Androklus und der Löwe (1969)

The poor tailor Androcles lives in Rome during the persecution of Christians. He has converted to Christianity, much to the displeasure not only of his wife, Megara, and this repeatedly gets him into trouble. One day, while he is walking in the woods with his wife, they come upon a lion. Androcles intends to sacrifice himself to give his wife time to escape. However, he realizes that the animal means him no harm and is hoping for his help, because its left paw has been pierced by a thick thorn and is bleeding. It is not easy to pull out the foreign object, since doing so is very painful for the lion. Once Androcles succeeds, lion and man perform a joyful dance together. Some time passes, and a captain tells the patrician Lavinia and other captured Christians that, because of their faith and on the emperor’s orders, they are to be thrown to the lions the next day. The blacksmith Ferrovius, an extraordinarily strong man, and Androcles are also to be executed. Androcles, who had fled, was captured after managing to hide for a while in the woods with the lion he had helped. Ferrovius is not only very strong; he also has a special gift for persuading people to convert to Christianity. Androcles resists an attempt by the keeper of the menagerie to make him renounce his faith. When the emperor arrives, he speaks briefly with Androcles and then with Ferrovius. The emperor grants him and some other men weapons for fighting in the arena, but the men refuse them. The emperor is particularly displeased with Ferrovius for refusing to join his Praetorian Guard. After being summoned, Ferrovius bravely enters the arena with the other Christians. Only Androcles remains behind, along with Lavinia and the other Christian women. By now the captain has returned. He feels a special affection for Lavinia and implores her to renounce her faith and marry him. A commotion breaks out when Ferrovius lets himself be provoked into killing six armed gladiators in combat, thereby winning the emperor’s respect and unwavering favor. The emperor goes so far as to declare that if Christians can fight like that, he wants only Christians in his army from now on. He declares the Christians present free. But since the crowd wants its entertainment, Androcles—who claims to be a sorcerer—is now to be offered to a lion for the audience’s amusement. The tailor is met in the arena by thunderous applause—and a lion. It is the lion Androcles helped, though he only recognizes it after the animal presents its paw to him several times. The two then embrace and perform a joyful dance. The emperor announces that he can no longer doubt the truth of Christianity. But when he orders Androcles to kill the lion, the tailor uses a trick that makes the emperor look rather foolish. Ferrovius, however, decides that he will after all serve in the emperor’s guard, and Lavinia allows the captain to visit her from time to time so they can talk. Androcles and his friend, the lion, are now free to roam wherever they wish.