MovieChat Forums > The Robe (1953) Discussion > What I would love to see

What I would love to see

posted 13 years ago by mercury4
8 replies | jump to latest

When I was watching The Robe recently, I was wearing my Tim Tebow shirt and I actually pictured Tebow in Richard Burton's place at the film's climax. The scene I'm referring to is the scene when Marcellus stands before the emperor and refuses to renounce Christ. I also pictured Tebow when I was watching Demetrius and the Gladiators. Imagine a modern day athlete that has Tim Tebow's faith ending up back in time. Back to a time when athletes were gladiators in the arena, fighting other men and beasts. Back to a time when Christians were persecuted. I'd love to see a movie like that. Imagine the film's hero Tebowing just before going in to battle. How cool would that be?

[–] ljspin 13 years ago

A Christian going into the arena to kill another man for the entertainment of the crowd? I see more strength and courage in Marcellus and Diana willingly going to martyrdom and to Glory.

[–] mercury4 13 years ago

Did you ever see Demetrius and the Gladiators? He refuses to fight in the beginning. Then the girl he loves is attacked by gladiators and he sets out for revenge. He loses himself and his faith, but then by the end he comes to his senses. He drops his sword and refuses to fight in the end.

I love the ending to The Robe how Marcellus and Diana walk to their death unafraid. I think it was a beautiful ending to a great movie. For the idea I had for a movie, they can always have him chariot racing or fighting wild animals, rather than killing another man. I just think it would be interesting to see a modern day athlete thrown into that time.

[–] ljspin 13 years ago

Thinking about your idea -- a modern athlete dropped into that time -- might be interesting at that. The Athlete would probably go through a crisis of faith. It's a sad comment on our culture, but he would be coming from a culture where it is felt that someone can hit and hurt an opponant and it's okay because it's part of the game, where one can go to war as a first response and not a last resort, where "Do unto others before they do unto you" is accepted, a culture where can do all of that and still be considered a person of Faith. And then he finds himself among believers who are willing to accept torture and death rather than betray their beliefs or their Lord. He would have a lot to sort through.

Yes, he could fight wild animals or drive in a chariot race, but I can also see him Tebowing before entering the arena to face the lions or walking to his execution. You've convinced me. It would be a powerful scene.

I saw "Demetrius and the Gladiators" over thirty years ago. The story came back to me as you described it. To be honest, I didn't like it as much as "The Robe," and I haven't seen it since. Since we are discussing Christians in the arena, have you ever seen "Quo Vadis?" or "The Sign of the Cross?"

[–] mercury4 13 years ago

Glad you like my idea of the hero Tebowing. I agree on Demetrius and the Gladiators. The Robe was way better. Demetrius and the Gladiators was a good sequel and a good movie. But The Robe was great. I have seen Quo Vadis and The Sign of the Cross. They are such similar movies that it's been debated for years whether or not Quo Vadis was a remake. I think it was. Look at the similarities. Quo Vadis seemed like a bigger and better version. It was longer, more expensive, and much more ambitious. Quo Vadis also had a happier ending. More of an ending. It seemed like The Sign of the Cross suddenly ended. I can understand the ending to both movies though. I liked the ideas of both endings. The Sign of the Cross had the idea that love conquers all and to have faith, but it was just done differently in the ending for Quo Vadis.

[–] ljspin 13 years ago

I, too, noticed the similarity between the stories, so I did a little research. "Quo Vadis?" was written by Polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz. It was serialized in 1895, and was published in book form in 1896. The novel helped Sienkiewicz win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1905.

"The Sign of the Cross" was written by American theatre manager Wilson Barrett and first performed by his theatre company in late 1895. Both the novel and the play came out in 1895, but Barrett never admitted reading or being influenced by "Quo Vadis?" It seems odd the a man in Poland and a man in the United States, in the same year, wrote similar stories without one being influenced by the other, but, then again, stranger things have happened.

I've read "Quo Vadis?" and enjoyed it. I have not yet seen a copy of the play of "The Sign of the Cross." Like the movie, the novel of "Quo Vadis?" ends with hope. St. Peter is martyred, but, as he dies, he knows the Faith will continue, in Marcus and Lygia, and others who witness his death. I guess it's just me, but the martyrdom of Marcus and Mercia in "The Sign of the Cross" just doesn't seem as uplifting and even joyful as that of Marcellus and Diana in "The Robe."

[–] mercury4 13 years ago

I agree. The ending to The Robe was way better. I don't think the ending to The Sign of the Cross was uplifting or joyful either.

[–] slinter 13 years ago

I liked both films, despite the occasional historical lapse. (Caligula was stabbed to death on his way to lunch, not skewered by a spear in the arena, though they got the assassin right) I have always felt a bit sad at the end of DATG that we did not get a third film. You end up caring about these folks, feeling a connection, which is a sign of good film making.
As to athletes in the arena, worry not, gentlemen. Such persecution of the faithful will be back, soon enough.

[–] mercury4 13 years ago

They did get Caligula's assassin right. I noticed that too. They also got it right that he pissed off the Praetorian Guard. A third film would've been nice.