The Sign of the Cross
Born Today
Home / The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross

Year:
Duration:
West Germany:108 min | 122 min (without intermission)
Genres:
Drama | History
IMDB rate:
7
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 1933-02-10
Filming Locations: Fresno, California, USA
Cast
Actor
Character
Fredric March
Marcus
Elissa Landi
Mercia
Claudette Colbert
Poppaea
Charles Laughton
Nero
Ian Keith
Tigellinus
Arthur Hohl
Titus
Harry Beresford
Favius
Tommy Conlon
Stephan
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Glabrio
Vivian Tobin
Dacia
William V. Mong
Licinius
Joyzelle Joyner
Ancaria (as Joyzelle)
Richard Alexander
Viturius
Nat Pendleton
Strabo
Clarence Burton
Servillius
Harold Healy
Tybul
Robert Seiter
Philodemus (as Robert Manning)
Charles Middleton
Tyros
Joel Allen
Bombadier (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Mischa Auer
Christian in Dungeon (uncredited)
Lionel Belmore
Bettor of 300 Silver (uncredited)
True Boardman
Nero's Slave (uncredited)
Marjorie Bonner
Roman Woman (uncredited)
Joe Bonomo
Mute Torturer (uncredited)
Henry Brandon
Colosseum Spectator (uncredited)
George Bruggeman
Nero's Slave (uncredited)
Horace B. Carpenter
(uncredited)
John Carradine
Christian Martyr / Gladiator Leader / Voice in Coliseum Mob (uncredited)
Lane Chandler
Chained Christian (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford
Christian Mother at Meeting (uncredited)
William Forrest
Col. Hugh Mason (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Wynne Gibson
Orgy Guest (uncredited)
Dorothy Granger
(uncredited)
Carol Holloway
(uncredited)
John James
Lt. Herb Hanson (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Otto Lederer
(uncredited)
Lillian Leighton
Woman Getting Gold for Cup (uncredited)
Edward LeSaint
Enthusiastic Spectator (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas
(uncredited)
James Millican
Capt. Kevin Driscoll - (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Gertrude Norman
Christian (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell
Man Accepting 300 Silver Bet (uncredited)
Dave O'Brien
Christian on Stairway (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien
Man Who Heard Lions All Morning (uncredited)
Hal Price
Spectator (uncredited)
Sally Rand
Crocodiles' Victim (uncredited)
Tom Ricketts
Sleeping Spectator (uncredited)
Stanley Ridges
Chaplain Lloyd (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Ynez Seabury
Little Girl (uncredited)
Arthur Shields
Chaplain Costello (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Jerome Storm
(uncredited)
Kent Taylor
Romantic Spectator (uncredited)
Oliver Thorndike
Lt. Robert Hammond (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Tom Tully
Hoboken (1944 Re-Release Prologue) (uncredited)
Florence Turner
Christian (uncredited)
Ethel Wales
Complaining Wife (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
Since Cecil B. DeMille's previous few films had been box office failures, he agreed to work on this project at a drastically lowered personal rate, and with a tighter budget than seemed reasonable at the time. Mitchell Leisen and production manager Roy Burns were the only frequent collaborators DeMille was allowed to keep on, and they also worked at reduced salaries. Paramount assigned Alexander Hall to edit the film, but DeMille was able to get him replaced by his regular editor, Anne Bauchens.
Share this
Fredric March said of co-star Claudette Colbert, "She was a hot woman in [the film]--a hot, hot woman! When she worked herself up, she put [Marilyn Monroe, [Jean Harlow], [Ava Gardner], [Kim Novak], all of them in the shade."
Share this
Paramount Pictures still had costumes from Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923), and he was offered the chance to use them, along with standing sets, free of charge to keep production costs down.
Share this
Goofs
In the Coliseum, we see a woman tied up and is at the mercy of a gorilla. Europeans had no knowledge of gorillas' existence until more than 15 centuries later.
Share this
When the boxers are fighting with the spiked gloves, the loser gets punched in the face. He is shown with scars on his face and spits blood onto his chest. In the next shot (from a slightly different angle) the scars are there but the blood on his chest is gone.
Share this
A gorilla is seen menacing a chained Christian woman in the arena but in reality gorilla's where not seen until 1856-59 when explorer Paul Du Chaillu became the first westerner to see a live gorilla during his travel through western equatorial Africa .
Share this
Quotes
Emperor Nero: My head is splitting... the wine last night, the music... the delicious debauchery!
Share this
Poppaea: Dacia, you're a butterfly with the sting of a wasp. Take off your clothes. Get in here and tell me all about it.
Share this
Photos from cast
Angelo Rossitto
Revolts of the first republic dress twirl sherman's march to the sea clipart Music band