Product Description

The first movie ever filmed in CinemaScope, THE ROBE ws nominated for five Academy Awards in 1953, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Richard Burton. Burton stars as Marcellus Galilo, the Roman centurian charged with overseeing the crucifixion. But when he wins Christ's robe in a gambling game at the foot of the cross, his life is forever changed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3395 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-10-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.55:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 135 minutes

Amazon.com
When Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) is sent to Jerusalem, one of his assignments is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Marcellus, a cynical and hardened man, wins the robe Jesus wore to the crucifixion while gambling with other Roman soldiers underneath the dying savior. He later becomes convinced that his hallucinations and violent outbursts are the result of a curse received from the robe, which is now in the possession of his escaped slave, Demetrius (Victor Mature), somewhere in the Middle East. He sets out to find Demetrius in order to destroy the robe and the curse and finds faith instead, converting to Christianity. This was the first movie to be filmed in CinemaScope, and won Oscars in 1953 for costume design, art direction, and set decoration. The visual aspects of the film are stunning, and it may be worth viewing for that alone; however, the script and acting leave much to be desired, and you won't find inspiration in these areas if that's what interests you. If, however, you are more interested in this film for its religious matter, the story of the conversion of the hardened Marcellus is inspiring. --James McGrath

Customer Reviews

The Robe Film, Nowhere Near the Book
If you have read the book entitled "The Robe," you will be sorely disappointed in the movie. Lloyd Douglas, the author of the book, is perhaps one of the "greats" when it comes to writing religious historical fiction. The movie was nowhere near the book in terms of character development, plot, or climax. 90% of the movie was untrue to the book. I read another review which said that Mr. Douglas was so disappointed in the production of the film version that he refused to give Hollywood the rights to his next novel "The Big Fisherman." (It was turned into a film after his death.) He also promised to not write another book due to his diappointment of the film version of "The Robe." Now, thats, disappointment!

There really isn't enough character development in the film to keep you interested in the plot. You don't care about the people, and therefore don't care about what happens to them.

The one highlight in the film was the artistic interpretation of the very last scene. If the number 10 were an outstanding movie, this would get a rating of a -1. I'm not sure how it got so many nominations for the academy awards.

Classic film
DVD arrived earlier than expected and in good condition. This is one of the classics and I love it.

Thank you

Classic
I had read the book years ago and wanted to see the movie. Richard Burton is outstanding.