Sorry, this movie sucks

Awesome Movie

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

"The Sign of the Cross" marked Cecil B. DeMille's first epic of the sound era. Produced in the pre-code year of 1932, it gave him license to include some brutal torture and death scenes as well as, some sexy parts too. And yes, this is the film in which Claudette Colbert takes a bath in asses' milk.The story centers around the Roman persecution of the Christians in the time of Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) in 64 A.D. The film opens with the famous burning of Rome while Nero plays his harp. Nero and his confederate Tigellinus (Ian Keith)conspire to place blame for the blaze upon the Christians whom Rome is trying to exterminate.Marcus Superbus (Frederic March), the Prefect of Rome is close to Nero and the rival of Tigellinus. Poppaea (Colbert) is the scheming sexy wife of Nero whom it seems bends to her will. Poppaea has her eye on Marcus even though he doesn't return the desire.One day while riding through the city Marcus comes upon the virginal Christian girl Mercia (Elissa Landi) and saves her from arrest. Tigellius learns of Marcus' interest in the girl and plots to expose him. Marcus comes to fall in love with the girl. Young Stephan a friend of Mercia, is arrested by Tigellinus' spies and is tortured into revealing the location of a planned Christian gathering.Many of the Christians are slaughtered before Marcus can intercede. The survivors including Mercia are taken away to prison to await execution in the arena. Marcus rescues Mercia and takes her to his house. Mercia tries to convince Marcus to become a Christian but he refuses. The scheming Poppaea whose advances toward Marcus have been rejected, convinces Nero not to spare Mercia from the lions in spite of Marcus' protests.The arena scenes are quite graphic for the time. The gladiator combats, the amazon's duels with the pygmies and finally the slaughter of the Christians are graphically depicted. There is some suggested nudity with one girl being left for a gorilla and another, celebrated fan dancer Sally Rand, being fed to the crocodiles. Also Colbert's bath scene contains teasing little glimpses of her assets.If one has a feeling of deja vu while watching this film. the later epics "Quo Vadis" (1951) and "The Robe" (1953) have similar stories and endings. It's likely that Claudette Colbert's performance in this film resulted in DeMille casting her as Cleopatra in his film of that name in 1934.

Cecil B. DeMille and others who made movies about Bibical and Early Christian subjects very well knew that they could get away with a lot more sex and violence in this type of picture. In The Sign Of The Cross Cecil B. pushes both to and over the limit that was allowable in the early talkie era.The basic plot is quite similar to the now better known Quo Vadis (1950): high-ranking Imperial Roman official (Fredrick March) falls madly in love with pious, aloof Christian girl (Elissa Landi) in the time of Nero's cruel persecution of Christians. The outcome in this earlier epic is quiet different and much grimmer.As with all of Cecil B.'s epic productions, The Sign Of The Cross is big, glossy, splashy, sexy, exotic, exciting, and tasteless. His extravaganzas are usually great fun, even in their tastelessness -- much in the same way the better spaghetti westerns are. This one unfortunately misses the fun angle with the tasteless angle unusually in the forefront. It is a very handsome production with sensuous black and white cinematography by Karl Struss, a rousing score credited to Rudolph G. Kopp, rich sets, and striking costumes -- especially those of Claudette Colbert (as the wicked Poppaea).As in other DeMille Bibical or early Christian epics, he attempts to contrast the purity and faithfulness of God's people with the empty, hedonistic debauchery of the pagans. Unfortunately the comparison here misses the intended mark. The Christians come off as grim and joyless, stoically awaiting death to deliver them into the Promised Land and never enjoying the peace, freedom, security and other blessings of leading a Christian life. On the other hand the scenes of debauchery, including the gorgeous Miss Colbert's famous (or infamous if you will) ass milk bath just make it look as if the pagans have all the fun and never suffer because of it.The violence of the arena scenes is incredible and disgusting for a movie of this era -- human beings decapitated, speared, forked, impaled, crushed by elephants, eaten by crocodiles, and raped by a gorilla. The camera continually panning to the crowd and showing the sadistic pleasure of the spectators heightens the horror of these scenes. Since most of this carnage is visited upon the followers of Christ, it will no doubt be much enjoyed by both gore hounds and Christian-hating modern-day pagans (known as New Agers, secular humanists, and atheists). My Christian bothers and sisters who doubt this need only read the message boards for The Sign Of The Cross and Quo Vadis.The Sign Of The Cross is not a good movie for most Christians. Along with the gross violence, there is much near and partial nudity, including bare breasts and see-thru dresses. A Christian girl is subjected to a lesbian assault, and other scenes picture implied lesbianism and homosexuality. Children and you more sensitive adult Christians will not want to watch this movie. It is loaded with exactly the type of sex and violence you are trying to avoid by watching old-timers like this instead of newer movies. True, the scenes of the Christians bravely meeting martyrdom with a hymn on their lips is moving, but this and the rest of the theme were done much better in Quo Vadis. Besides which Quo Vadis has a better-developed, more believable plot, better-cast leads, a better burning of Rome, a more fleshed out Nero, and it is an even more beautifully turned out production.Nevertheless, The Sign Of The Cross will be especially enjoyed by two other classes of modern pagans who are more sensuous than sinister. First that great mass of mostly young, simple-minded savages who worship the alluring goddesses Slutcia and Pervertcia and the great gods Gore and Bore. They will be thrilled to find in this ancient movie's gratuitous sex and violence the great-great-grandmother of the digital trashoramas now turned out by the hundreds just for them. The priests and priestesses of the great god Auteur (film class graduates) will lead them as they prostate themselves before a giant freeze-frame of Caludette's glorious ass milk scene and chant, "Pre-code....pre-code...pre-code...precode..."

