“The Robe” set the stage for future epics: Morality and immorality went hand in hand with violence, virtue and visions of God.īased on a book by doctor-turnedwriter Lloyd C. DeMille’s “Samson and Delilah” (1949) was the first tentative effort, but it wasn’t until “The Robe” that epic-mania took off.
To retaliate against television’s black-and-white dramas, Tinseltown mounted a series of brightly costumed, wide-screen adventures, shot in full color.Ĭecil B.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the movie industry grew concerned that television was drawing audiences away from theaters. Sword-and-sandals epics initially were made because of competition. “The Ten Commandments” took in $34.2 million in its initial release, about $170 million in 1990s dollars.Ĭhildren dressed up as gladiators, teens watched the movies at drive-ins and scholars cited the films’ educational benefits.Įpics are worth seeing again today not only because many are so arch that they have become delightfully campy, but also because the best are engaging movies about real people facing moral dilemmas.įortunately, there’s no shortage of epics - especially around Easter and Passover, when the films pop up constantly on television. The movies were astonishingly successful on many fronts: “BenHur,” for example, won critical praise and a record 11 Academy Awards. The epics helped reinforce the belief that virtue in the face of adversity is rewarded and that love of God and family prevails. When the form was born in the 1950s, American values were supposedly under attack by leftwingers and Communists. Nothing is as reassuring as an epic, those large-scale tales of swords, sandals and morality as practiced by ancient Jews, Christians and Romans.
For though the epics were not always highbrow, they were extremely profitable. And the public said that it was good.Īnd lo, Hollywood said, “Let there be ‘The Ten Commandments.’ “Īnd “The Ten Commandments” (1956) begat “Ben-Hur” (1959). And Hollywood said, “Let it have stars and spectacle and Romans. In the beginning (sort of) was “The Robe” (1953). CORRECTION: The caption below a photo accompanying the Swords & Sandals story in Monday’s In Life section should have identified the actor Frank Thring (as Pontius Pilate) placing a wreath on Charlton Heston’s head.