Quo Vadis (1951)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, Peter Ustinov

A motion picture that takes audiences on a journey back to the days of the Roman Empire delivers an epic production on the scale never seen before. It could make claim of being the most expensive movie ever produced to that point and filmed in Italy, close ancient settings it depicted. With these facts MGM featured a movie so colossal and so extravagant audiences clamored to view it, delivering box office numbers unseen by the studio since 1939’s Gone with the Wind. A love story set within biblical times and bringing to life historical events, it was a blockbuster of its age, decades before the term or even the idea was conceived. With its success would the foundations of popular biblical epics splash across movie screens during the next couple of decades, sending millions to their theaters in an period when televisions began to rival for audience attention.

 

Quo Vadis is a period epic about a Roman commander who falls in love with a Christian captive during the destructive, tyrannical rule of Emperor Nero. Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) returns to Rome after leading a lengthy, successful military campaign and becomes enchanted by the beauty of a captive Lygia (Deborah Kerr). While endeavoring to win her affections Marcus efforts to learn more of the mysterious new sect she is the member of, known as Christians, and their strange beliefs. Meanwhile, the self-centered Emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov) allows his misguided creativity to set Rome ablaze as a form of art, but is guided by his advisor Petronius (Leo Genn) to blame the devastation on Christians to redirect the people’s ire. Marcus’ allegiance to his Emperor turns sour as events and games created to destroy innocent Christians and exalt Nero threaten the lives of Lygia and her friends, using his influence to turn the people against the tyrant.

 

In the age of practical filmmaking this production personifies immense scope. Vast sets, some the size of city blocks, thousands of extras, all in custom period costumes, the unseen armies of crewmen, tailors, makeup, and skill laborers behind the cameras, a menagerie of animals that add to the exotic, and a focused vision of act direction transports us to a cinematic version of ancient Rome. This film is massive, and it shows, but that does little to cover up simplicity of the film’s plot and overall uninteresting pace of the spectacle. The highlight of the picture captured on screen is that of Peter Ustinov’s performance as a dreary and dangerous autocrat Nero, a man uninterested in the wellbeing of countless people as he willing destroying all he wishes to furnish his own entertainment and curiosity. The film is a spectacle for the eyes and a yawn for the mind

 

Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz’s 1896 biblical epic had already seen itself adapted on three occasions in the silent era of movie making, with a very early lost 1901 version followed by a pair of Italian produced features released in 1919 and 1924. MGM brought the rights to the picture in the late 1930s when the emergence of world war put plans on hold for nearly a decade. Louis B. Mayer would dust off Quo Vadis, but was ousted from his own studio shortly then after. For MGM this was on opportunity to reestablish itself as Hollywood preeminent center by making it the biggest motion picture ever made. Not only was MGM competing with rival Hollywood studios, but it was an effort to manifest the gaudier of the movie over the free entertainment on a smaller scale beginning to populate modern homes with television.

 

John Huston prepared to direct the feature with Gregory Peck and Elizabeth Taylor as the leads when production shake ups at MGM led to Mervyn LeRoy taking the helm of the picture with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr as the stars. Production was staged to take place actually in Rome at Cinecitta Studios, the massive movie making center commissioned by former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. This new self-proclaimed “Hollywood on the Tiber” was planned to be the movie making center of the world with all its space for sets and facilities and for the first time was being used on a massive scale by a Hollywood company.

 

MGM had plans to spend a great deal of money making Quo Vadis the most lavish production ever seen while the relative lower cost of Italian labor would aid in offsetting part of the massive price tag the production would accumulate. The film called for massive sets, hundreds of animals, thousands of extras, 32,000 costumes, an American and English cast flown in, and the need for additional lighting gear and the best motion picture cameras to be shipped to Italy to make the story come to life. Despite the Cinecitta being large it had never seen a production this vast or even made in color. Everything was big and extravagant even if it was on screen for a short time. Most famously weeks of construction built several blocks worth of building only be used to set on fire for the burning of Rome sequence. With all its extravagance, this picture would set to the tone of not only the popularity of lavish biblical epics, but the use of just Cinecitta such purposes for many years to come.

 

Robert Taylor’s performance would be on par for a leading man in such a role, having been considered by the likes of Clark Gable apart form other of Hollywood’s more famous top men. Deborah Kerr’s quiet portrayal of Lygia continued her MGM roles  for large roles in large productions during the period. Peter Ustinov as Nero and Leo Genn as his advisor Petronius both earned Oscar nominations as supporting actors, which lent to the aiding an unspoken standard of Roman characters being portrayed by English actors. Due to the vast nature of the picture and the studio chatter it created, countless MGM players would find their way into the production if only as extras deep within the background, including the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, and Audrey Hepburn.

 

MGM pulled no punches for the film with a production that outpaced all other to this point, making it the most expensive movie ever made, a statement that only added to the film’s allure. The epic which ran just shy of three hours was one of the most anticipated pictures of 1951, opening in a road show format to further add to the spectacle the picture. Box office returns were handsome for MGM, quickly becoming the highest grossing picture 1951 by bringing in over $21 million in its first release. The only picture to do better for MGM had been Gone with the Wind. Audiences lined up when Quo Vadis would come to cities with many critics praising it for the massive size and display it delivered to the silver screen. However, there were the few critics that noted the “boring” nature of the story and lack imagination as the film relies on proportion to impress over general emotion or cinematic creativity.

 

Quo Vadis was a massive success for MGM, with some stating it may have saved the studio financially as it was going through a significant transitional period. Nominated for eight Academy Awards it failed to topple the likes of the An American in Paris, A Place in the Sun, or A Streetcar Named Desire with the passage of time supporting the shortcoming of Quo Vadis as it was more of a flavor of month rather than a timeless classic. Most of the film’s recognition would be due to its scope and extravagance, but left little in staying power. The 1950s and 60s would bring with it the advent of massive sized pictures with a number of biblical epics peppering theaters through the years and Quo Vadis played a role in establishing their drawing power. It was not the best feature, but it was one of the first ushering in a certain era of movies, making an imperative note in Hollywood cinematic history.