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“Quo Vadis”, based on the new by Henryk Sienkiewicz would have to be reach the top of my list of favourite 1950′s religious tale productions. Indeed “Myth” is the word to fittingly picture this colossal MGM production that cost an fabulous 7 million dollars to do in 1950 and was the studio’s biggest money maker since “Gone With The Wind”. It has everything an yarn movie lover could desire, the already stated blooming literary source, breathtaking sets (no computer generated effects here!), meticulously researched historical costumes, vast crowds scenes and a aesthetic recreation of Pagan Rome at it’s height. The film boasts an incredible cast but towering over all of them is the slack Peter Ustinov in his unforgettable performance as the deranged Nero. His interpretation of this ghastly Emperor who began the first concentrated persecution of the early Christians is calm the visual image for a lot of people, myself included,that first comes to mind when Nero’s name is mentioned. Already having been filmed a number of times in the peaceful era and once again since this 1951 film, this is serene the definitive version of the myth of the early Christian Church struggling to survive in Nero’s Rome after the gargantuan fire.
With the advent of television in the early 1950′s Hollywood fought aid with splashy, lavish productions that could not be matched by the flickering dim and white image of television in it’s infancy. “Quo Vadis”, lent itself perfectly for this purpose and an already shaky MGM assign all of it’s resources into the filming of this define production. The anecdote centres around cocky Roman soldier Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) who after three years of successful campaigning returns to savour the delights of Nero’s Rome. Detained at the villa of a retired Roman general Marcus falls for the simple charms of the general’s adapted daughter Lygia (Deborah Kerr) who unbeknown to Marcus is secretly a Christian. Seeing her savor for him but not idea the families understanding in the cherish of a single god and in loving your fellow man despite their background or rush Marcus has Lygia taken to Rome and placed in Nero’s “House of Women” and seeks to create her is maintain. Lygia escapes and is taken in by other believers but in the meanwhile Marcus finds himself the focus of the unwelcome and quite risky affections of the Empress Poppaea (Patricia Laffan) . Meanwhile Nero’s meglomania continues to grow and he develops a wild arrangement to rebuild Rome to his fill glory and secretly sets the city on fire. The backlash from this act however sets Nero to accept a scapegoat and thus begins the persecution of the Christian sect that are, to the amazement of the Romans, the disciples of a simple young carpenter from Galilee who was executed for his beliefs. Marcus finds Lygia however both are imprisoned together as Christian believers to become the sport of Nero’s festivities in the arena. The appearance of the Apostle Peter who has been called to Rome by Christ’s message gives the Christians the strength to endure their ordeals and Marcus and Lygia are married by him fair prior to his enjoy matrydom on Vatican Hill. Nero however goes too far in his persecution and the mob turns on him resulting in his drop from power and suicide and the reins of power being taken over by the more level headed General Galba.
While “Quo Vadis”, in some areas is not always lawful historically the faults are not glaring ones and it does give a knowing relate of the growth of the early Christian movement and the persecution it endured which of course went on long after Nero’s death. First and foremost it is spellbinding and dramatic viewing and is the classic example of passe style movie making at its most lavish. The film is filled with unforgettable images, for example the sizable crowd scenes during Marcus’ triumpiant entry into Rome, and the burning of the city by Nero which incredibly was done on both fat sized and exiguous sets. The chilly blooded destruction of the Christians in Nero’s Circus of course is probably the most radiant image in the film and is riverting in it’s panic and correct depiction of people being eaten by lions or being old-fashioned as human torches. These scenes in “Quo Vadis”, have I contain never been bettered in depicting the insanity and brutality of Nero and his regime. Performances are uniformily lovely here. As the two lovers Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr are fair perfect as the two illmatched lovers from different worlds. Finlay Currie does a most inspirational fraction of work as Peter and special mention must go to Patricia Laffan who is perfect in a chilling performance as the sinful Empress Poppaea. Directed by MGM dilapidated Mervyn LeRoy, who was responsible for such diverse MGM productions as “Waterloo Bridge”, and “Blossoms in the Dust”, here he is mild unprejudiced as at home with this tidy scale type of film and his directoral integrity is evident in every frame of this film. “Quo Vadis”, ended up being nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Portray and Best Supporting Actor for Peter Ustinov.
