The Robe (film)

The Robe
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHenry Koster
Screenplay by
Based onThe Robe
by Lloyd C. Douglas
Produced byFrank Ross
Starring
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byBarbara McLean
Music byAlfred Newman
Color processTechnicolor
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • September 16, 1953 (1953-09-16) (Premiere)
  • September 17, 1953 (1953-09-17) (New York City opening)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4.1 million[1] – $4.6 million[2]
Box office$36 million (United States)[3]

The Robe is a 1953 American fictional Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that is responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus. The film was released by 20th Century Fox and was the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.[4] Like other early CinemaScope films, The Robe was shot with Henri Chrétien's original Hypergonar anamorphic lenses.

The film was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Frank Ross. The screenplay was adapted from Lloyd C. Douglas's 1942 novel by Gina Kaus, Albert Maltz, and Philip Dunne—although Maltz's place among the blacklisted Hollywood 10 led to his being denied his writing credit for many years. The score was composed by Alfred Newman, and the cinematography was by Leon Shamroy. The cast stars Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature and Michael Rennie, and co-stars Jay Robinson, Dean Jagger, Torin Thatcher, Richard Boone, Betta St. John, Jeff Morrow, and Ernest Thesiger, among many others.

A sequel, 1954's Demetrius and the Gladiators, picks up right where The Robe ends.[5]

  1. ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p248
  2. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (May 1, 1953). "Film Group to Aid State Department: Industry Council Pledges Its Cooperation to De Mille for Overseas Information Work". The New York Times. p. 17.
  3. ^ The Robe. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  4. ^ Chrissochoidis, Ilias (ed.). CinemaScope: Selected Documents from the Spyros P. Skouras Archive. Stanford, 2013.
  5. ^ "Random Observations on Pictures and People". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2020.

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