5 /10 1 Votes
33% Rotten Tomatoes Music by Rudolph G. Kopp Initial release 30 November 1932 Music director Rudolph G. Kopp | 6.9/10 IMDb Produced by Cecil B. DeMille Director Cecil B. DeMille Adapted from The Sign of the Cross | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Screenplay by Waldemar YoungSidney Buchman Starring Fredric MarchElissa LandiClaudette ColbertCharles Laughton Cast Similar Directed by Cecil B DeMille, Fredric March movies, Epic movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
O sinal da cruz the sign of the cross 1932
The Sign of the Cross is a 1932 pre-Code Hollywood epic film released by Paramount Pictures, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman, and based on the original 1895 play by Wilson Barrett.
Contents
- O sinal da cruz the sign of the cross 1932
- Claudette colbert and the music of korngold
- Cast
- Reception
- Editing for reissue after enforcement of the production code
- Catholic Legion of Decency
- Home Video Release
- References
Both play and film have a strong resemblance to the novel Quo Vadis, and like the novel, take place in ancient Rome during the reign of Nero. The art direction and costume design were by Mitchell Leisen who also acted as assistant director. Karl Struss was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The film stars Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, and Charles Laughton, with Ian Keith and Arthur Hohl. The film is the third and last in DeMille's biblical trilogy with The Ten Commandments (1923) and The King of Kings (1927).
Claudette colbert and the music of korngold
Cast
Reception
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
Editing for reissue after enforcement of the production code
As with many other pre-Code films that were reissued after the Motion Picture Production Code was strictly enforced in 1934, this film has a history of censorship. In the original version, Marcus Superbus (Fredric March) is unsuccessful in his desire to seduce Mercia (Elisa Landi), an innocent Christian girl. He then urges Ancaria (Joyzelle Joyner) to perform the erotic "Dance of the Naked Moon" that will "warm her into life". This "lesbian dance" was cut from the negative for a 1938 reissue, but was restored by MCA/Universal for its 1993 video release. Some gladiatorial combat footage was also cut for the 1938 reissue, as were arena sequences involving naked women being attacked by crocodiles and a gorilla. These were also restored in 1993.
DeMille himself supervised a new version for its 1944 rerelease. New footage with a World War II setting, featuring actor Stanley Ridges (who did not originally appear in the film) was added to make the film more topical. In the new prologue, a group of planes is seen flying over what was ancient Rome. The conversation of the soldiers in one of the planes leads directly into the film's original opening scene. The last few seconds of the edited version of the film showed the planes flying off into the distance, rather than simply fading out on the original closing scene of the movie.
For many years, this edited version was the only one available. The version now shown on Turner Classic Movies has been restored to the original 125 minute length by the UCLA Film and Television Archive with the help of the DeMille estate and Universal Television, which now owns most pre-1950 Paramount sound features.
Catholic Legion of Decency
The reaction of the Catholic Church in the United States to the content in this film and in Ann Vickers helped lead to the 1934 formation of the Catholic Legion of Decency, an organization dedicated to identifying and combating objectionable content, from the point of view of the Church, in motion pictures.
Home Video Release
This film, along with Four Frightened People, Cleopatra, The Crusades and Union Pacific, was released on DVD in 2006 by Universal Studios as part of The Cecil B. DeMille Collection.