Demetrius and the Gladiators - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Demetrius and the Gladiators or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Demetrius and the Gladiators

[frances]

Average Shot Length and Median Shot Length = ~10 seconds.

[eli]

The set of the Christian neighborhood in Rome has previously been used in The Robe (1953) (of which this film is the sequel) as the village of Cana. We can easily recognize the well with old broken columns.

[nora]

Film debut of Michael Conrad.

[ella]

A close-up view of one tiger growling shows that its top canines were removed.

[kim]

Twice jailed for drug use, Jay Robinson once had the dubious honor of being recognized by his fellow inmates when this film was played for the convicts.

[lonnie]

According to Jay Robinson (Caligula), the break in principal photography between The Robe (1953) and this film was only three weeks. This would account for "The Robe"'s opening shot of the gladiatorial arena, a scene lifted from its sequel. The scene features Victor Mature and Robinson, in addition to Ernest Borgnine, William Marshall, Richard Egan and Susan Hayward; these last four were not in "The Robe".

[scarlett]

One year later, Victor Mature, Richard Egan and Ernest Borgnine, all deadly gladiators in this movie, would play otherwise passive townspeople in Richard Fleischer's Violent Saturday. Especially Borgnine, as an Amish farmer in that movie. Also ironic: while Borgnine, as chief of the gladiators, has to force Mature to fight in this movie, Mature has to talk Borgnine into fighting in that one. And while Mature's primal enemy here is Egan, in Violent Saturday they're close friends. What both films have in common is they were shot in beautiful widescreen technicolor. And lastly, in either film, Borgnine and Mature refuse to fight because of their religion, but then have to adapt for survival.

[caroline]

Victor Mature and Richard Egan, who played enemies in this movie, would play close friends in the film noir melodrama "Violent Saturday" the following year.

[charlie]

Every Roman soldier in the film inexplicably carries his sword on his right hip. Thus forcing viewers to conclude that every soldier in Rome is left-handed.

[frances]

Two of the actors in this film played kings (one being the Roman Emperor and the other being a former king turned gladiator). A decade later both actors had guest roles in the original "Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)" series. In other films the same two actors played vampires. They were Jay Robinson and William Marshall.

[lena]

Susan Hayward and Debra Paget were in House of Strangers, both the love interest of the leading man... Hayward the wild one, Paget the gentle one... exactly as they are here.

[francisco]

In this movie, Ernest Borgnine plays the chief gladiator who tries talking Victor Mature's title character to fight, and kill, but he refuses due to his religion, Christianity. Ironically, the next year in "Violent Saturday," it's Mature who tries talking Borgnine to fight, and kill (in defense), but it's against his religion as he's Amish.

[addison]

Whilst The Robe (1953) enjoyed a 12-week run in London's West End, its sequel was not quite so successful. Demetrius opened at the Odeon, Marble Arch, on 9 September 1954 and ran for five weeks. However, its general release on 3 January 1955 had the advantage that, by then, many more British cinemas had been equipped for CinemaScope than when The Robe started.