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The Robe (1953) is a cinematic classic of Golden Age Hollywood. With its mix of ancient Rome and early Christianity, it was a winner with audiences around the globe. In this special episode, we tap into Dr Rad's expertise in reception in film and come to grips with the power of The Robe!Special Episode – The RobeA Challenging ContextIt was tricky to deal with modern political issues in this era of Hollywood under the influence of HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee). For the makers of The Robe, which explicitly dealt with the life of Jesus under the Romans, there were additional challenges due to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Returning to the Old Testament was often a safer bet for Hollywood films.The rights to The Robe were initially purchased by RKO, before finally being canceled in 1948. It found a new home at 20th Century Fox. The fact that The Robe was in production for a long time has raised some interesting questions about the impact of historical context.The script was initially written by Albert Maltz, one of the infamous Hollywood Ten. The original script does seem to touch on blacklist themes. In Caligula’s original speech at the end of the film he refers to the “sedition” of the Christians and Marcellus has to deny that he is involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the state. This sounds eerily close to the experience of Hollywood Communists, who were generally not radicals trying to seize control of the government. There were also more references to the naming of names in Maltz’s version of The Robe…People protesting in favour of the Hollywood Ten. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica.HUAC and The RobeBut HUAC lay in his future, as Maltz only worked on this project from 1942-1946. As Smith (2005) has highlighted, while Maltz could not have worked HUAC references into the script before his HUAC experiences, it is possible that the tension over Communism still shaped his draft. There were moves against Communism before the Second Red Scare that swept America in the late 1940s and 1950s, such as the actions of the Tenney Committee in the early 1940s, or the foundation of the right-wing Motion Picture Alliance for American Ideals.Or perhaps Maltz was more focused on providing a critique of Italian fascism, given the backdrop of World War II? Maltz wrote Cloak and Dagger (1947) immediately after The Robe, which definitely took aim at Italian fascism, whilst exalting the resistance from the Communists. He would also write Crossfire (1947), a film that tackled issues of anti-Semitism within the USA.Film poster for Cloak and Dagger (1947)Is it possible that the next screenwriter to work on The Robe worked in some sick burns? Phillip Dunne followed Maltz and would eventually receive sole credit for the film, thanks to the blacklist. He was known to be a liberal and helped to establish the Committee for the First Amendment. This group formed in reaction to the HUAC hearings in 1947. Fellow members included other Hollywood luminaries such as William Wyler, Lucille Ball, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis and Dorothy Daindridge.However, Dunne was not a Communist; quite the opposite. He may have intended The Robe to be a veiled criticism of HUAC, but he may also have seen the repression of the Romans as being akin to Stalin and the Communist regime.ReferencesReinhartz, A. (2013). BibleandCinema:FiftyKeyFilms. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203083260Richards, J. (2008). Hollywood’s Ancient Worlds. Continuum.Smith, J. (2005). ‘Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Christian?: The Strange History of The Robe As Political Allegory‘, Film Studies, Winter: 7, 1-15.A lobby card for The RobeAutomated TranscriptProvided by Otter AIDr Rad 0:16Welcome to the Partial Historians, we explore all the details of ancient Rome. Everything from the political scandals, the love of ours, the battles waged, and when citizens turn against each other. I'm Dr. Rad.Dr G 0:34And I'm Dr. G. We consider Rome as the Romans saw it by reading different authors from the ancient past and comparing their stories. Join us as we trace the journey of Rome from the founding of the city.Dr Rad 1:03Welcome to a special episode of The Partial Historians, I am one of your hosts, Dr. Rad.Dr G 1:10And I am a somewhat healthy, Dr. G.Dr Rad 1:15I know this is true dedication, Patreons, Dr G has been suffering from the vid.Dr G 1:22I've been on my deathbed. But I've bounced back. Thank goodness.Dr Rad 1:27It was Rome that calls you for and said live live another day.Dr G 1:33And one must always follow the commands of Rome. And here I am. as ever.Dr Rad 1:39Well, I suppose luckily, or unluckily. I'm not sure. We're not doing our normal narrative today. But instead, we're taking a journey into Hollywood land, which could be good for a sick person, or maybe not.Dr G 1:54I look, I think it's gonna be it's gonna be good. I'm excited for this golden era. Hollywood is one of my favorite times in Hollywood.Dr Rad 2:03We all love it. We all adore it. So let's get into this special episode where we get to talk all about The Robe 1953.Dr G 2:50What a film. I