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
CinemaSerf
I think Charles Erskine has done pretty well with this entertaining adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw comedy. Escaping from his overbearing wife "Magaera" (Elsa Lanchester), "Androcles" (Alan Young) discovers a lion in the wilderness with a thorn in it's paw. Despite being petrified, he removes ...