HotToastyRag I think Androcles and the Lion was supposed to be a comedy, but it was so awful, I couldn't be sure. In the midst of the 1950s biblical craze, Hollywood created a film about a group of slaves who are rounded up and sent to the gladiator pit to fight a lion, because they are Christians. Of course, the Roman bad guys are all portrayed as buffoons, since they are not Christians, and the overwhelming theme is "Christians are good, and everyone who isn't is a terrible bad guy who should learn his lesson". That theme isn't necessarily a bad one, especially since Hollywood made a ton of biblical films in the 1950s and 1960s, but the ridiculous feel of the film ruins it, not to mention the over-the-top moronic performance of Alan Young as the title character, Maurice Evans as Caesar, Elsa Lanchester, Gene Lockhart, Robert Newton, Jim Backus—the list goes on. Jean Simmons, a Christian slave, and Victor Mature, a Roman soldier who falls in love with her, aren't particularly over-the-top, but the few scenes they have together are hardly worth it. In reality, if he'd been found hiding and protecting a slave, and if she'd repeatedly sassed her captors, they both would have been killed.Alan Young loves animals, so when he comes across an injured lion in the middle of the road, he coos it with baby talk and takes the thorn out of his paw. It's pretty ridiculous, almost as ridiculous as the rest of the film.

mark.waltz The great playwright George Bernard Shaw takes a step up to the pulpit to preach the desires of the early Christians to either worship their savior (and just one God) or be willing to be put to death in this light comedy which will touch the soul (of those it doesn't offend) as did another movie from this era with the same co-stars in search of "The Robe".Fleeing from the Romans to the hills, milquetoast Alan Young and his harpy wife Elsa Lanchaster stop to rest when they are confronted by a male lion. The simpleton Androcles senses that the lion is in too much pain to eat them and finds a thorn in the lion's paw. He struggles to remove it (with comical overtones) and the lion is emotionally touched by this good deed. But Androcles is captured (whatever happens to his wife is never explained) and on the journey back to Rome to be fed to their own lions, he meets former sinners Jean Simmons and Robert Newton, as well as soldiers Alan Mowbray, Jim Backus and Victor Mature. He joins his fellow Christians in singing modern Christian hymns, ironically not written until centuries after this story took place.The inclusion of "Onward Christian Soldiers" adds a satirical edge to this screen adaption of Shaw's play, as does the presence of Backus as one of the soldiers who looks extremely un-Roman. A huge cast of familiar faces pop up in a variety of smaller roles, with Maurice Evans as a very regal Cesar and Gene Reynolds as a pompous Roman longing to see at least one Christian being devoured.Obviously painted backdrops give a theatrical feeling to the Rome setting and several encounters with lions are phony, filmed in a truly comical manner. A few gladiator battles show the violence and gore that the Christians must have had to deal with, and Newton's battle with several of them is extremely gripping as his character is torn over his past obsession with his bad temper which often lead to violence and his new devotion to Jesus.The love match between the beautiful Simmons and the masculine Mature is a reminder of their participation in "The Robe" the following year, as well as several other films made during this time. Some viewers may be taken aback by the preachiness of the script, but it is made palatable by the passionate way it is delivered with a sense of the writer's own devotion echoing its way into both your ears and your heart, indicating that his own spirituality was mixed with his sometimes sardonic humor over the human condition.

bkoganbing The ancient Greek Aesop wrote a simple fable about being kind to animals and it will be returned in kind by them. From that George Bernard Shaw used the fable to write a satire on the early Christian religion. And now RKO studio brought it to Hollywood under the supervision of Howard Hughes. I'm not sure what Aesop or Shaw might have thought of Androcles And The Lion in this form.It's an interesting film and above all the acting of Alan Young in the title role as the almost child like Androcles the tailor carries the film over a couple of bumpy spots. Later on Alan Young played that ultimate of animal lover Wilbur Post in Mister Ed.Shaw was trying to say that there are many kinds of Christians and there are other forces in personality that will determine which tenets of Christianity or for that matter any religion will dominate in one. Faced with the choice of being martyred or standing up for oneself, Robert Newton decides the sword is mightiest of all and makes short work of six of Emperor Maurice Evans's gladiators. Gentle Christian woman Jean Simmons spurns the love of praetorian Victor Mature, but Newton's performance in the arena saves them all.Finally there's Young who is thought of as a sorcerer and that scares them more than possibly being a Christian. He gets to go in the arena and face a lion. Wouldn't you know it's the same lion he took a thorn out of a paw. Naturally the lion isn't about to make a meal of his friend. That puts the whole empire under his thumb if he wanted it. But it's not in the gentle and kind Young nature. He's as meek, as Newton is aggressive and Simmons is pious. Just their basic personalities that religion did not change in any way.One performance that is not normally commented on is that of Elsa Lanchester as Young's shrew of a wife. One of the reasons that Young likes animals is that they don't pester him the way she does. He bears the cross of his partner with a cheerful acceptance, but you get the feeling that Christian martyrdom might just be a way out of a bad marital situation.Aesop might not recognize his tale, but enough of Shaw's observations on life remain intact in Androcles And The Lion.

Spikeopath Androcles is a devout Christian, all creatures are friends of the Earth. During an encounter with a lion, who is roaring in pain, he removes a huge thorn from the beasts' paw, thus creating a friend for life. A short time after the incident, Androcles and a number of other Christians are arrested and condemned to death in the arena. They are to die by fighting with gladiators or eaten alive by lions, is there any chance that Androcles and his companions can survive their fate?During my viewing of this film I was eating some soup and bread, I literally nearly choked on the bread and expelled the soup via my nose! Such is the hammy comedy on offer here, Androcles And The Lion, adapted from a George Bernard Shaw play, is an enjoyable picture if one is prepared for just what a ham sandwich it is. The cast, featuring Victor Mature, Jean Simmons, Alan Young and Robert Newton, play it as cardboard cutouts {Simmons possibly the only one taking it serious}, with the technical aspects so bad I dare you not to laugh out loud as Young dances with a man in a Lion suit!!Don't take it serious and you should be OK, and I'm certainly not annoyed that I sat thru it, but I would rather wrestle a Lion and two Tigers before I had to sit and watch it again! 4/10