The Sign of the Cross

"A picture which will proudly lead all the entertainments the world has ever seen"

1932 2h 6m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 55

DramaHistory

Synopsis

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A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

“A picture which will proudly lead all the entertainments the world has ever seen”

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Cast

Fredric March
Marcus Superbus - Prefect of Rome
Elissa Landi
Mercia
Claudette Colbert
Empress Poppaea
Charles Laughton
Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
Ian Keith
Tigellinus
Arthur Hohl
Titus
Harry Beresford
Favius Fontelas
Tommy Conlon
Stephan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Writers: Waldemar Young, Sidney Buchman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

94 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot by Karl Struss. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anne Bauchens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Fredric March and Elissa Landi and Claudette Colbert carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A picture which will proudly lead all the entertainments the world has ever seen".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0023470 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Cecil B. DeMille directs. Karl Struss behind the camera. Anne Bauchens cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.
394 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot by Karl Struss. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Anne Bauchens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Fredric March and Elissa Landi and Claudette Colbert carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A picture which will proudly lead all the entertainments the world has ever seen".
8IMDB entry: tt0023470 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 55 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 13 themes, including "arena", "ancient rome", "empress", "pre-code".
11Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Karl Struss
Editing: Anne Bauchens
Costume design: Mitchell Leisen
Makeup / hair: James Collins
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $694,065
Box office: $2,738,993
Return: 395% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Sign of the Cross (1932)

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Cecil B. DeMille

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-09-06
★ 7/10
With Nero (Charles Laughton) on the throne of Rome and his scheming Empress Poppaea (Claudette Colbert) almost as maniacal as he, we enter a city on day three of the great conflagration. The emperor is more concerned by a broken string on his lyre as Tigellinus (Ian Keith) brings him disastrous news. The fires are starting to go out and what's more the citizens are beginning to wonder if he is the incendiary. A scapegoat must be found, and it just happens that a pesky sect called Christians could do that job nicely. The Prefect - "Marcus" (Frederic March) is summoned and ordered to wreak havoc on them all, save for a few who are to be saved for the arena. He's willing enough to carry out his task until he espies "Mercia" (Elissa Landi) whom he decides to protect from the edict. Needless to say, this doesn't go down so well with the jealous empress who has her eyes on him as a sort of reverse concubine, and therefore Nero's very perilous displeasure beckons. What future might they have? What future might any of them have? It's a straight take on the "Quo Vadis" story that oozes excess, violence and religiosity right from the start. The astonishingly (for the times) effite Laughton isn't on screen quite enough to really convey just how debauched he and his government were but his scenes are still impactful and Colbert augments those with a deliciously malevolent performance in a role that could have been written for her. March is proficient here throughout and Landi crafts a butter-wouldn't-melt "Mercia" in a fashion that convinces us that whatever happens, no lion is ever going to feast on her pallid flesh. The visuals are great: the structures of Roman grandeur; the costumes and the scenes in the Coliseum are all really quite impressively photographed and though the editing is a bit brutal at times, this is Cecil B. DeMille striving for his 1930s Christian-faith merit badge whilst indulging in just about everything decadent, sexually fluid and fetishist that the real Neroic court might have dreamt up for our awe and sinful entertainment two thousand years earlier.

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