It should be observed initially that nearly every actor who appeared in this film is now deceased.

In the 1950s and 1960s Hollywood was inundated with a rash of lushly produced Bible epics. “Quo Vadis” was pretty much the first of them, just missing the widescreen era by a couple of years – although watching it gives one the suggestion that it either was actually filmed in a widescreen format or the directory was thinking in terms of a wider canvas.

Getting a DVD of “Quo Vadis” isn’t exactly easy, and one has to settle for a version that hasn’t been enhanced in any way. I don’t normally replace a VHS of a non-widescreen film with a DVD, but the VHS of “Quo” is inconveniently on 2 tapes in a fat box. Apparently no DVD has been issued here in the States; the version I bought was done in China with optional Chinese subtitles. It’s obviously a direct transfer from the tape. The print is clear enough and the colors, while somewhat muted, aren’t all that bad. The sound track is, well, typical for the period.

It’s difficult to criticize negatively the film for its most obvious defect, since this so clearly reflects the temper of the times. It might fit in again now, when so many people are working so hard to cram their religion down the government’s (and the public’s) throat. The defect is, not to put too fine a point on it, a heavy-handed stalking horse for Christianity. Now, any number of Bible flicks eulogize 1st-Century Christians as victims of persecution under various Roman emperors – which they were – although Hollywood seems never to have noticed that the most pernicious and persistent persecutor was the Emperor Domitian – the “Antichrist” of Revelations (written in the 4th year of his reign), as it happens. It’s amazing (or maybe it isn’t) that Hollywood has never noticed the equally spectacular events in Alexandria during the 4th Century CE, when Christians roamed the streets murdering philosophers, priests, and other adherents of rival religions.

Having disposed of that unwholesome subject, we now turn to the actors and the plot. “Quo” takes place during the reign of the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors: Nero, nephew and adopted son of Claudius I. In an inspired bit of casting, the Nero here is Peter Ustinov. Ustinov, then 30 and pretty much at the start of his distinguished film career, does everything but chew the red carpet in a performance that’s the highlight of the film.

The plot of the film concerns Marcus Vinicius, the fictional commander of Legio XIV. The Latin “c”, by the way, was invariably pronounced as “k”, as in Caesar = Kaisar, Vinicius = Vinikius. Vinicius is played by the dependable but generally uninvolving Robert Taylor. Perhaps responding to direction, he does manage to show us clearly what a pompous twit Vinicius is. The key event in the film is his eventual conversion to Christianity – after which he’s still a pompous twit.

Vinicius returns to Rome after 3 years of successful service abroad. He likes killing people – a typical Roman officer. He’s in particular favor at court because his uncle Petronius is an especial favorite of Nero and the Emperor’s advisor on revels and elegance. Petronius is played to perfection by Leo Genn (hard “g”). Historically, Gaius (or possibly Titus) Petronius, c.27-66 CE, was the author of numerous works of only portions of the great “Satyricon” survive. He was in fact an advisor to Nero and did commit suicide after sending an insulting letter to the Emperor (as we see in the film). Genn naturally conveys a sense of elegance and proportion and almost immediately signals to us his loathing of the awful Nero.

In the course of early events, Vinicius encounters the beautiful Lygia. She is allegedly the daughter of the “King of Lygia” – although the only “Lygia” in the ancient world was a tiny peninsula in Epiros that was never any sort of city-state nor a kingdom. Be that as it may, she has been assigned as a ward of a retired general, Plautius. This would certainly be Aulus Plautius, who led Claudius I’s conquest of Britain in 43-44 CE, and was the new province’s governor until 46. The suggestion in the film that he would have become a Christian is a mere invention. Lygia is played by the enormously talented Deborah Kerr, who is utterly successful in portraying the purity and innocence – as well as the passion – of the character. General Plautius is played with enormous dignity by the great Felix Aylmer.

Vinicius persuades Nero – the Emperor being the ultimate authority over imperial hostages – to make the reluctant Lygia his ward. She isn’t happy about it and her friends manage to abduct her en route to Vinicius’ villa. During the preceding events we also meet 2 slaves. First is Eunice, owned by Petronius and madly in love with him. She is played with infections joy and enthusiasm by Marina Berti, a beautiful and wonderful actor who appeared mostly in Italian films. Second is Acte, who belongs to Nero and is madly in love with him. She is played with solemn devotion by Rosalie Crutchley, a distinguished and darkly lovely actor with a long career in mostly good films, lasting until the year of her death. “Acte” would have been Claudia Acte, formerly (most likely) a slave of Claudius I, who became a freedwoman and Nero’s mistress for a time. She was wealthy and a landowner – not a mere functionary in Nero’s court as portrayed. What is true in the film is that she never ceased to love the man, even after he married the sinister Poppaea.