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I always pick up “Quo Vadis”, a titillating viewing experience generally around Easter time when my thoughts often go succor to the earliest years of my religion. Liking the older style of movie making I can also indulge in the film on its pleasant technical achievements and massive historical recreation. This however never submerges my appreciation of its very simple message that all people need to savor each other despite their differences for the world to be a happier space. Retract time soon to opinion this legend production of “Quo Vadis”, you wont regret it.
This biblical account has Peter Ustinov giving the definitive performance of the emperor Nero, in spite of the motion narrate code. But then, it seems they were always relaxing that motion recount code wait on in the 40′s and 50′s as long as it was for a biblical legend of some kind. In this case, you gape – although from a distance – lions carrying the limbs of dismembered Christians upon which they are feeding, along with all of the other insinuations of decadence exhibit under Nero. Robert Taylor, who was normally a rather wooden actor IMHO, did a very favorable job in this one as a Roman soldier entranced by a Christian girl. If you didn’t know better you might reflect this film was the work of Cecil B. DeMille, but instead the director was Mervyn Le Roy. Le Roy directed some of Warners fast-paced urban early sound films including Alice White’s musicals, Gold Diggers of Broadway, Cagney’s “Hard to Handle”, Edward G. Robinson’s “Microscopic Caesar”, and “Three on a Match”. He also directed one of Robert Taylor’s other tremendous performances in 1942′s “Johnny Enthusiastic”, unbelievably not yet on DVD. In other words, Le Roy directed many crowd-pleasers. This might define why this film got seven or eight Oscar nominations, but none for the director himself. He honest wasn’t considered ample enough by the Academy to be “in the club” in spite of this genuine individual achievement.
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Everyone knows the favorite account. Nero burns Rome to distinct the arrangement for the aesthetic city he wants to design, but the peasants are revolting – literally. He then blames the curious and unpopular but snappily growing sect of the Christians for the burning, and begins feeding them to the lions for the amusement of the Romans. However, the Christians face death so bravely that Rome turns on Nero. Well, that’s the movie.
The facts are powerful more in argument. In an old-fashioned city such as Rome, accidental fires that destroyed cities were accepted. In fact Nero did lead a massive relief pains after the fire, and fires unbiased as grand broke out in Rome after Nero’s death. Some historians do have the Christians confessing to the crime. The fact is that the people did launch to circulate rumors that Nero was at fault, and he was responsible for blaming th Christians for the fire to build himself. He ordered to have them thrown to dogs, though, not lions, as in the film. However, like Showtime’s “The Tudors” one can somewhat overlook all of this historical jumping to conclusions and outright inaccuracy in the name of exquisite entertainment.
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Special Features
Disc 1
Commentary by F. X. Feeney — Filmmaker/writer Feeney explores the genesis of one of M-G-M’s most magnificent, grand-scale productions
Theatrical trailer
Teaser trailer
Disc 2
Commentary by F. X. Feeney continued from Disc 1
Documentary — In the Beginning: Quo Vadis and the Genesis of the Biblical Chronicle – This documentary walks the road as long and complex as the film itself, from its roots as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning bestseller to its various ground-breaking adaptations to its set as the most mettlesome and lavish film that MGM, and Louis B. Mayer, dared to undertake.
Technical notes: Quo Vadis was made prior to the advent of widescreen projection and stereophonic sound. It is presented, as in its current theatrical release, with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio and monophonic soundtrack. Because of its coarse length and detailed photography, WHV has spread the film over two discs in order to maximize bit-rate and insure the highest quality report presentation.
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