I assume back in his day, the Brits thought that George Bernard Shaw was incredibly brilliant and droll for concocting the play "Androcles and the Lion". However, despite Shaw being held in great esteem today as then, I couldn't believe how awful this film was. Perhaps the translation to the big screen was at fault--perhaps Shaw himself just didn't age well with this story. All I know is that I hated everything about this horrible story of the early Christians. Heck, it was so bad, I assume the film did much to encourage the cause of atheism the world over. Yes, it was THAT bad.
When the film begins, you know you are in trouble for two reasons. First, the background paintings are incredibly fake looking and the studio seemed to do nothing to make them look better. Second, and a far more serious problem, is the god-awful dialog. Again and again, the dialog between Alan Young and his wife, Elsa Lanchester, made me cringe--and it was clearly SUPPOSED to be funny. Unfortunately, this same problem continued throughout the film--with horribly corny humor and incredibly anachronistic and stupid dialog uttered by everyone. It was painful it was so bad.
The bottom line is that although I hate stilted Biblical costume dramas (such as "David and Bathsheba"), I learned tonight that I hate comedic Biblical costume dramas even more. The film has wasted the talents of everyone associated with it and the likes of John Hoyt, Victor Mature and Jean Simmons clearly were given third-rate material. As for Young, he was right in his element. Avoid unless you are a masochist.
When the film begins, you know you are in trouble for two reasons. First, the background paintings are incredibly fake looking and the studio seemed to do nothing to make them look better. Second, and a far more serious problem, is the god-awful dialog. Again and again, the dialog between Alan Young and his wife, Elsa Lanchester, made me cringe--and it was clearly SUPPOSED to be funny. Unfortunately, this same problem continued throughout the film--with horribly corny humor and incredibly anachronistic and stupid dialog uttered by everyone. It was painful it was so bad.
The bottom line is that although I hate stilted Biblical costume dramas (such as "David and Bathsheba"), I learned tonight that I hate comedic Biblical costume dramas even more. The film has wasted the talents of everyone associated with it and the likes of John Hoyt, Victor Mature and Jean Simmons clearly were given third-rate material. As for Young, he was right in his element. Avoid unless you are a masochist.