Demetrius and the Gladiators

Demetrius and the Gladiators
Original film poster
Directed byDelmer Daves
Written byPhilip Dunne
Based onCharacters from The Robe
by Lloyd C. Douglas
Produced byFrank Ross
Starring
CinematographyMilton R. Krasner
Edited byRobert Fritch
Dorothy Spencer
Music byFranz Waxman
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • June 16, 1954 (1954-06-16) (Los Angeles)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.99 million
Box office$26 million

Demetrius and the Gladiators is a 1954 American Technicolor/CinemaScope epic biblical drama film directed by Delmer Daves and produced by Frank Ross for 20th Century Fox. A sequel to The Robe (1953), the screenplay was written by Philip Dunne, based on characters created by Lloyd C. Douglas in The Robe.

Victor Mature stars as Demetrius, a Christian slave made to fight in the Roman arena as a gladiator, and Susan Hayward as Messalina, a reprobate who is the wife of Claudius, the uncle of the depraved emperor Caligula. The cast also features Ernest Borgnine, William Marshall, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson as Caligula, Debra Paget, Anne Bancroft in one of her earlier roles, and Julie Newmar as a briefly seen dancing entertainer.