While Vinicius has his eye on Lygia, Empress Poppaea has her baleful eye on Vinicius. She is played with wonderful malevolence by Patricia Laffan, a talented actor whose career was fairly brief – 18 films or TV shows from 1945 until her retirement in 1965. This character was of course Poppaea Sabina, who was at first Nero’s mistress and encouraged him to murder his mother Agrippina the Younger and wife Octavia. She then married him, an event wonderfully memorialized in Monteverdi’s magnificent opera, “The Coronation of Poppaea”. Although the film has her dying at about the same time as Nero, he had actually kicked her to death 3 years earlier. Meanwhile, in the film, Vinicius isn’t the least interested in her advances and tries to avoid her.

Another sinister character in Nero’s retinue was Tigellinus, here played with vicious authority by Ralph Truman. Truman appeared in many excellent films and was actually appearing in TV programs as early as 1938. Gaius Ophonius Tigellinus, who was immensely rich and gained Nero’s favor by aiding and abetting his peccadilloes. As early as 62 CE, he was made Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, a position of immense power since the Guard was the only military force allowed within Rome. Yes, all those films showing troops of the legions in Rome are dead inaccurate. At the last moment, Tigellinus turned against Nero and led the Guard in defection to Nero’s successor Galba. Galba, in turn, forced him to give up the Prefecture, but Tigellinus was otherwise unmolested. Galba’s successor Otho (who had at one time been Nero’s lover) finally rid the Empire of this terrible personality.

By this time we have also met 2 other important personalities, namely the apostle Peter and the pseudo-apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsos). Peter is played with dignity and compassion by the inimitable Finlay Currie, who graces every film he has appeared in. Currie’s career of playing elderly men, which began in 1932 when he was 54, prospered right up into 1968, when he died. Paul is played with vigorous authority by Abraham Sofaer, who had a huge career of 40 years doing all sorts of character roles (up to 1974). The film of course perpetuates the legend that Peter and Paul were cooperative good friends. The bulk of the evidence now is that at best they agreed to disagree, Paul building up what became the Catholic Church and Peter building the sect of “Jewish Christians”, which failed in the aftermath of the Jewish rebellion in the 60s and the fall of Jerusalem in 70.

Vinicius, in an effort to find Lygia, discovers where local Christians are meeting. He follows her afterward, intending to abduct her, but is seriously injured in the attempt. Lygia nurses him back to health. By this time they’re in love but disagreements over her religion drive them apart. By this time Nero has hatched a plot to accommodate his plans to rebuild Rome (including an absolutely gigantic imperial palace) by burning the city. Tigellinus is his instrument in setting the fires. Vinicius returns to Rome to find it ablaze (the Roman slums and tenements were mostly wood). He manages to rescue Lygia and some others. He then forces Pretorians to open access to the Palatine hill – site of the current palace – as a place of refuge. Nero is furious but also fearful that his incendiary role would be discovered. He hatches a new plot to blame the Christians

In the aftermath of the fire, Tigellinus’ forces round up great numbers of Christians, including Lygia and Plautius – and, in a case of guilt by association, Vinicius. They are taken to the Roman arena, where they are subjected to horrific executions. These events are generally accurate depictions of the sorts of things that actually happened. Peter is shown appearing at the arena, captured, and executed. He had left Rome but got a message from Deus Ex Machina and turned back. There is another nonhistoric bit at the end involving Vinicius, Lygia, and Lygia’s protector Ursus (played with grim earnestness by Buddy Baer). By this time the forces of General Galba are on the move. Nero alienates the crowd, legionary soldiers attack the Praetorians, and Nero is overthrown. He hides in the palace and contemplates suicide. Acte shows up and helps him fall on a good-sized knife. Shortly later Vinicius, Lygia, and Ursus depart Rome for what we may presume will be a peaceful rural existence.

The last part of the picture is involved in all sorts of chronological errors. The opening narration of the film sets the action in 64 CE. This is accurate insofar as the fire is concerned. It notes this is 20 years after the death of Jesus, traditionally dated to 33 CE. In point of fact, since Jesus was executed after John the Baptist was, his crucifixion cannot have taken place earlier than the Passover of 35, and most probably 36. The fire in Rome took place in 64, but Nero lived on beyond that. He made a concert tour of Greece in 67. He was finally overthrown in 68. Acte was in fact present when he committed suicide, but he actually opened his veins at the wrists all on his own. Acte then buried his body in the tomb of his Claudian ancestors.

Taken as a story of Nero and his times (however flawed as to accuracy), “Quo Vadis” succeeds because of the general excellence of the actors (if we ignore the under-par contribution of Taylor). As Christian propaganda, the film will of course succeed in preaching to the choir. The film also succeeds because of the superb music provided by the great Miklós Rósza (whose more serious compositions are even better than his film scores). The photography, seriously hampered by the 4:3 aspect limitation, is still impressive. The sets, which tend to reflect Rome of a later period, are also impressive. “Quo Vadis” tended to set the standard for the New Testament epics to follow … and also demonstrated that such films would be popular, so that quite a few of them were made.

What’s puzzling is that an enhanced American-made DVD hasn’t yet appeared. Despite its flaws, the film is a classic of the genre – if nothing else, the performance of Peter Ustinov is not to be missed (something we might say about any performance of his).

This just in. My trustiest contact tells me (thank you!) that Warner is planning a 2-DVD release in 2007. It's about time.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older