Androcles and the Lion (1952)
Overview
George Bernard Shaw’s breezy, delightful dramatization of this classic fable—about a Christian slave who pulls a thorn from a lion’s paw and is spared from death in the Colosseum as a result of his kind act—was written as a meditation on modern Christian values. Pascal’s final Shaw production is played broadly, with comic character actor Alan Young as the titular naïf. He’s ably supported by Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, and Elsa Lanchester.
Cast
Victor Mature
Captain
Jean Simmons
Lavinina
Alan Young
Androcles
Robert Newton
Ferrovius
Maurice Evans
Caesar
Elsa Lanchester
Megaera
Reginald Gardiner
Lentulus
Gene Lockhart
Menagerie Keeper
Alan Mowbray
Editor of Gladiators
Noel Willman
Spintho
John Hoyt
Cato
Jim Backus
Centurion
Lowell Gilmore
Metellus
Woody Strode
The Lion
Strother Martin
Soldier (uncredited)Recommendations
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