"What did you study in Bible class Sunday, Johnny?"
a father asked his
young son.
"The Story of Samson," the boy replied.
"What did Samson do?"
"He took a jawbone and beat the ass off 400
Philadelphians."
Little Johnny would have been more impressed with Victor Mature playing the
Old Testament hero in Cecil De Mille's epic, "Samson and Delilah." Faith
can move mountains was the message as Samson brought down a mighty temple
on the bad guys. And Mature played Samson's father in a TV remake.
"For the money they paid me, I would have played his mother," the actor told
friends.
He played a New Testament hero in 20th's epic, "The Robe." As Demetrius,
a slave who converted to Christianity, he watched his savior die on the cross
in a moment one critic described as "electrifying."
"I'm no actor and I've got pictures to prove it," Mature fired back.
Fortunately, his boss at 20th disagreed. In a memo to John Ford, who
directed Mature in "My Darling Clementine," Darryl Zanuck wrote, "Personally,
I think the guy is the most underrated performer in the
business." Lady Luck was on his shoulder, Vic would
say later.
"When I got to this country, I had six cents and couldn't speak English.
I wandered over to the Pasadena Playhouse and started acting. I'd never acted
before in my life and I loved it.
"Then came the part in "Lady In the Dark" and overnight I was a hit. My mother
and father were able to see it, get the full treatment, and even live to
see some of my movies.
"Sometimes I think I'd give anything in the world to live those days over
again, live all the mistakes just the way I made them and all the
fun."