The Robe (1953)

The Robe (1953) is a Historic Drama starring Richard Burton as Marcellus Gallio. Marcellus Gallio is a tribune, living in Judea in the 1st century, who is ordered to lead the group assigned to crucify Jesus of Nazareth. He leaves his love interest, promising to return, and goes to Palestine. A Greek slave tries to warn him Jesus and searched for him. After hours he is told that Jesus has been captured by the Romans. He goes to the hills and sees three men being executed to death on crosses. The Robe is a good film. I found it most entertaining. There were a few boring parts of the film, but overall it was a solid and interesting drama. It is harder, I think, to do a film based on true historic events rather than make up your own because it adds to the research needed to do. I think that The Robe did a good job with the plot, script writing, and execution. The acting was great. Marcellus is haunted by what he has done later on after a few particular events. Richard Burton is able to convey his thoughts and feelings without speech through the use of his eyes and other key facial muscles. The settings and costumes met my expectations. Some people may have got bored after a few boring parts in the middle, but overall it was interesting enough to not feel as though you are wasting your time. I would recommend this film for lovers of the classic drama genre. It is not one of the best films in the world, but it is worth the watch if you are a fan of old dramas because it has a lot of good elements and some nice scenes. There are also some cheesy moments as well that I thought could have been done better such as when Marcello and his love interest are talking together outside in the courtyard about his troubles and his guilty conscience. Overall I would give The Robe (1953) 7 out of ten stars because there are a few boring parts in the middle but it started out well and it got really good toward the end. I also liked the acting from the lead male actor, but not the lead female. Is the robe bewitched and why does Marcello begin to feel differently as soon as he receives it?

Somehow I had never gotten around to watching this "classic". It's always great in life when you learn something. And the preeminent thing I learned from this film was that Victor Mature was a lousy actor. Really lousy. And in later years, he himself often alluded to that. In the scene where he was being tortured, I couldn't help wondering if it was because he was a Christian, or because he was such a lousy actor.Let's see. What else did I learn? That a lot must have changed between 1953 when this film was made, and 1959 when "Ben-Hur" was made. The latter is one of the most perfect Hollywood films ever made. In this film some of the mattes used for backgrounds are so fake looking as to be laughable. Not to mention that the print being shown on TCM is none to good...although I guess it's the best available.And then we come to Richard Burton's acting. Burton was never one of my favorites, although that was more because I didn't care for the films he selected to appear in. But I always felt he was a very fine actor. Not so here. About the only time I have ever seen poorer acting was when silent screen stars tried to transition to talkies. This is probably the poorest acting I have seen in a leading role in my life.But, Burton's overacting here paled in comparison to that of Jay Robinson as Caligula. I guess audiences were different back in the 1950s. Today I imagine people would burst out laughing at this performance.Cast-wise, all is not lost, however. Jean Simmons as the female lead tends to rise above the rest of this disaster...sort of. Michael Rennie's brief appearances as Peter are quite nice. Dean Jagger is here, and he's always a welcome addition to any cast. And, Torin Thatcher as Burton's father -- and a senator -- is quite good.In terms of the story, it's very fifty-ish. I'd have to rate it inferior to many of the other religious pics of the era. In fact, it was an opportunity lost. The concept -- what would happen to a Roman tribune who gambled over Jesus' robe after the crucifixion? Unfortunately, the answer appears to be that he would appear in a exceedingly poor film.I give an average film a "7". This one earns a "6". There's just too much wrong with it.

Without Victor Mature and Jean Simmons this movie would be a zero. These actors had the talent to give some nobility and seriousness to the nonsense. The dialog is dreadful and the whole thing looks so cheap. But what is really awful is that it moves so slowly. Some of the score is quite touching, it does the work that the director and screenplay can't. It is hard to understand in the 21st century what could have made audiences then flock to it. It had to be the Cinemascope. That isn't to say that this century hasn't offered its own bores. Biblical movies don't seem to hold the public's interest as they once did. And in spite of my not liking this movie, I think that it could be remade today if a director could pick up the pace. There is some potentially touching stuff but 1950s America was such an unimaginative time and place for movie-making that this one didn't have a chance to be well remembered.

This is a dignified portrayal about Ancient Rome from best-selling novel by Lloyd C Douglas adapted by Philip Dunne and Albert Matz's literate screenplay , it deals with dissolute Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) , a tribune in the time of Christ and son of a notorious senator (Torin Thacher) , as he's sent to Palestine . There he is in charge of the group that is assigned to crucify Jesus . From his official duties , drunken Marcellus wins Jesus' homespun robe in a dice-game after the crucifixion . He is tormented by delusion and nightmares after the tragic deeds . Hoping to find out a manner to live with what he has done , and still not believing in Jesus, he goes back to Palestine to learn what he can do of the mysterious man he murdered . Later on , he returns Rome and frees the holy-robe-carrying slave named Demetrius (Beefcake Victor Mature) . After that , Caligula (Jay Robinson) takes him prisoner , but his sweetheart (Jean Simmons) takes time out to visit in a dungeon . This religious mammoth epic focuses a moving Roman pageant dealing with a sponger tribune , following his stirring career , spiritual awakening and reaches an exciting peak at the ending . It has marvelous images , spectacular scenes , enjoyable performances as well as the adequate cast of thousands . Richard Burton and Jean Simmons are both good , though Burton sometimes is a little wooden . Michael Rennie as Peter and Jeff Morrow as Paulus give sensible acting , though brief , which adds more to the reality than anything else . The best acting comes , indeed , from Jay Robinson , the best portrayal of his career , who gives a hammy acting as nasty Caligula . Colorful cinematography by Leon Shamroy and being the first film to be shot in glamorous CinemaScope . Sensitive and lyric musical score by the classic Alfred Newman . The film deservedly won 1953 Academy Award for Art Direction , Set Decoration, Color and Costume Design.The motion picture is brilliantly directed by Henry Koster , an expert on super-productions and epic biographies , such as he proved in ¨Desiree¨, ¨The Virgin Queen¨, ¨A man called Peter¨, The story of Ruth¨ , ¨The Naked Maja¨ and of course ¨The Robe¨. It's followed by a sequel (1954) titled ¨Demetrius and the gladiators¨ by Delmer Daves with Debra Paget , William Marshall, Richard Egan , Susan Hayward as the trampy empress Messalina and in which the Marcellus's slave , Victor Mature , makes again a surprisingly good acting and reprised diverse characters as Jay Robinson as Caligula and Michael Wilding as apostle Peter.