Demetrius and the Gladiators
1954 · Movie · NR · 101 min · ★ 6.6 · 78% critics
After a sacred robe is smuggled to safety, a powerful Roman ruler demands it for himself. A former slave tries to protect it, but is pulled into palace intrigue and forced into brutal arena combat, where temptation and violence test his beliefs and resolve.
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Details
- Years
- 1954
- Release date
- 1954-06-16
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Critic score
- 78/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.5/10 (90 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a brisk, old-school swords-and-sandals sequel with palace scheming, faith under pressure, and plenty of arena fights; Not for you if you dislike campy villains or dated biblical drama like Barabbas.
Pros: colourful sets and costumes; lively arena action; enjoyably camp villain | Cons: wooden lead performance; corny dialogue; shaky historical credibility
Themes
- ancient rome
- sequel
- catholic
- historical drama
- 1st century
- caligula
Cast & crew
Victor Mature
as Demetrius
Susan Hayward
as Messalina
Michael Rennie
as Peter
Debra Paget
as Lucia
Anne Bancroft
as Paula
Jay Robinson
as Caligula
Ernest Borgnine
as Strabo
Richard Egan
as Dardenius
Barry Jones
as Claudius
Charles Evans
as Cassius Chaerea
Directed by Delmer Daves