Although Cecil B. De Mille ’s filmmaking skills largely flat-lined after the mid-1920s, the stylistic paralysis of early ‘Talkies’ gave him a few years of leeway. But by 1935, you only had to look at what Michael Curtiz accomplished @ Warners, trodding similar terrain with CAPTAIN BLOOD, to see how woebegone the De Mille style had become. Things do pick up a bit in the third act when the combination of a big budget and C. B.’s massed crowds carry a sort of bullying power, but most of this pseudo-historical concoction is inane, poorly acted and lacking pace or visual rhythm. De Mille’s one unwavering talent was in following the storyline, but the Crusades is not the sort of black & white tale that suited him. It has religiosity, war & pageantry, but alas, nary an orgy or bathtub in sight.
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