The Robe (1953)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This movie was so great it was nominated for Best Picture! It follows a Roman solider who receives Jesus's robe in a gamble as Jesus was dying. The rest of the movie witnesses him becoming a Christian. I simply liked it the first time I saw it but liked it more the 2nd time. It's not one of my favorite Christian movies but it's still very good. Fun Fact: The actor who played the soldier was an atheist-and he actually complained about the Christian message(see IMDB's trivia page.) Enjoy this movie-it is worth seeing. Note: TCM plays this on Easter!

I am impressed by how authentic this movie is. For Book Month, I wanted something truly based on the Bible and about Jesus and this is what I got. I especially love how they film Jesus. Out of reverence, they never show His face but you do get to hear Him say the immortal words, "Forgive them father for they know not what they have done". It's another beautiful looking film. It's about how one guy was affected by witnessing Jesus' death. It's once again great to hear the characters used the word "Christian" for early usage.Nowadays with all the divisions within the religion, it's hard to imagine there was a time where "Christian" had just one meaning. The title robe actually refers to the exact one Jesus wore. As another early color film, you can see how everything looks so beautiful here. I appreciate how people keep being authentic. I am glad to have see and reviewed this morning right about Chrstmas, even though it was about Jesus' death and not his death like this holiday is about. My Bible is ripped apart so much I can't even read it anymore. ***

Somehow I had never gotten around to watching this "classic". It's always great in life when you learn something. And the preeminent thing I learned from this film was that Victor Mature was a lousy actor. Really lousy. And in later years, he himself often alluded to that. In the scene where he was being tortured, I couldn't help wondering if it was because he was a Christian, or because he was such a lousy actor.Let's see. What else did I learn? That a lot must have changed between 1953 when this film was made, and 1959 when "Ben-Hur" was made. The latter is one of the most perfect Hollywood films ever made. In this film some of the mattes used for backgrounds are so fake looking as to be laughable. Not to mention that the print being shown on TCM is none to good...although I guess it's the best available.And then we come to Richard Burton's acting. Burton was never one of my favorites, although that was more because I didn't care for the films he selected to appear in. But I always felt he was a very fine actor. Not so here. About the only time I have ever seen poorer acting was when silent screen stars tried to transition to talkies. This is probably the poorest acting I have seen in a leading role in my life.But, Burton's overacting here paled in comparison to that of Jay Robinson as Caligula. I guess audiences were different back in the 1950s. Today I imagine people would burst out laughing at this performance.Cast-wise, all is not lost, however. Jean Simmons as the female lead tends to rise above the rest of this disaster...sort of. Michael Rennie's brief appearances as Peter are quite nice. Dean Jagger is here, and he's always a welcome addition to any cast. And, Torin Thatcher as Burton's father -- and a senator -- is quite good.In terms of the story, it's very fifty-ish. I'd have to rate it inferior to many of the other religious pics of the era. In fact, it was an opportunity lost. The concept -- what would happen to a Roman tribune who gambled over Jesus' robe after the crucifixion? Unfortunately, the answer appears to be that he would appear in a exceedingly poor film.I give an average film a "7". This one earns a "6". There's just too much wrong with it.

When the filmmakers were making "The Robe", they knew that they'd also be making the sequel "Demetrius and the Gladiators" and filmed them one after the other with no stoppage in between. Now you'd expect that as usual, the first film would be much better than the next, but this is an odd case where this is NOT so. While I really liked "Demetrius and the Gladiators" when I saw it recently, I was very disappointed by "The Robe". And, yes, I watched the films in reverse order! The film is set near the time of Jesus' death and is told from the point of view of a Roman official, Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton). He and his slave, Demetrius (Victor Mature) are sent to Judea and his is there at the crucifixion. In fact, as the Roman soldiers are casting dice for Jesus' clothes, Marcellus wins the robe. However, little does he know that this robe seems to have magical properties (huh?!) and through this robe, Marcellus comes to become a Christian--making it among the strangest conversion experiences in Hollywood history. However, the insane Emperor, Caligula (Jay Robinson) is not at all pleased, as he hates Christians and takes great sport in killing them. What's to become of Marcellus and his sweetie, Diana (Jean Simmons) once their conversions come to the attention of the nutty 'ol Emperor? Of all of Richard Burton's films, according to IMDb he was least proud of this one because of his wooden performance. While I would agree that it was generally wooden, when it wasn't so flat it was hilariously over-acted. I particularly laughed when Marcellus went mad--and Burton did it in a way highly reminiscent of William Shatner in "Impulse"--and this is NOT meant as a compliment for either of them.Overall, I'd say that the film is, at best, a time-passer. It has lovely sets and nice costumes but it also features some bad acting and a dubious message about Christianity. My advice is so see the sequel--it's something "The Robe" isn't--entertaining. A little bit more subtlety sure would have helped this film, as would an infusion of life and fun. As a result, the film just drags and drags to its conclusion.