Yikes! De Mille's erotic raunchy graphic and splendid SIGN OF THE CROSS made at Paramount in 1932, and his first talkie bible study is a movie you not forget. It is infamous and famous for many sights and other comments here will give you the reaction to the graphic cruelty of the truly shocking Arena/Gladiator scenes. The ridiculously entertaining asses milk bath with nipples ahoy and Claudette's milky breasts, the very funny dialog of daily life amid the splendor, the horror of the rape and torture of a teenage Christian boy, the eerie similarity to the 1932 German persecution of the European Jews, the depression era parable of the idle rich uncaring at the financial death of the 1930s masses, the dazzling costumes (no bras in Rome either), the claustrophobic street sets with rushing horses and fights in corners, all in all create an amazing action tableau like a pencil sketch bible book drawing brought to life. The film's art direction and set design and costumes are especially evocative of 'a silent epic with sound' and one easily can transfer the idea of seeing the 1925 BEN HUR with sound as SIGN OF THE CROSS favorably compares. The Arena montage scenes are really shocking. The Moon Dance is outrageous lesbian swankiness and gorgeous as all hell... well pagan hell as depicted by the morally austere Demille. Great moving wallpaper for your next party if played on a big TV and without sound with your CD collection going instead. If you agree that SIGN OF THE CROSS made in 1932 is really a 1920s silent film with dialog, have a look at FOLLOW THRU made two years earlier in 1929 and in color and as jazz modern today in it's creative style. CROSS plays like an ancient movie but FOLLOW THRU still plays new.

An early talkie at times just as visual as the great silent movie, The Sign of the Cross does suffer with silly dialog and over the top acting.However, here's a chance to see a young Charles Laughton playing a fiddle to burning Rome. It's very funny on how bad it is. He and Claudette Colbert steal each scene that they're in.In fact, Claudette raising her arms in a bath filled with milk where one can glimpse her nipples is a lot of fun to watch. When she commands her girlfriend to take her clothes, get in the pool and let's talk is what pre-code is all about. Too bad there wasn't more of those.Elissa Lundi, top-billed, is too much a sob sister and one wonders why Frederic March would prefer her to Claudetter is anyone's guess. March displayed an intensity that was his trademark as he got to star several high production films of the 1930's. One of those is Les Miserables, an excellent film in which he reunites with Laughton.The scenes with the Christians are very much a dirge, full of piety and for me, doesn't ring true at all. A good part of the film has March saving a reluctant Lundi that will conclude with both being eaten by the lions. These scenes I found to be quite dull.The best reason to see this film to with DeMille's genius of recreating ancient Rome. This would have been better if this was made as a silent. As if, though, this film is the one that reestablished him as king of box office, the George Lucas of his day.Colbert comes off the best as the vampish Empress. She's quite beautiful in this and she would star in even a better DeMille film - Cleopatra - and costar with Clark Gable in one of the best Frank Capra's movies - It Happened One Night. So, she's the next best reason.