The Sign of the Cross
About The Sign of the Cross
In 64 A.D., Marcus Superbus, Prefect of Rome, loves Mercia, a Christian. Nero renews the persecution. Empress Poppaea and Tigellinus have Mercia arrested. Nero says she will be spared only if she renounces Christianity. She refuses, even when Marcus pleads at the arena gate. He converts, and they go in together. William Farnum plays Marcus. Frederick A. Thomson directed from Wilson Barrett’s 1895 play.
Cast & crew
More about The Sign of the Cross
Paramount released it on 21 December 1914. Rosina Henley, Sheridan Block, Morgan Thorpe, Ethel Grey Terry, Lila Barclay, and George Majeroni are billed. No running time is printed on the English Wikipedia page. An Internet Archive identifier is silent-the-sign-of-the-cross.
Themes
Background
The story is set in Nero’s Rome in the year 64, during a renewal of the persecution of Christians.
Making
Thomson filmed Barrett’s arena ending: Mercia will not recant, and Marcus chooses to walk in with her.
Notes
- The release date on Wikipedia is 21 December 1914, not a March opening.
- Barrett’s play supplies the names Marcus Superbus, Mercia, Poppaea, and Tigellinus.
- Farnum is the billed star. Henley is the woman opposite him on the catalog cast list.
- The picture is the 1914 version, not DeMille’s 1932 film of the same play.
Scenes
- Poppaea and Tigellinus have Mercia arrested.
- She refuses to renounce her faith at the gate of the arena.
- Marcus converts and goes in with her.
Influenced by
- Wilson Barrett’s 1895 play The Sign of the Cross
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-the-sign-of-the-cross)