Quo Vadis
QUO VADIS (U)
D: Mervyn LeRoy
MGM (Sam Zimbalist)
US 1951
171 mins
Historical
W: John Lee Mahin, S. N. Behrani & Sonya
Levien [based on the novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz]
DP: Robert Surtees & William V.
Skall
Ed: Ralph E. Winters
Mus: Miklos Rozsa
PD: Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfango & William
Horning
Cos: Herschel McCoy
Robert Taylor (Marcus Vinicius), Deborah Kerr
(Lygia), Peter Ustinov (Nero), Leo Genn(Petronius), Patricia Laffan (Poppaea), Finlay Currie (Peter)
Spectacular but stagebound and overlong epic soap
opera set in Ancient Rome, where a commander falls in love with a Christian girl, but jealousy sees them both become an enemy to the Roman Empire.
At nearly three hours long, much of the film is
moribund and rather heavy handed, but a handful of excellent performances and some very exciting set pieces break up the boredom.
Worth a watch on a dreary bank holiday but it will
mostly be appreciated for historical interest rather than entertainment value. It was, however, a huge hit when it was released in 1951 and is credited with saving MGM studio from near
bankruptcy.
The title is Latin for "where are you
going?"
7/10
