The Last Days of Pompeii

Mt Vesuvius blows its top in fine fashion somewhere near the end of this sword-and- sandal spectacular, but all the molten lava the special effects team can cook up isn't enough to atone for a cool, dreary script. Marcus, an honest blacksmith (Foster), is driven by misfortune to become an amoral gladiator. He repents just in time to save Pompeii's Christians from being frazzled. The acting honours, such as they are, go to Basil Rathbone, as a memorably dapper Pontius Pilate.