National Screen Service 44/287. Poster for the 1944 re-release of the original, marketed as a "modernized production." Perhaps the most transparent example of the ways in which the marketing and publicity of these films worked at the time. Along the bottom border of this poster, a banner in neon yellow boasts the violence, sensuality, and spectacle that will be on display in DeMille’s film: “Christians tossed to the lions,” “fabulous milk bath,” “ancient Rome in flames,” and “pygmies battling Amazons to the death!” This appeal to prurience was part of the promotion of the film even though this was the re-release of the film according to Hollywood Production Code standards.
- Subject Matter: Sign of the Cross
- Created: 1944
- Collections: Biblical Movie Posters