Quo Vadis (1951)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy
(more)

Writers:

S.N. Behrman (screenplay)
Sonya Levien (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

8 November 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

Three Years in the Making! Thousands in the Cast! Filmed in Rome!

Plot:

Returning to Rome after 3 years in the field, General Marcus Vinicius meets Lygia and falls in love with her...

Plot Keywords:

Christian | Nero | General | Lion | Emperor

Awards:

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Marcus Vinicius
Deborah Kerr	...	Lygia
Leo Genn	...	Petronius
Peter Ustinov	...	Nero
Patricia Laffan	...	Poppaea
Finlay Currie	...	Peter
Abraham Sofaer	...	Paul
Marina Berti	...	Eunice
Buddy Baer	...	Ursus
Felix Aylmer	...	Plautius
Nora Swinburne	...	Pomponia
Ralph Truman	...	Tigellinus
Norman Wooland	...	Nerva
Peter Miles	...	Nazarius
Geoffrey Dunn	...	Terpnos
Nicholas Hannen	...	Seneca
D.A. Clarke-Smith	...	Phaon
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Acte
John Ruddock	...	Chilo
Arthur Walge	...	Croton
Elspeth March	...	Miriam
Strelsa Brown	...	Rufia
Alfredo Varelli	...	Lucan
Roberto Ottaviano	...	Flavius
William Tubbs	...	Anaxander
Pietro Tordi	...	Galba
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marika Aba	...	Dancer (Assyrian dance at Nero's banquet) (uncredited)
Adriano Ambrogi	...	Wine Bibber (uncredited)
Anna Arena	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Alfred Baillou	...	Christian prisoner in arena (uncredited)
Giacomo Barnas	...	Senator (uncredited)
Scott R. Beal	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
Francesca Biondi	...	Slave Girl (uncredited)
Carlo Borelli	...	Noble (uncredited)
Leslie Bradley	...	Hasta - 2nd Praetorian (uncredited)
Alfred Brown	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Valentino Bruchi	...	Mirmillon (uncredited)
Dante Ciriaci	...	Wine Bibber (uncredited)
Frank Colson	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Adrienne Corri	...	Young Christian Girl (uncredited)
Luca Cortese	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Daniel De Jonghe	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Liana Del Balzo	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Jack del Rio	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Lia Di Leo	...	Pedicurist (uncredited)
Franco Fantasia	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Cesare Fasulo	...	Noble (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Enzo Fiermonte	...	Mounted Captain (uncredited)
Enrico Formichi	...	Man with Wine Cup (uncredited)
John Fostini	...	Young Unbaptized Man (uncredited)
Dino Galvani	...	Senator (uncredited)
Richard Garrick	...	Slave (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
Carlo Ghisini	...	Guard (uncredited)
Trudy Glassford	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Joan Griffiths	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Robin Hughes	...	Christ (voice) (uncredited)
Adam Jennette	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Philip Kieffer	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Gipsy Kiss	...	Slave Girl (uncredited)
Lee Kresel	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Richard Larke	...	Guard (uncredited)
Sophia Loren	...	Lygia's slave (uncredited)
Giovanni Lovatelli	...	Banquet Man (uncredited)
Helena Makowska	...	Older Woman (uncredited)
Anna Mancini	...	Nubian Slave Girl (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
Clelia Matania	...	Parmenida (uncredited)
Richard McNamara	...	Legionnaire (uncredited)
Harriet Medin	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Dario Michaelis	...	Lydia Guard (uncredited)
Ernesto Morelli	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
John Myhers	...	Guard (uncredited)
Vincent Neptune	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Anna Maria Padoan	...	Young Unbaptized Woman (uncredited)
Louis Payne	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Walter Pidgeon	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Aldo Pini	...	Headkeeper (uncredited)
Alberto Plebani	...	Steward (uncredited)
Dino Raffaelli	...	Bit part (uncredited)
George Restive	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Leonardo Scavino	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Alessandro Serbaroli	...	Officer (uncredited)
Bud Spencer	...	Imperial Guard (uncredited)
Jane Sprague	...	Banquet Lady (uncredited)
Raffaele Tana	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Christian prisoner in arena (uncredited)
William Taylor	...	Guard Captain / Marcus Guard (uncredited)
Michael Tor	...	Centurian (uncredited)
Giuseppe Tosi	...	Wrestler (uncredited)
Carlo Tricoli	...	Apostle (uncredited)
Renato Valente	...	Guard (uncredited)
Giuseppe Varni	...	Hairdresser (uncredited)
Dianora Veiga	...	Slave Girl (uncredited)
Harry J. Vejar	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
Maria Zanoli	...	Bit part (uncredited)

