The Sign of the Cross (1914)
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William Farnum | Rosina Henley | Frederick A. Thomson (Director)
Rest of cast:
Sheridan Block | Morgan Thorpe | Ethel Grey Terry | Lila Barclay | George Majeroni | Ogden Childe | Ethel Phillips | Charles E. Vernon | Rienzi De Cordova | Madge Evans | Kittens Reichert | Wilson Barrett (Play) | Herbert J. Siddons (Cinematographer) | Harry Jay Smith (Assistant Director)
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“The Sign of the Cross”
William Farnum gives impressive characterization in Famous Players’ adaptation of Barrett play.
Reviewed by George Blaisdell.
It is an elaborately staged production which the Famous Players has given us in its four-part adaptation of Wilson Barrett’s play The Sign of the Cross. Added to its unusual pictorial value is the factor of dramatic quality, the adherence to the central theme, the main action, in spite of the large cast and the possibilities for divergence from the straight line. The picture will appeal to those who are ordinarily indifferent in matters of faith; to men and women of religious conviction deep or less deep it should appeal with great strength.
William Farnum is Marcus Superbus, the prefect of Rome who, on sight, falls under the spell of the charms of Mercia, the Christian maid. Mr. Farnum displays power in his interpretation — the strength of restraint. He is endowed with the physique and the bearing that fit the conception of what the character should be. Rosina Henley is Mercia. Miss Henley carries out her part with full appreciation of its demands; it is a role requiring the portrayal of the spirit of the Christian martyr, yet revealing unexpressed love for one who is without the bounds of her sect. One of the finest moments of the story is where Superbus, carried away by his passion, showers kisses upon the shrinking girl. As a woman of faith she repels him, but it is the weak-hearted battle of a being under stress of conflicting emotions.
Sheridan Block as Nero, the altogether bad and worthless, contributes to the atmosphere of the story. So, too, does Georgini Majeroni as Tigellinus. Where one is the reeling profligate, the other is the personification of all that is cold, calculating, unmoved by his surroundings. The remainder of the cast is worthy of the story and its manner of telling.
We have said before that the picture is elaborately staged. It is in the interiors that this phase of the subject stands out. The exteriors are those of a great estate, with backgrounds of marked beauty and Roman atmosphere. Of the studio, however, we have the great scene of the arena, of the palace, of the street and its mobs, of the prison. On the dramatic side the subject is filled with action, which, of course, turns upon the persecution of Christians by Nero. The culmination, as Superbus with Mercia goes to his death as a Christian, in its impressiveness matches what has preceded. The Sign of the Cross is well done.
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Scene from The Sign of the Cross (Famous Players)
Collection: Moving Picture World, January 1915
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see also The Sign of the Cross (1932)