Waste of time

Memorable, crazy movie

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

An epic with Cornel Wilde, Belinda Lee, Fausto Tozzi, and directed by Lionello de Felice.It belongs to the dramas, or the dramatically ambitious yarns with an international cast, not all the movies from this genre were fantasy for the kids, and it has an effective score. Cornel Wilde has been born to play a tribune of the Empire, his handsomeness was in the classical style, that of Marechal, Mature, R. Harrison, and here he delivered indeed a hallmark role.This romance has a few violent scenes: massacres on the battleground or in arena, tortures in the dungeons, with the aftermath of rapes, battle scenes. At least some of that world came to life, mostly by means of the scenes of violence, but also by the subplot of the centurion's romance, while the political intrigue seems more generic, and the Praetorians make a stronger impression than the senators. (My two s & s movies of predilection are '60s works by Leone and Siodmak; the 1st I have seen in a movie theater, perhaps 27 yrs ago, in another hot summer, the 2nd, set during Justinian's reign, I have seen twice on TV, and liked it both times. While I usually don't believe in non-American westerns, I also don't believe in non-European movies of this genre, because they naturally lack the sense of the events and atmosphere.) It's also an endearingly Pre-Conciliar movie, with legitimate Christian pride, and that standpoint has been carried on by the Italian TV biopics; also endearing is the 2nd leads' romance, of the Christian woman and the strongman Fausto Tozzi (Livia and Hadrian). The religious principles upheld by some of the characters suit apparently paradoxically the physical nature of the story. In other words, it's well to see that religious standpoint upheld in such a physical story.As a character, Constantine is very occidental, the action takes place in Germany, in Rome, and on the way between them.The violence is poignant. I liked the countryside scenes of Hadrian's tendering, Constantine's jump in front of the lion, the evening encounter of the Emperor with the usurper on the bridge; the battle at the river, after the meeting on the bridge followed by the vision, is intriguing and, like the whole movie, suspenseful. Some of the supporting roles are very good, such as the Christian girl, the Eastern usurper ….This movie means an enjoyable experience, and a possibility for the human eagerness. I felt glad that the lead has been given this role, that he played a Roman general and then Emperor (later canonized in the East), he deserved the opportunity and also proved worthy of it, regardless of whether the movie has been successful at the box office, or not. Movies like this should be analyzed without being untrue to the experience as given, without being unfair to it and tear it.

Above average Italian sword and sandal:it is longer than the usual peplum (2 hours+),the settings are not cheap,and there's a solid American actor(and a director,one often forgets he made the memorable "naked prey"and the estimable "no blade of grass" )as the lead ,Cornel Wilde ,a Hollywood veteran ("leave her to Heaven" ,"Forever Amber","the greatest show on earth" and many more) .Constantin's mother's destiny is not exactly what we see in the movie:she was not a highborn lady (an innkeeper's daughter) and Constantin was not estranged from her till his victory over Maxence;but the movie introduces her with taste .To keep a story-like side,the screenwriters invent the tale of two unfortunate lovers Adrian and Livia (the delicate Christine Kaufman who played opposite Steve Reeves in Bonnard/Leone's doomed "last days of pompei"(1959) in which she was ...a young Christian of course!) Wilde is a convincing Constantin,he gets good support from the rest of the cast ;this is neither "Spartacus" ,nor "Cleopatra " ,but as an entertaining epic ,that's still good value

Cornel Wilde was one of many stars to go to Europe to escape U.S. taxes at the same time roles were drying up for him. Victor Mature was another, Alan Ladd made that dreadful Duel of the Champions. At least Mature and Wilde were suited for these kind of films even if the ones they made in Italy weren't exactly high up on their credit list.Case in point is Constantine and the Cross. The Emperor Constantine by his conversion to Christianity, the faith of his mother Helena was what made Christianity the faith of Europe. More importantly than that, after the action of this film is over, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea which essentially was the body that organized the Bible. It decided what stories went in, what accounts like that famous Gospel of Thomas did not make the cut. It's influenced us for good and for bad right down to today.He's a most important and complex figure Constantine and deserves far better treatment in a filmed biography than what he gets here. Maybe a good television mini-series. This film is a fictionalized account of his succession as Emperor and his conversion to Christianity.Legend has it that on the eve of battle he had a vision of a cross in the sky and the voice of the Deity telling him that by this sign he shall conquer. Whether he heard the voice or not is subject to speculation. There is no doubt he kicked some serious pagan butt the following day, which is shown here. Sadly the color is fading and the film could use a restoration. What can't be restored is the cliché driven script of this sand and sandal epic that Italy churned out by the dozens in the fifties and sixties, using all those sets built by MGM for Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur. In fact a lot of the plot here is lifted from Quo Vadis.Besides Wilde, the only other names known to western audiences would be Christine Kauffman and Belinda Lee. Kauffman later became the second Mrs. Tony Curtis after they met on the set of her next film, Taras Bulba. She plays the innocent Christian girl Livia.Sadly there were no more films for Belinda Lee, voluptuous British starlet who had abandoned the UK for films in Italy where her attributes could be more fully exploited. She was killed in Southern California in a car crash where she was vacationing right after completing Constantine and the Cross. No doubt she was also there looking to break into the American cinema as well. She plays Constantine's wife Fausta.Again, past the action in this film the by now Empress Fausta was caught stepping out on Constantine. In that instance, Constantine went back to the old Roman way of dealing with an unfaithful spouse. That too would be part of a mini-series of his story.If Belinda Lee had lived she might very well have gotten all the parts that Joan Collins later received. She's the best reason for checking out Constantine and the Cross.

This film must have been spectacular in its day, just like the Roman Empire. Now its saturated colors are faded, its panoramic vision compressed. Cornel Wilde is still a hunk, but an aging one, and it's hard to believe he was the educated, fluent in several languages and fussy about his roles actor from his performance here, delivering some of his lines just like John Wayne might have done. There are several hokey overview shots of Rome, which are really of the scale model version from the Museum of History of the City of Rome, but otherwise the sets, costumes and production is a lavish one. The final battle at the Milvian Bridge is endless (you know who is going to win), but thanks to this victory, Christianity directs the course of Western History.