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.
Cast
Victor Mature
Captain
Jean Simmons
Lavinina
Alan Young
Androcles
Robert Newton
Ferrovius
Maurice Evans
Caesar
Elsa Lanchester
Megaera
Reginald Gardiner
Lentulus
Gene Lockhart
Menagerie Keeper
Alan Mowbray
Editor of Gladiators
Noel Willman
Spintho
John Hoyt
Cato
Jim Backus
Centurion
Lowell Gilmore
Metellus
Woody Strode
The Lion
Strother Martin
Soldier (uncredited)
Millard Sherwood
Christian (uncredited)
Crew
Chester Erskine
Director, Adaptation
Nicholas Ray
Co-Director
Ken Englund
Adaptation
Roland Gross
Editor
Harry Stradling Sr.
Director of Photography
Gregg Peters
Assistant Director
Coby Ruskin
Assistant Director
Arthur J. Vitarelli
Assistant Director
Gabriel Pascal
Producer
Lewis J. Rachmil
Associate Producer
Harry Horner
Production Design
William Cameron Menzies
Production Design
Emile Santiago
Costume Design
Larry Germain
Hairstylist
Mel Berns
Makeup Artist
John L. Cass
Sound
Clem Portman
Sound
Friedrich Hollaender
Original Music Composer
Al Orenbach
Set Decoration
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Wayne Burson
Stunts
Stubby Kruger
Stunts
Alex Sharp
Stunts
George Bernard Shaw
Theatre Play
Albert S. D'Agostino
Art Direction
Charles F. Pyke
Art Direction
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