Directed by
Mervyn LeRoy
Anthony Mann		(uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
S.N. Behrman		screenplay
Sonya Levien		screenplay
John Lee Mahin		screenplay
Henryk Sienkiewicz		novel

Produced by
Sam Zimbalist	....	producer

Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa		(as Miklos Rozsa)

Cinematography by
William V. Skall		(director of photography)
Robert Surtees

Film Editing by
Ralph E. Winters

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Edward C. Carfagno		(as Edward Carfagno)
Cedric Gibbons
William A. Horning

Set Decoration by
Hugh Hunt
Elso Valentini		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Herschel McCoy		(costumes: recreated by)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist recreator
Joan Johnstone	....	hair stylist recreator
Charles E. Parker	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sergio Leone	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mentor Huebner	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
Italo Tomassi	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Tom Howard	....	special effects (as Thomas Howard)
Donald Jahraus	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Peter Ellenshaw	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
George Pink	....	camera operator (uncredited)
John Schmitz	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Eugene Zador	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Eddie Frewin	....	unit driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Hugh Gray	....	historical advisor
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant
Auriel Millos	....	choreographer
Marta Obolensky	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1954) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• ClassicLine (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1975) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2008) (Argentina) (DVD) (special edition)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1976) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Esselte Video (1990) (Finland) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (????) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD) (blu-ray)
• Warner Bros. (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (Finland) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1997) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Qvo Vadis (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

171 min | UK:166 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | USA:Approved (PCA #15165) | UK:PG (tv rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | Brazil:12 | South Korea:12 | Ireland:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Film debut of Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli), who plays one of the Emperor's guards.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Construction did not begin on The Colosseum, where the climax takes place, until 70 A.D., 6 years after the movie is set.

Quotes:

Petronius: It is not enough to live well. One must die well.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Arrebato (1980)

The Big One!

It is a great pleasure to see so many comments here that are enthusiastic about 'Quo Vadis'. I just saw it again last night after about 15 years, and I marvelled at what a high quality spectacle it is - better than ever, in fact.

In his autobiography, 'Take One', Mervyn LeRoy has some great stories about 'Quo Vadis'. Such as: while filming one of the really big crowd scenes, a voice pipes up from the extras: 'Hey Moy-vin!', and it's Jack Benny. And in a scene right out of one of his pictures, when 'Quo Vadis' is screened in San Francisco, and LeRoy is present, the theatre happens to be right near the corner where the big-time director once sold papers as a kid. He revisits the corner after the screening and sheds a few tears. LeRoy was an extra in C.B. DeMille's first 'Ten Commandments', so the desire to deliver something DeMillian was realized at last, and with smashing success.

We all agree on Peter Ustinov's ingenious performance, so all I need to add is that in his own autobiography, 'Dear Me', Sir Peter's recollections of the filming are as wonderful as his performance.

Whatever his capabilities as an actor, I always thought that Bob Taylor's performance was pretty darn good, and appropriate, too: what high-ranking Roman officer wouldn't be pompous? In any case, the story is much larger than Marcus' character, and the story comes to dominate the picture.

It is indeed a pity that the excellent Rozsa score wasn't handled by the Warners sound department, where it would have been been presented to full effect Much of its impact is squandered by its being kept in the background. I don't think Merv LeRoy had so much to do with this decision, as his alma mater was Warners (try watching 'Anthony Adverse'!) It seems that it was probably MGM policy. With sensitivity, a DVD version could perhaps offer the picture with a 'sweetened' soundtrack.

The quality of the camera work by solid professionals Bob Surtees (later MGM's UltraPanavision 70 specialist) and Wm V. Skall (his work on 'The Silver Chalice' was outstanding) really cannot be overstated.

Along with the delights of Sir Peter's performance, I still get choked up when noble Buddy Baer takes on that bull, and when Marina Berti's character displays so much love and devotion to Leo Genn's. Genn is right up there with James Mason in quality, and indeed, Mason may have taken a few pointers from Genn's performance for his own acting in subsequent epics. Patricia Laffan is decadently sexy without being campy.

Trivia: scenes for the burning of Rome were sensibly used in MGM's 'The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao' and 'Atlantis, The Lost Continent' to great effect.

It is a credit to Merv LeRoy for allowing great actors like Peter Ustinov and Leo Genn to 'do their thing'.

'Quo Vadis' is a classic: a stunning spectacle, intelligent, good script, fine performances by practically everybody, and it remains long in the memory, and holds up well indeed.