Androkles und der Löwe (1952)

Androkles und der Löwe: Directed by Chester Erskine, Nicholas Ray. With Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Alan Young, Robert Newton. Story of a Christian in ancient Rome who befriends a lion.

“A famously bad movie of a minor Shaw play, Androcles and the Lion isnu0026#39;t bad so long as one doesnu0026#39;t approach it expecting a sparkling and witty adaptation along the lines of Major Barbara. To be fair to producer Garbriel Pascal, who loved Shawu0026#39;s work dearly, and director Chester Erskine, an experienced theatre man, the play wasnu0026#39;t that good to start with. In trying to make their picture look like a spectacle, and casting hunky Victor Mature in a major role, Pascal and Erskine at least give the viewer something pleasing and familiar to look at. The presence of Jean Simmons doesnu0026#39;t hurt, either, though her padrone, studio chief Howard Hughes, was in the process of inadvertantly wrecking her American career with inferior movies.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enIn the roles as early Christians, Alan Young and Robert Newton make a terrific pair, and ought to have been co-starred again. Mr. Youngu0026#39;s endearingly innocent, child-like and effeminate Androcles makes a fascinating contrast with Newtonu0026#39;s bellowing, hyper-virile Ferrovius, and one wonders, if one adds to the mix the mere presence of Victor Mature, was going on subliminally in the minds of Pascal and Erskine when they cast this film. (Young fared far better with the animal kingdom some years later on television, as friend and companion of the irascible and unpredictable equine, Mr. Ed.)”