mean, I think the best thing about it is Richard Burton.Dr Rad 2:54Definitely let's let's give a bit of a cast rundown. So in typical Partial Historians fashion, we're doing this slightly backwards in that we looked at the sequel first. But that was only for our Patreon. So for everybody else, we're just doing The Robe. So first of all, we have Richard Burton playing the lead male character Marcellus Gallio.Dr G 3:19A fine specimen of a young Roman if I ever saw one.Dr Rad 3:21Indeed. And then we have my favorite Jean Simmons playing the lead female part, Diana, I think she's actually really good in this role. Yeah, well, you know, she's got that pure beauty about her. She looks very innocent.Dr G 3:39She does.Dr Rad 3:39Yeah. And then, of course, we've got the hero of our Patreon bonus episode Demetrius and the Gladiators, because, of course, being a sequel, he's in this one too big to mature, playing Demetrius,Dr G 3:53And he does look mature, doesn't he?Dr Rad 3:57He does have a mature look about him. But lest we forget, he retired at 44. So I guess he was in his 30s at this point in time.Dr G 4:04Oh, wow.Dr Rad 4:06And then we have Michael Rennie playing St. Peter.Dr G 4:11Yeah, I feel like that was a bit of a that's a bit of a throw into the sequel as well, isn't it?Dr Rad 4:18I believe so. I think he was in both. Yeah, definitely. I mean, they knew they were filming both when they started, as I discovered last time. And then we have Jay Robinson playing Caligula.Dr G 4:30Hmm. Yeah. We'll come back to that one.Dr Rad 4:33Yeah. And then I think the main ones that we have to deal with there are major characters. Yeah, I think that kind of covers it. Yeah, yeah, definitely. So The Robe 1953 is a big film in many ways. Not only is an epic from the age of epics, the Golden Age of Hollywood epics, but it also has won some fame for some of the other milestones that are associated with this film. Now, just to give us an idea of exactly how big a smash it was, it costs a smidgen over $4 million to make. And, yeah, it took in $17 million in the US a market and $36 million world wide.Dr G 5:25Okay, so this was a profit making engine?Dr Rad 5:29Well, yeah, I mean, it has a cycle that's going to tell somethingDr G 5:35built in, apparently, as well. So yeah,Dr Rad 5:37I do like this detail, though, that some of the ticket sales would have been to teachers who were pressed into going to see this movie for their students, or with their students, maybe?Dr G 5:50Yeah, goodness. I mean, that kind of made up the bulk of sales, surely.Dr Rad 5:56Anyway, so let's talk a little bit about this ethic, Dr. G. So what were your initial impressions? I'm dying to know,Dr G 6:03Oh, look, I think longtime listeners of this show will be well aware that I tend to classify myself as a pagan, and my position has not changed. As a result of watching the Rome, it did feel like very much that they were utilizing Roman history as a vehicle for getting to the Christian story. And I'm not a fan of that, to be honest. Christianity is not huge. In this initial face, like this is set sort of right at the moment of the passing of the Messiah.Dr Rad 6:39Jesus is alive in this film. That tells us something. Yeah,Dr G 6:43Jesus starts alive in this film. Yeah, he doesn't stay alive. So that gives us almost everything we need to know about what moment in history we're in. But the sense in which there is a really strong Christianizing moment that comes over all of the players who've been closely associated with that moment of Jesus's death is really interesting. Yeah, and I would say, anachronistic.Dr Rad 7:09For sure. I mean, it's historically accurate to place Jesus's life in his time period. So the time period we're talking about is the tail end of the reign of Tiberius, aka the best period ever. And we then end up going into some of calculus, rain as well. And calculus, definitely around this whole movie. He's not, you know, off to the side, and Tiberius is a circle regular, I think, is definitely the main Roman imperial character that we get to know over the course of this film. And that is historical. As far as we can tell, Jesus was indeed around in the latter half of Tiberius, his reign. So anyway, the general setting for Jesus's lifetime, and when he starts to become a problem for Rome, all is accurate. And so we've got our major players, you know, being where they should be. But as you say, this is a classic Hollywood epic in that in order for you to have a good guy and a bad guy, you know, someone to root for and someone to despise while still enjoying the things that they get up to. It's pretty normal for Hollywood to go to a Christians versus Romans storyline, or at least Christians slash Jewish people. Question Mark versus Romans?Dr G 8:30Yeah. And this leads us into some like really interesting directorial choices, or maybe casting decisions as well, because the Romans quintessentially played by the English. So they've got that very sort of RP accent going on. Yeah, but then the people of Palestine appear to be American. Where, I mean, it's somethingDr Rad 8:53But I think that that actually does keep into the whole accent divide. Because I think it's kind of meant to be the people who are on the side, that you're meant to