Producer: Gabriel Pascal. Executive producer: Howard Hughes. A Gabriel Pascal Production, produced and released by RKO Radio. Animals supplied by Sid Fogel. Lion (Jackie II) trained by Mel Koontz.

Copyright 30 October 1952 by RKO Radio Pictures. New York opening at the Capitol: 14 January 1953. U.S. release: 9 January 1953. U.K. release: 8 March 1954 (sic). Australian release: 23 April 1953. Sydney opening at the Esquire. 98 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Ancient Rome. A henpecked tailor extracts a thorn from a lion's paw. This good deed later proves to be his salvation when he meets up with the lion again in the Colosseum.

NOTES: Last of Gabriel Pascal's four films, all adaptations of Shaw plays. Originally, Harpo Marx was cast as Androcles, Rex Harrison as Caesar, Dana Andrews as the Captain and George Sanders as Lentulus. Pascal felt Harpo was "the perfect Androcles" and from all accounts, the rushes were absoluteky brilliant.

But five weeks into shooting, mega-rich producer Howard Hughes saw Alan Young on some trashy TV show and insisted Young be substituted for Harpo. But Young was not free. His agent had signed contracts all over the place. So Hughes bought up all Young's contracts. By the time this was all settled and shooting was ready to get under way again, only Jean Simmons and Robert Newton were still available to continue in their original roles.

All the footage that had been shot was scrapped and Pascal, now firmly under the thumb of Howard Hughes, started shooting again from square one. As a result of Hughes' antics and his decisive interference, Androcles and the Lion is only remembered today as one of Hollywood's costliest failures.

COMMENT: Commences in sprightly fashion, but unfortunately, mingled with the excellent wit, satire and comedy is a banal little romance involving Jean Simmons and Victor Mature of all people who rattles off lines about his "dooty" as a soldier until we are blue in the face with boredom. But if Mature overacts, Robert Newton is even worse.

Alan Young starts well, but he also plays his part too broadly, especially in the later, sentimental sequences. Fortunately, a brilliant performance by Maurice Evans as Caesar virtually saves the film, though Gene Lockhart and Reginald Gardiner also contribute some deftly-played scenes.

Aside from the wit and the amusement offered by about half of the film's episodes, there is a little spectacle for those whose eyes like to dwell on Harry Horner's recreation of the architectural triumphs of ancient Rome. Also outstanding are Stradling's photography and Hollander's music score. On the other hand, Erskine's direction is strictly routine.

I assume back in his day, the Brits thought that George Bernard Shaw was incredibly brilliant and droll for concocting the play "Androcles and the Lion". However, despite Shaw being held in great esteem today as then, I couldn't believe how awful this film was. Perhaps the translation to the big screen was at fault--perhaps Shaw himself just didn't age well with this story. All I know is that I hated everything about this horrible story of the early Christians. Heck, it was so bad, I assume the film did much to encourage the cause of atheism the world over. Yes, it was THAT bad.

When the film begins, you know you are in trouble for two reasons. First, the background paintings are incredibly fake looking and the studio seemed to do nothing to make them look better. Second, and a far more serious problem, is the god-awful dialog. Again and again, the dialog between Alan Young and his wife, Elsa Lanchester, made me cringe--and it was clearly SUPPOSED to be funny. Unfortunately, this same problem continued throughout the film--with horribly corny humor and incredibly anachronistic and stupid dialog uttered by everyone. It was painful it was so bad.

The bottom line is that although I hate stilted Biblical costume dramas (such as "David and Bathsheba"),I learned tonight that I hate comedic Biblical costume dramas even more. The film has wasted the talents of everyone associated with it and the likes of John Hoyt, Victor Mature and Jean Simmons clearly were given third-rate material. As for Young, he was right in his element. Avoid unless you are a masochist.

The ancient Greek Aesop wrote a simple fable about being kind to animals and it will be returned in kind by them. From that George Bernard Shaw used the fable to write a satire on the early Christian religion. And now RKO studio brought it to Hollywood under the supervision of Howard Hughes. I'm not sure what Aesop or Shaw might have thought of Androcles And The Lion in this form.

It's an interesting film and above all the acting of Alan Young in the title role as the almost child like Androcles the tailor carries the film over a couple of bumpy spots. Later on Alan Young played that ultimate of animal lover Wilbur Post in Mister Ed.

Shaw was trying to say that there are many kinds of Christians and there are other forces in personality that will determine which tenets of Christianity or for that matter any religion will dominate in one. Faced with the choice of being martyred or standing up for oneself, Robert Newton decides the sword is mightiest of all and makes short work of six of Emperor Maurice Evans's gladiators. Gentle Christian woman Jean Simmons spurns the love of praetorian Victor Mature, but Newton's performance in the arena saves them all.

Finally there's Young who is thought of as a sorcerer and that scares them more than possibly being a Christian. He gets to go in the arena and face a lion. Wouldn't you know it's the same lion he took a thorn out of a paw. Naturally the lion isn't about to make a meal of his friend. That puts the whole empire under his thumb if he wanted it. But it's not in the gentle and kind Young nature. He's as meek, as Newton is aggressive and Simmons is pious. Just their basic personalities that religion did not change in any way.

One performance that is not normally commented on is that of Elsa Lanchester as Young's shrew of a wife. One of the reasons that Young likes animals is that they don't pester him the way she does. He bears the cross of his partner with a cheerful acceptance, but you get the feeling that Christian martyrdom might just be a way out of a bad marital situation.

Aesop might not recognize his tale, but enough of Shaw's observations on life remain intact in Androcles And The Lion.