This movie wasn't meant to be funny, but in the clumsy hands of way- over-rated director, Douglas Sirk, and writers Oscar "The Sword of Ali Baba" Brodney and Barre "Sign of the Pagan" Lyndon, it emerges as a veritable feast of nonsense with laughable dialogue ("Which way to the emperor's palace?" – "Just beyond the square!" – "If the emperor had sent me a legion instead of just one centurion, I could stop this treason right now!"). The movie was originally issued in both a CinemaScope version and a wide-screen version, but many cities including mine didn't play the 'scope version at all, even though they had the capacity to do so. As a Universal executive said to me at the time: "We had two reasons: One, we didn't want to tie up a 'Scope screen when we had so much better 'Scope product on hand; and two, we didn't feel it would make a single cent of difference at the box=office. In fact, if anything, clumsy matte work, painted backdrops, a ludicrous script, pseudo-religious pretensions – and then to be cheated of a promised climax, namely the sack of Rome – would probably have hardened a more affluent audience's resistance to the point of no return. And in many areas, the movie's religious pretensions could also have hurt the company's profile. And as for the acting: Jeff Chandler handles his lines with his usual air of bewilderment, Ludmilla Tcherina is embarrassingly inept, whilst Rita Gam tries valiantly to make drama out of her ridiculous dialogue. I'll admit that George Dolenz lends a bit of character to his villainous emperor and Walter Coy is delightfully small-minded as Valentian. Jack Palance has a stab at making Attila a neurotic twit. But Jeff Chandler says his lines with his usual air of bewilderment
All in all, the only people to escape this farrago with any glory at all are the photographer (Russell Metty) and Havens, the 2nd unit director."
Review of Sign of the Pagan
