The Gladiator is a 1938 American comedy and fantasy film starring Joe E. Brown, Dickie Moore and June Travis.

The movie is an adaptation of Philip Gordon Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator, which is often credited with having influenced the creation of Superman.

[2] After the formula from Professor Danner turns him into a campus hero, Hugo Kipp enters a wrestling ring against Man Mountain Dean to raise money for an orphanage.

The film reached theatres two months after the publication of the first appearance of Superman in a comic book.

There is a famous publicity picture of Brown lifting Man Mountain Dean over his head with only one hand.