Peaceloving blacksmith Marcus refuses lucrative offers to fight in the arena...until his wife dies for lack of medical care. His life as a gladiator hardens him, and shady enterprises make him the richest man in Pompeii, while his son Flavius (who met Jesus on a brief visit to Judaea) is as gentle as Marcus once was. The final disaster of Marcus and Flavius's cross purposes is interrupted by Vesuvius. Hilarity erupts.
Trivia: Despite all the spectacle, the movie was a box-office flop, and required several re-releases (on a double bill with King Kong (1933) another Marian C. Cooper production) to earn back its cost.
A good 30s Hollywood movie but what surprised me were the not so subtle christian overtones. Marcus disapproves of the slave trade and use of the slaves in the gladiator area but eventually becomes a gladiator himself and becomes disillusioned. He travels to Judea when an old women tells him his son will get the help of the greatest man in Judea. He thinks it is Pontius Pilate, but when his son is gravely injured he asks "the teacher" for his help and his son is healed. He is in Jerusalem when Pilate sentences Jesus, "the teacher" to death. (They even used the standard operating procedure from back then by not showing Jesus, just peoples reactions to him.) Flavius becomes a man who hates his father's job as head of the area and tries to save slaves and free them. Oh yeah, and it is placed in Pompeii so the last ten minutes are very explosive.
Impman, you were on the right track with The Land Before Time and The Land That Time Forgot based on my clue, but 1,927 years ago was 79 A.D. the year Vesuvius erupted.
Up Next: The "M" Movie. The week's clue: Flimflam Artists. Now here are the guesses for L:
The Land Before Time - Four orphan dinosaurs travel the ruins of their world, while grieving the loss of their families and banding together to face the odds of survival.
The Land That Time Forgot - During World War I, a German U-boat sinks a British ship and takes the survivors on board. After it takes a wrong turn the submarine takes them to the unknown land of Caprona, where they find dinosaurs and neanderthals.
Lady Chatterley's Lover - A film adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel. After a crippling injury leaves her husband impotent, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires.
The Little Mermaid - A mermaid princess makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous seahag in order to meet a human prince on land.
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3 comments:
Was it better watching this movie after you've been to Pompeii? Oh, by the way, I'm back from Switzerland and it was great. Just as beautiful as I expected.
Actually, very little of the movie actually happened outside in Pompeii where you could recognize anything, but what they did show, the streets, the Temple of Zeus, it looked cool. I could recognize them. The Area didn't look anything like your pictures of it. It had a massive statue that the condemed slaves had to walk under. The special effects for 1935 were spectacular.
I'm guessing that your M movie is Miranda with Christina Ricci. I'll try to look up some more.
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