This was the hight of Hollywood when movie making was at it’s best. You had leading men from Europe and America with great talent. Excellent directors, and producers that knew how to bring the best out of their stars. But I’m afraid that time has long gone. Cheers

This is one of the best movies of all time!

I saw the film when it debuted at the Roxy Theatre in N.YC. I remember walking in on the movie during the crucifixion scene. I was blown away by the size of the screen and the stereo sound! This was the first "Cinemascope" film. I was just 17 years old at the time. Written by Roy Bodden

They DO NOT have actors to make films like this today. The musical score is excellent! Apart from Richard Burton and the beautiful Jean Simmons, you have Victor Mature and a host of great character actors. I think the first movie in stereo??? It will be my main movie this coming Easter.

I had the chance to chat with Jay Robinson on a San Francisco radio talk show about 25 years ago. The grand Castro Theater was having a week of wide screen movies and the theater decided to show "The Robe" because it was the first CinemaScope film. I told Jay that he scared me to death when I saw the film early in 1954. He got a big kick out of that. I was very moved by the film as a child, but as an adult, I think it pales in comparison to "Ben-Hur," "Quo Vadis" and "Barabbas." The critics's view of Burton is correct and Burton later told Time Magazine that "The Robe" was the "bane" of his life. I also agree with Harv's comments on Jeff Morrow and Ernest Thesiger. I think Morrow deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. And one other thing I agreed about is Harv's comments on the influence of the McCarthy hearings on the script, especially when Tiberius tells Marcellus to get "the names" of those Christians. The script was credited to long-time Hollywood liberal Philip Dunne, but the meat of the script was really written by the black-listed Albert Maltz, who later shared credit with Dunne.

Interesting review of one of my favorite movies ever. Don't necessarily agree with the view that this was a mediocre performance by Burton. I thought he portrayed the character right on the mark, particularily before his conversion to Christ. Marcellus, his character, was appropriately jaded and cynical, really just going through the motions of carrying out his duties as a Roman soldier and servant of the state. There was no real depth or purpose to his life/military career...other than simply just carrying it out on "autopilot". Along the way it is reasonable that he would have been sullen & petulant, as he was quite unsatisfied & unfulfilled with his life. After he participates in the crucufiction, is actually when his "new" life begins, and he goes from simple existence to depth & purpose. But it's still a journey from anger , guilt and even revenge, to finally arrive at understanding and redemption for what he has done, and his finding of his Faith in Christ, and all that that entails. R Burton is a intense, but controlled actor in general I believe, not just in this role. He doesn't engage in a lot of over the top or campiness that I am aware of. Much of his thought & emotion is conveyed in his face rather than in his physicality. Although I admit there is some campiness in his performance here when he's going through his guilt- ridden, haunted period. Other than that, he plays this role with self control, yet intensity that I can see in his eyes and on his face. And I believe he plays it well and appropriately for each stage that his character Marcellus goes through from movie start to it's end. Really enjoyed Mr Burton's performance & portrayal in making his character and hero of this great film come alive ! Plenty of other great performances by actors here as well ! Great movie to watch, with a great theme..

@elizabethalli1271

2 жыл бұрын

Burton plays the role perfectly.

They are great players,beautiful moves

Thank you for the very interesting comments and scene selections. I always thought the actors were rather stagey, but effective, nonetheless. The costumes, cinematography and sets were excellent and the direction was good. I've never heard a full audio commentary on the movie, though, other than some collected comments on various aspects of the movie, such as musical score. Does such a full-length commentary exist?

Love the riobe since age 14

Start showing these movies on all networks.

While I do agree that the Alfred Newman score, recorded in stereophonic sound (3.1 actually) is very impressive and tailored well to each scene it supports, it really is just a retread of his score for THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939). Even the orchestrations were simply lifted off the 1939 movie. Listen to the finale themes to both the movies -- they are literally identical. I guess ole Alfred figured, he got an Oscar for the HUNCHBACK score and that's not too shabby, why not wring another paycheck out of it. Bit of good old double-dipping, eh Alfie?

@williamsnyder5616

3 жыл бұрын

I agree that Newman's score for this film was disappointing. And, I agree with the comparison to his score for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," particularly to a part of the music for what the Decca soundtrack album of "The Robe" calls "The Rescue of Demetrius." It is the same music he wrote for the scene in "Hunchback" when Charles Laughton is chasing Maureen O'Hara. But in fairness to Newman, it was standard practice in Hollywood for composers to go to their film libraries for past work. Miklos Rozsa, to cite one example, used the same Roman march in "Ben-Hur" that he used in "Quo Vadis." When he got started working at Universal, Henry Mancini said that when he got stuck coming up with a few bars of music, his boss at Universal, Joseph Gershenson, told him to go to Universal's music libraries and take something there. Mancini said Gershenson referred to it as "taking partners." Even in one of Newman's greatest scores ("The Diary of Anne Frank"), I found an interesting tidbit which pointed to Newman's preparation. In 1957, he went to Amsterdam to interview Otto Frank about Anne for her personality. The film establishes that Anne loved Hollywood movies. There's a beautiful sequence in the movie where the Fox string section (Newman's longtime speciality) played some music which sounded like a variation on the song, "Someday My Prince Will Come" from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," a movie Otto Frank probably took his child to see in 1937-8.

There is no life after death. So their corpses are long rotten.

No tribunes in scripture Just a few centurions One had faith in Jesus To heal his servant Two more at the cross Confessed his righteousness And deity!

The Robe - Die Robbe

Good review. The first film that I saw on VHS.

@captaincinema5066

4 жыл бұрын

Poor guy...aside from the horrific resolution, it was pan and scanned. How awful for you; I hope at some time later you were able to see it the best way, in a movie theatre on a full CinemaScope screen and in stereo sound. Or at least on a big screen TV with a good sound system.

This is really how it was, not cliches-- who cares what your criticisms are, you just don't like the movie-- why don't you get a life, and find something constructive to do, instead of criticizing things

MARCELLO COULD BE COMPARED TO ROMAN CENTURIAN ,WHO ASKED JESUS TO HEAL HIS SERVENT, OR ROMAN CENTURION(LONGENOUS)WHO SUPPERVISIED JESUS CRUCIFIXION AND WHEN JESUS DIED,PIRECED HIS SIDE,PIRCED. JESUS HEART AND BLOÒD AND WATER FLOWED FROM JESUS SIDE