The Robe Details

Best known as the first film to be released in CinemaScope, The Robe is a plodding, pious epic, with Richard Burton as the Roman officer who wins Christ's robe in a game of dice during the Crucifixion. The torn and bloody piece of homespun works its magic and, before long, Burton and Jean Simmons are hauled before the crazed Roman emperor Caligula. Based on a doorstop bestseller by Lloyd C Douglas, it's awkwardly directed by Henry Koster and scripted as if by a committee anxious not to offend any race or creed. But there are compensations: Jean Simmons is always on the verge of giggles, Burton is incredibly handsome in a mini-skirt and Jay Robinson makes an unforgettably melodramatic Caligula. Victor Mature took it seriously enough to be called on for the sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators.

The first film in Cinemascope was, surprisingly, a biblical bestseller, but the crowded Roman sets hid most of the flaws in the process. The film itself was competent and unsurprising in the well-tried Sign of the Cross manner.