Quo Vadis [Special Edition] [2 Discs]

Director: Mervyn LeRoy, Anthony Mann Mervyn LeRoy

Overview

This film concerns the romance between a beautiful early Christian woman and an initially agnostic Roman gladiator. This love story is laid against the larger intrigues of the debauched emperor Nero, who hopes to gain immortality by destroying Rome with a fire and remaking it in his own image.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/11/2008
UPC:	0883929026623
Original Release:	1951
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:54:00
Sales rank:	16,587

Special Features

Disc One:; Theatrical trailers; Commentary by critic/ film historian F.X. Feeney; Disc Two:; New featurette - In the Beginning: Quo Vadis and the Genesis of the Biblical Epic; Commentary by critic/film historian F.X. Feeney

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Deborah Kerr	Ligia
Peter Ustinov	Neron
Leo Genn	Petroniusz
Patricia Laffan	Poppea Sabina
Finlay Currie	Piotr
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,Undetermined Role,Undetermined Role
Alfredo Varelli	Lucan
Roberto Ottaviano	Flavius
William Tubbs	Anaxander
Pietro Tordi	Galba
Lia DeLeo	Pedicurist
Sophia Loren	Extra
Elizabeth Taylor	Guest,Actor
Walter Pidgeon	Narrator,Narrator
Marika Aba	Dancer - Assyrian Dance at Nero's Banquet
Adriano Ambrogi	Wine Bibber
Anna Arena	Undetermined Role
Alfred Baillou	Christian Prisoner in Arena
Giacomo Barnas	Senator
Scott R. Beal	Fisherman
John Binns	Officer
Francesca Biondi	Slave Girl
Alice Bishop-Skinner	Serving Woman
Carlo Borelli	Noble
Leslie Bradley	Hasta - 2nd Praetorian
Valentino Bruchi	Mirmillon
Adrienne Corri	Actor
Richard Miles	Actor
Miklós Rózsa	Composer

Technical Credits

John Lee Mahin

S.N. Behrman

Sonya Levien

Hugh Gray

S.N. Behrmann

Mervyn LeRoy	Director
John Lee Mahin	Screenwriter
S.N. Behrman	Screenwriter
Sonya Levien	Screenwriter
Sam Zimbalist	Producer
A. Arnold Gillespie	Special Effects
Thomas Hayward	Special Effects
Donald Jarnhaus	Special Effects
Anthony Mann	Director
Hugh Gray	Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer	Sound Effects
Piero Cavazzuti	Sound Effects
Robert B. Lee	Sound Effects
S.N. Behrmann	Screenwriter
Donald Jahraus	Special Effects
Tom Howard	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

Many critics found this MGM spectacular bloated and tedious; others found the magnificent sets and costumes, and the production's fantastic scale, a lustrous example of the Hollywood historical epic. The story, based on a classic novel by Henryk Siekiewicz, concerns the Roman emperor Nero and his persecution of early Christians. It centers on a love affair between a Roman commander (Robert Taylor) and a young Christian woman (Deborah Kerr). Peter Ustinov plays Nero with a thunderous, depraved, over-the-top bravado. The film contains scenes of horrible brutality and is never subtle. Quo Vadis? received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov, but won none. This is one of several films based on the novel, including silent epics in 1913 and 1925 and an update in 1985.