideals, this film would be great for a Sunday school or history class.  But three hours of goody little Lygia trying to teach Marcus to turn the other cheek gets a little boring, and in 1951 they weren’t allowed enough Colosseum gore to make up for it.

In the end, this just feels like a less spectacular, more overtly Christian Ben Hur.  I don’t want to offend anyone, so here’s a rule of thumb: this movie isn’t worth three hours of your life if you’ve been bored in Sunday school for more than four.

“What in the name of all Jupiter is a Rabbi?”