In the long one, all these many decades later, whose performance do you feel holds up better to the test of time - Richard Burton (who got the Oscar) or Victor Mature?
shareRichard Burton was good, but it's hard not to cringe when he shouts "where you out there?!"
shareI like the whole conversation with his girlfriend and he says "I have become quite mad".
shareApples and oranges, I think. Each performance holds up very well. Mature should have been nominated for an Oscar too -- of all of the characters who are converted, I believe Demetrius' conversion in a manner I don't find in the others. This change in him is profound and he is morphed from an embittered man to one who has found peace and serenity in this life, with the promise of heaven in the next -- it's an amazing performance.
I would give Richard Burton an Oscar for each of the seven times he was nominated, but it's true that there are times when I cringe at his Marcellus. I used to think it was the direction, but it was Burton really piling it on, IMO. Still, his training and experience with Shakespeare serve him very well, especially in that final scene which, in my view, is a masterful ten minutes or so of acting, writing, directing, editing - the works. It's an uneven performance, I think, but Burton does have many moments when he is absolutely dead on in his portrayal and he's at his very best in the trial scene.
By the way, I was tooling around at this board (I seldom come here, but it is Holy Week and this film is part of my Easter ritual now for some 30 years or more!) and I would urge everyone to read some of the reviews submitted by others -- some of them are very impressive and beautifully written.
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.
Victor Mature. You do believe he's a born again Demetrius.... an OH! what a performance as the morally-challenged gladiator in the astounding sequel!
YE must be born again
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Of the two, I think Victor Mature was better, but ultimately I liked Jeffrey Morrow's performance as Paulus the best of the three -- a little bit scruffy and rough around the edges, but basically at heart a good guy. Cut quite a dashing figure on a horse, in that armor and cloak, and in the sword fight, also, and I found it interesting how his voice became gruffer as the movie progressed.
shareRichard Burton, hands down!
although Victor Mature did an excellent job as well.
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I thought Mature was great but I pick Burton,I thought he was very believable when he was going mad and I liked the "were you out there"lines.I guess we all see things differently,nothing wrong with that,great movie.
shareIt's a long time since I saw it, but I remember Mature's performance as being rather under=stated, while Burton whined and screamed as if he had terminal migraine and chewed several pieces of furniture.
It is funny how appreciation of Mature's acting has improved over the years, (My Darling Clementine, After the Fox, Kiss of Death) while Burton's is somewhat diminished, (The Assassination of Trotsky, Boom, The Medusa Touch, Hammersmith is Out ... these are just a few of the films in which he gave atrocious performances in dreadful films before his last great performance in "1984)
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
Richard Burton, of course. He was the leading actor while Mature had only a few (albeit important) lines in this movie.
Mature was the leading actor in the sequel (Demetrius and the Gladiators) but except for the fighting sequences his acting was really wooden. Jay Robinson's "Caligula" stoles the show in the sequel.
Mature of course. He was a natural actor whereas Burton was just wooden and overacted very badly.
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