be rooting for generally American.Dr G 9:06Hmm. So Hollywood would want you to believe.Dr Rad 9:09Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's not. It's not uncommon for the movies of this era to have that accent divided so that it's super clear, just in case you were thinking of rooting for the Romans that were crucifying Jesus, just in case you had a moment where you thought maybe I'm on their side. They go for the accent just to make it very clear.Dr G 9:30That and the way that they decide to portray particular were Romans. Now, Caligula, as we know, doesn't have heaps of redeeming features, ultimately, and the Romans themselves get pretty jack of them very quickly, they do. So this is what what is about to follow is not the saving of Caligula. Now, when I say I think he might have been overplayed a little bit in this film.Dr Rad 9:59Oh, Though I have to admit, though, I kind of enjoy the guy who played here. And he does have the kind of voice that really grates on you in a way that makes you think, yeah, I could assassinate this guy after a few years. I think I'd be annoyed enough.Dr G 10:15He is frustratingly inept in his presentation, and because we don't get a good read on motivation from Caligula, and because it just feels like he's being played for the sort of the hysterical, maniacal, power driven figure that is portrayed as in this film. It makes him feel a little bit unbelievable, whilst also holding down the position as the bad guy.Dr Rad 10:46Yeah, fair enough. Well, before we get too much further into Ahala, we probably should say something about the general storyline of this film. So why don't you tell us about the the story of DigiDr G 10:57Okay, all right. Well, I mean, it starts off great opening scene. It seems like we're in the Roman Forum. Everyone's having a good time. It's clearly slave-buying season. Not that anybody should be excited about that.Dr Rad 11:11I say Why does it not slave-buying season in Rome?Dr G 11:14It seems to b a particularly busy time at the moment. And this sets up the few really important dynamics. It allows us to see Marcellus re-meeting his childhood sweetheart, Diana, they haven't seen each other for many years. So that sets up that relationship. We learn about Diana's connection as a ward of Tiberius to calendula, potentially as a love interest for him. But we also learn about myself versus ongoing tension with Caligula as well apparently those two don't get along. And then we have this sort of moment with the slave market, which introduces us to Demetrius as well, who is perhaps the most stoic character in this wholeDr Rad 12:00Oh, my God, yes.Dr G 12:01So stoic, and this guy kind of just accepts his fate as it is, doesn't seem to fight one way or the other. But does seem to be motivated by an internal set of principles. And for whatever reason, Demetrius ends up coming to the attention of both Marcellus and Caligula during this slave sail. And this becomes an important point because it's this moment. And this tension between Marcellus and Caligula, which turns Demetrius is fate. So you technically gets freed in a slave auction through being purchased at such a high price for Marcellus to sort of jab coelicolor A little bit. But because Demetrius feels that this isn't appropriate to be bought at such a high price just to be set free, he decides to become the manservant of Marcellus anyway. So these two are now bound up together in what appears to be a kind of odd duo, because my Seles then goes on to be like, let's be friends, if we're going to hang out together like this. Demetrius is, like, we are not friends. I really owe you. It's different.Dr Rad 13:15I do like the pairing, though. I mean, Burton's got the voice and Mature's got this shoulder.Dr G 13:22Yeah, so these two end up on adventures together, which are all bound up with calendula in particular ways Caligula is annoyed at Marcellus for this whole debacle in the slave market. So he sends him to Palestine as a bit of a punishment. While he's there, he ends up in a situation with Pontius Pilate, so that's good news. Everybody likes it when Pontius Pilate enters the enters the scene, Pontius Pilate sort of commands myself is to be in charge with the crucifixion of Jesus, which is awkward, but also at the same time has a Lady Macbeth moment, which is kind of beautiful, where he's washing his hands, and he's like, I need to wash my hands. And he's slaves like you just wash your hands. Yeah, like the bloods invisible but he's having trouble guys. He's ordered the death of Jesus. Then we have some really interesting moments in Palestine, one of which is this trading of the robe. So pivotal to this entire film, it would seem is that we don't see Jesus very much. We don't really see his face. We sometimes hear his voice, but we he's a mysterious figure who seems to have an effect on Demetrius straightaway. When he is on the cross, the robe that he had been wearing has been laid at the bottom of it. One of the Roman soldiers picks it up and it's like that. We could throw this into the old gambling table. Let's when the robe of Jesus and Marcellus wins it, but is then sort of overcome when he tries to put it on himself whe…
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