In the midst of all the lavish Hollywood hokum there is one scene which always gets to me.
Richard Boone plays Pontius Pilate almost in a cameo. The scene opens with a closeup of Pilate washing his hands. Then the camera pulls back to reveal we are actually in Pilate's reception room. He has sent for Marcellus to tell him he has been recalled to Rome, but that he has one last duty; to execute Jesus. Pilate advises Marcellus to take care and dismisses him. Then Pilate calls to his slave to bring him water to wash his hands. "But you just washed them my lord." Says the slave. Pilate looks down at his hands and mutters. "And I did.". A marvellously understated depiction of a man with a tortured conscience.
Review of The Robe
