Review of Quo Vadis (1951) by Mark V — 30 Jul 2009

I hadn't seen this for years, and for good reason. How this won a Best Picture is beyond me. This is Hollywood history at its worst. The only redeeming value is Ustinov's over-the-top Nero, but lordy, even it grates after a few scenes.

Leo Genn, as always, does well too. Everyone else seems to be out of an Italian peplum film (QV even includes the obligatory he-man). The romance between Kerr and Taylor is just unsufferable. Okay, it may sound mean, but the only good scenes are those of the Christians going to martyrdom.

I suspect that without those scenes this movie would have disappeared except as a footnote. It's no mistake that the scenes shown on You-Tube and Flixster are of the the lions. The 50s were the heyday of Biblical epics, but folks sometimes forget just how bad most of them were.

If you had to watch QV more than a few times you'd throw yourself to the hungry critters for a mercy killing.