Quo Vadis is the first great Biblical spectacle. Released in 1951, this larger-than-life production about Emperor Nero and the persecution of Christians was made on a giant scale featuring a cast of thousands. It depicts scenes of the burning of Rome and the Colosseum where Nero fed the Christians to the lions.
The movie starred matinee idol Robert Taylor as Marcus Vinicus, a Roman Commander (who talks with an American accent while everyone else seems to have a British one) who falls in love with a slave woman, Lygia (Deborah Kerr) who is secretly a Christian. Meanwhile Nero becomes more and more outrageous and at his most insane he orders the burning of Rome. When the Roman citizens turn against him he blames it on the mysterious religious sect, the Christians. Meanwhile Marcus has learned of Lygia's secret religion and becomes converted after seeing how they behave at Nero's persecutions. The movie ends with a final confrontation as Nero entertains the masses by feeding the Christians to the lions and burning them at the stake.
Along with Taylor and Kerr, Peter Ustinov stars in a fabulous over-the top performance as Nero. Leo Genn is his most trusted advisor Petronius. Finlay Currie is Peter (he later starred in Ben-Hur as Balthasar) and Patricia Laffan is Poppaea, Nero's wife. She seeks revenge against Marcus because he rejected her for the slave girl Lygia. Both Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor have uncredited cameos in the movie.
Filmed on location in Rome the movie is epic in scope and still holds the record for the most costumes in a single movie, 32,000. By today's standard some of the dialogue and romantic interludes are dated, but the movie still holds up after sixty years as good old fashioned spectacle.
At The Movie House rating *** stars (watch it on the new Blu-ray if you can)
Note the warning on the top poster " Not Suitable For Children"
Here is some additional poster art from MGM.
One Sheet Featuring Rome Burning
Italalian One Sheet
1960's Re-release One Sheet
Spanish One Sheet
Minimalist Spanish One Sheet
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