Androcles and the Lion

Androcles and the Lion

98 mins | Comedy | Dec. 1, 1952

George Bernard Shaw’s breezy, delightful dramatization of this classic fable—about a Christian slave who pulls a thorn from a lion’s paw and is spared from death in the Colosseum as a result of his kind act—was written as a meditation on modern Christian values. Pascal’s final Shaw production is played broadly, with comic character actor Alan Young as the titular naïf. He’s ably supported by Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, and Elsa Lanchester.

Androcles and the Lion

98 mins | Comedy | Dec. 1, 1952

Androcles and the Lion
George Bernard Shaw’s breezy, delightful dramatization of this classic fable—about a Christian slave who pulls a thorn from a lion’s paw and is spared from death in the Colosseum as a result of his kind act—was written as a meditation on modern Christian values. Pascal’s final Shaw production is played broadly, with comic character actor Alan Young as the titular naïf. He’s ably supported by Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, and Elsa Lanchester.
IMDb rating 6.0
Producers RKO Radio Pictures
Original title Androcles and the Lion
Directors Chester Erskine, Nicholas Ray
Writers Ken Englund, Chester Erskine, George Bernard Shaw

Cast

Victor Mature

as Captain

Jean Simmons

as Lavinina

Alan Young

as Androcles

Robert Newton

as Ferrovius

Maurice Evans

as Caesar

Elsa Lanchester

as Megaera

Reginald Gardiner

as Lentulus

Gene Lockhart

as Menagerie Keeper

Alan Mowbray

as Editor of Gladiators

Noel Willman

as Spintho

John Hoyt

as Cato

Jim Backus

as Centurion

Lowell Gilmore

as Metellus

Woody Strode

as The Lion

Strother Martin

as Soldier (uncredited)