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.
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
