Yes, the scenes of spectacle are impressive. They almost make the movie bearable. Robert Taylor can't act, of course, but his looks and physical presence make a good soldier who doesn't understand what all those Christians are going on about. Deborah Kerr is pretty in her usual Ice Queen way, and she does her best in the romantic scenes with some really awful dialogue. The costumes are terrific.
But the religiosity of the story keeps spoiling one's enjoyment. Devout Christians may be able to submit to the swelling music, shining light from Heaven, dopey-looking faces awe-struck to be in the presence of the apostle Peter, and so on over and over, but for the rest of us, it gets very annoying. Too many scenes seem childish, on the level of Sunday School stories. The two romances are drivel, too, without any effort to give them a sense of reality. The religious scenes and the romantic scenes are just schlock.
But the religiosity of the story keeps spoiling one's enjoyment. Devout Christians may be able to submit to the swelling music, shining light from Heaven, dopey-looking faces awe-struck to be in the presence of the apostle Peter, and so on over and over, but for the rest of us, it gets very annoying. Too many scenes seem childish, on the level of Sunday School stories. The two romances are drivel, too, without any effort to give them a sense of reality. The religious scenes and the romantic scenes are just schlock.