The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross is a 1932 American pre-Code epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures. Based on the original 1895 play by English playwright Wilson Barrett, the screenplay was written by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman. It stars Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, and Charles Laughton, with Ian Keith and Arthur Hohl.
Plot
During the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, Emperor Nero fiddles. Tigellinus informs Nero that he is suspected of starting the fire. Nero instead has the fire blamed on the Christians. In Rome, the Apostle Titus, Mercia, and Favius are apprehended by a mob for being Christians. Marcus Superbus, the prefect of Rome, arrives and disperses the mob allowing the Christians to go free.
Cast
- Angelo Rossitto
- Arthur Hohl
- Carol Holloway
- Charles Gemora
- Charles Laughton
- Charles Middleton
- Clarence Burton
- Claudette Colbert
- Dave O'Brien
- Dorothy Granger
- Edward LeSaint
- Elissa Landi
- Ferdinand Gottschalk
- Florence Turner
- Fredric March
- George Bruggeman
- Gertrude Norman
- Hal Price
- Harry Beresford
- Henry Brandon
- Horace B. Carpenter
- Ian Keith
- James Millican
- John Carradine
- John James
- Joyzelle Joyner
- Lane Chandler
- Lionel Belmore
- Margerie Bonner
- Mischa Auer
- Nat Pendleton
- Otto Lederer
- Richard Alexander
- Ruth Clifford
- Sally Rand
- Stanley Ridges
- Tom Ricketts
- True Boardman
- Wedgwood Nowell
- Wilfred Lucas
- William Forrest
- William H. O'Brien
- William V. Mong
- Wynne Gibson
- Ynez Seabury
More details
| author | Dudley Nichols Sidney Buchman Waldemar Young |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Rome |
| director | Cecil B. DeMille |
| editor | Anne Bauchens |
| genre | drama |
| keywords | arrest cestian bridge christian drown empress poppaea great fire great fire of rome learn lion meet morning ofonius tigellinus pons cestius poppaea sabina saint titus save me sing suspect tigellinus titus |
| musicBy | Milan Roder Rudolph G. Kopp |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Cinematography |
| producer | Cecil B. DeMille |
| productionCompany | Paramount Pictures |
| publisher | Paramount Pictures |
| theme | epic |