User reviews 48 Review. Top review. Watchable Epic. A sequel to the box office successful "The Robe", this film is just one more of those spectacular epic films of the 50's and early 60's settled in ancient Rome and with a religious background of the early Christians and their whereabouts in an all pagan world. After a secondary lead in "The Robe", Victor Mature as the freed Christian slave Demetrius takes here the centre of the stage and the film deals with his story; the man looses his faith and recovers it after fighting as a gladiator in the arena, becoming a Decurion for Emperor Caligula and having a passionate affair with the woman Messalina married to the weak emperor's uncle Claudius Barry Jones.
The film is most colourful, the script is not bad as well as the costumes and armors, the settings and reproduction of the old Rome are good enough no computers back in and some action sequences in the arena are well achieved. But somehow this picture lacks the sort of sensation of greatness and huge spectacle other products of the genre transmitted "The Robe" itself, the previous "Quo Vadis? Victor Mature shows his inevitable overacting as the main character though it is fair to say he has done worse "The Egyptian" and "Samson and Delilah", for instance, and many others.
Susan Hayward also overacts every now and then as the wicked Messalina but she was a fine actress and rounds up a better job. It is hard to swallow Michael Rennie Peter as a rude uneducated fisherman not for his acting but for his important and polite looks. Debra Paget delivers her acceptable acting but she looks as a contemporary girl here she could have used the same hairdo and make up for her real life in the middle 50's.
All in all, "Demetrius and the Gladiators" is a watchable and entertaining product, but no much more than that in my opinion.
A 6 out of 10 for me. Details Edit. Release date September 9, United Kingdom. United States. The Story of Demetrius. Twentieth Century Fox. Box office Edit. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 41 minutes. Related news. Feb 16 Trailers from Hell.
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Presently, Dardanius attempts to humiliate Demetrius by inquiring if it is true all Christians must turn the other cheek — striking Demetrius in the face with a hearty laugh before being brutally knocked to the ground by Glycon.
Observing the confrontation from the relative safety of her box, Messalina tells Strabo to pit Glycon against Demetrius in the arena the next afternoon.
Before Caligula, Glycon and Demetrius stage a pretend sparring match that fools no one; each refusing to violently attack or murder the other. The crowd begins to boo. When Glycon trips and falls, losing his sword, Demetrius whispers for him to pick it up. But Caligula orders Demetrius to swiftly dispatch the fallen warrior. Caligula releases Glycon — then sets a pack of tigers to devour Demetrius. Instead, Demetrius kills the wild beasts with only a knife as his protection.
The crowd loves it, declaring Demetrius their latest hero. But Demetrius is badly damaged by these attacks and Messalina quickly sees to his wounds. She attempts to break him of his Christian beliefs. Already primed to believe the worst about Messalina, Caligula accosts ten of his senators to swear she is plotting his overthrow.
Later, Messalina confides in Demetrius she is, in fact, guilty of conspiring with her late uncle and cousin to overthrow the Emperor. During yet another orgy arranged by Messalina for the gladiators, Paula smuggles Lucia in as a prostitute so she may spend a few brief hours with Demetrius before he fights the next day. Regrettably, Lucia is found out by Dardanius. Caligula makes Demetrius a bargain. Swear an allegiance to Rome and forsake Christ and Caligula will grant Demetrius his freedom and even honor him with the exalted rank in the Pretorian guard.
Believing God has betrayed his prayer to save Lucia, Demetrius renounces his faith and is set free from the arena, taking with him Glycon to be his loyal servant.
Caligula is amused by their affair. But before long Peter arrives to confront Demetrius, not with words of admonishment, but love. Claudius suggests instead Caligula appoint Demetrius to the task of recovering the robe. If Demetrius is successful, Caligula promises no more bloodshed. However, if he fails the Emperor threatens the streets of Rome will run red with the blood of his enemies.
But Caligula is unimpressed by the modest hand-woven cloth, disillusioned after he deliberately has a Christian prisoner slaughtered to see if the robe will work its spell and restore the corpse with life.
There is no magic and Caligula now blames Demetrius, who attempts to strike him down before a crowd in the throne room. Uploaded by picfixer on August 12, Internet Archive's 25th Anniversary Logo. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest.
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