Tag Archives: Sign of the Cross

Fredric March whips some Christians

May 10, 2021UncategorizedChristians, De-Mille, Fredric March, Sign of the Cross, star entrance, whippingNotesonFilm1

C.B. De Mille sure knew how to make everything exciting. The Christians in the area sequence at the end of The Sign of the Cross is extraordinarily fetishistic and exciting. This is Fredric March’s introduction in the film, abridged and in gif form:

Camping it Up as Nero: Charles Laughton in The Sign of the Cross (De Mille, 19320

May 10, 2021UncategorizedC.B. De Mille, camp, Charles Laughton, Sign of the CrossNotesonFilm1

As you can see below from the dark muscleman by his side and the peeling of he flower petals, Nero is coded as homosexual in De Mille’s Sign of the Cross. Charles Laughton gives an extraordinary performance which is at once restrained AND floridly camp. Out of relative stillness blooms just the right ‘too-much’ gesture and then it settles as if in a photograph. It’s quite extraordinary to see.