The Robe (1953)

Based on the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, this film tells the story of a Roman soldier who just happens to be inadvertently involved in one of the most pivotal periods of human history.

Roman Tribune Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) lives during the first century, at the height of the Roman Empire. The son of a senator (Torin Thatcher), he enjoys a life of privilege.

Following a disagreement with Caligula (Jay Robinson), he finds himself stationed in Jerusalem, the most despicable part of the entire Roman Empire. It is there, along with his personal slave Demetrius (Victor Mature), that his life and work intersects with the life of a revolutionary named Jesus of Nazareth.

While he doesn’t place a lot of stock in the life and mission of this itinerant preacher and healer, Demetrius is quite taken by him, and at one point, is about to leave Marcellus and follow Jesus instead.

Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) and Diana (Jean Simmons).

But when Jesus finds himself at the mercy of the Romans (an interesting turn of events, historically speaking, this film - and the novel it is based on - doesn’t feature the Jews as part of the plot against Jesus at all), it is Marcellus who is summoned to Pontius Pilate (Richard Boone) to carry out Pilate’s sentence.

Marcellus takes as many soldiers as can be spared along with him, for fears Jesus’s followers will riot, out of the city to carry out his sentence. It is Marcellus himself who drives the nails into Jesus’s hands and feet.

And when lots are cast for Jesus’s clothing, it is Marcellus who wins ownership of his robe (the robe for which the film is named).

The greatest thing about this film has got to be the production design, and in the same vein, the costume design. George W. Davis’s production design is absolutely sensational, with enormously detailed set pieces and design, all of which serve to place the viewer right in the middle of first-century Rome, Palestine and Capri.

Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) and Diana (Jean Simmons).

The costumes, designed by Emile Santiago, in the same way, set the time, location, and status of every individual performer, and everything is done to such a high standard, the film feels incredibly real.

The screenplay, written by Philip Dunne from Douglas’s novel, is incredibly detailed, and takes the viewer through not only true moments of history, but also fictional characters and moments, interweaving them in a clever way. I’m sure a lot of this clever weaving came from the original novel, but these are executed well in the screenplay as well.

Alfred Newman’s score is, in a word, adventurous. The instrumentation is spectacular and grand at every moment, and I do literally mean every moment. The film is scored basically from beginning to end - the entire two hour, fifteen minute running time - with virtually no breaks. I realise that with an epic film such as this, the filmmakers may have felt that the more music it featured, the better, as this would add to the overall spectacle of the picture, but in my opinion, the film feels far too overscored, in a way that detracts from the moments in the film that could have benefited from a little silence.

Demetrius (Victor Mature).

The performances of the cast are relatively adequate, I suppose, if not a little overdone at times. Burton is clearly the standout of the picture, giving his all to the role of Marcellus, a role that will surely go down in history as one of his best.

Overall, the film is quite an achievement. It was the first film to be shown in full CinemaScope, and would surely have impressed audiences who had only ever seen films screened in the 4:3 aspect ratio up to this point. This works well for such an epic piece like this. However, it feels at many moments that this epic nature of the film becomes the focus more than the content of the story.

Director Henry Koster has certainly made a visually brilliant film here, if not a little too ambitious. It is well worth a watch, particularly if you haven’t seen it, but is by no means the greatest film set in this time period.

7 out of 10.