Jean Simmons is radiant and shows just what a beautiful and fine actor she was. I find it to be the one virtue in this death obsessed scenario. Instead of watching this farcically nasty film I suggest viewers read Shaw's preface to the play on which the film is based, and his opinions on Christianity. There is a scene where Robert Newton asks a Roman to turn the other cheek before hitting him, and the scene works. The rest tries to be a satire on the Christians going to their death and although the violence is minimized it is all pervading in the dialogue, and some of the mental torture is painfully specific. It is totally unfit for children and surprisingly got a UK ' U ' certificate when the film ' Quo Vadis ' received an ' X ' certificate in 1951, a year before the film came out.
Review of Androcles and the Lion
