The Robe (1953)

In 32 A.D., a military tribune (Richard Burton in an Oscar nominated performance) falls out of favor with the unstable nephew Caligula (Jay Robinson) of the Emperor Tiberius (Ernest Thesiger) and sent to Jerusalem as a punishment. It is there that he is ordered to carry out the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But a descent into madness follows. Based on the best seller by Lloyd C. Douglas (MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION), this is an historically important film in that it was the first film released in the CinemaScope format which changed the shape of movie screens forever. As a biblical epic, it's a rather clunky scrap of cinema. Unlike the gaudy but irresistible DeMille religious epics, it takes itself so very seriously that most of the entertainment value is gone. The director Henry Koster efforts in utilizing the CinemaScope frame are a mixed effort. Some scenes are static with no camera movement and the actors walking across the screen as if they were on a stage. But some scenes utilize the format very well such as a pursuit of Burton by some Roman centurions with the horses and chariots coming right at us. With two exceptions, the acting is adequate. Burton is terribly uneven here, he hasn't learned to relax in front of a camera yet and Jay Robinson's hideous histrionics are actually mistaken by some as a good performance. There is a glorious score by Alfred Newman, one of his very best. With Jean Simmons, Victor Mature (not bad at all), Michael Rennie, Richard Boone, Dean Jagger, Jeff Morrow, Torin Thatcher, Dawn Addams, Michael Ansara, Mae Marsh, Rosalind Ivan and Betta St. John.