Quo Vadis

"THIS IS THE BIG ONE! The splendor and savagery of the world's wickedest empire! Three hours of spectacle you'll remember for a lifetime!"

1951 2h 54m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 474

DramaHistoryRomance

Synopsis

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After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.

“THIS IS THE BIG ONE! The splendor and savagery of the world's wickedest empire! Three hours of spectacle you'll remember for a lifetime!”

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Cast

Robert Taylor
Marcus Vinicius
Deborah Kerr
Lygia
Leo Genn
Petronius
Peter Ustinov
Nero
Patricia Laffan
Poppaea
Finlay Currie
Peter
Abraham Sofaer
Paul of Tarsus
Marina Berti
Eunice

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Writers: Sonya Levien, John Lee Mahin, S. N. Behrman
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 174 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, shot by Robert Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Miklós Rózsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr and Leo Genn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "THIS IS THE BIG ONE! The splendor and savagery of the world's wickedest empire! Three hours of spectacle you'll remember for a lifetime!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mervyn LeRoy directs. Robert Surtees behind the camera. Miklós Rózsa scores. Ralph E. Winters cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 174 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
275 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, shot by Robert Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Miklós Rózsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr and Leo Genn carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "THIS IS THE BIG ONE! The splendor and savagery of the world's wickedest empire! Three hours of spectacle you'll remember for a lifetime!".
9IMDB entry: tt0043949 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 17 themes, including "suicide", "based on novel or book", "rome, italy", "roman empire".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Original score: Miklós Rózsa
Editing: Ralph E. Winters
Costume design: Herschel McCoy
Makeup / hair: Charles E. Parker
Sound: Piero Cavazzuti
Stunt coordinator: Alfred Schneider
Runtime: 174 min · 2h 54m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $7,623,000
Box office: $21,037,000
Return: 276% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Quo Vadis (1951)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Mervyn LeRoy

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-06-01
★ 7/10
Oscar-nominated Peter Ustinov is superb as the Emperor Nero in this depiction of the end of the reign of this flawed megalomanic. His behaviour is only tempered by the clever Leo Genn ("Petronius"), his arbiter of arts who manages by deft use of language and his wits, to keep the lunatic emperor from his worst excesses. Robert Taylor turns in a pretty standard performance as the film's hero "Vinicius" and Deborah Kerr looks stunning, though acts woodenly, as the rather simpering "Lygia". A wonderfully colourful spectacle of a film showing off the costumier and set designers arts to best effect. Miklós Rósza's score is suitably grand as our story gives the rise of Christianity the Hollywood treatment. It does run on a bit long, and I'm sure I spotted Sophia Loren driving a chariot...

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