tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post3754669047796036030..comments2024-03-29T07:22:38.372+00:00Comments on Pop Classics: Quo Vadis? (dir. Mervyn LeRoy, 1951)Juliettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-86050634091736419762011-09-18T18:57:55.688+01:002011-09-18T18:57:55.688+01:00Thanks Tony and Nomad :)
@Tony I ought to take th...Thanks Tony and Nomad :)<br /><br />@Tony I ought to take the question mark off I suppose, but it looks so wrong to have a question without a question mark! (I am strange, I realise this).<br /><br />@Caroline I liked that scene too - I quite liked that storyline, it was rather sweet, though you could interpret the slave as suffering from a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome...Juliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-4258965638324167982011-09-18T18:10:35.383+01:002011-09-18T18:10:35.383+01:00@Nomad:
Oh, I snerked. I'm glad I wasn't d...@Nomad:<br />Oh, <b>I</b> snerked. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. I'm not sure if it's quite what Juliette was going for though.DemetriosXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-29317868375024797092011-09-18T12:27:43.830+01:002011-09-18T12:27:43.830+01:00Also: Jesus Himself gets pretty cross in the Gospe...<i>Also: Jesus Himself gets pretty cross in the Gospels<br />You could perhaps have put that a little better.</i><br /><br />No, I don't think would be possible.NomadUKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-63309440003262214722011-09-18T10:17:16.005+01:002011-09-18T10:17:16.005+01:00I can't say I know much about Poppaea either. ...I can't say I know much about Poppaea either. Nero either stole her from Otho or had Otho act as a placeholder until Mommy Dearest was out of the way and he could marry her himself. Otho wound up with Lusitania as exile or reward, depending.<br /><br />Also: <i>Jesus Himself gets pretty cross in the Gospels</i><br />You could perhaps have put that a little better.DemetriosXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-55802180666123375602011-09-18T09:32:18.293+01:002011-09-18T09:32:18.293+01:00Another piece that reminds me how good your writin...Another piece that reminds me how good your writing on movies is.<br /><br />A few random points:<br /><br />The movie omits the question mark from the title - considerable play was made of this at the time, with publicity saying that the question mark wasn't a Latin punctuation mark. In contrast the 1901 French short silent version, and the 1913 and 1925 Italian features, all have the question mark.<br /><br />Maria Wyke is very good on <i>Quo Vadis</i> in <i>Projecting the Past</i>. I haven't read Ruth Scodel and Anja Bettenworth's <i>Whither Quo Vadis?</i>, though it looks good.<br /><br />Henry Sienkiewicz intended Marcus Vinicius to be the son of the Vinicius involved in the murder of Caligula.<br /><br />Hollywood tends to homogenise its mad Roman emperors, so that Caligula, Nero and Commodus all end up bonkers in the same way. Similarly it tends to treat pagans as Christians with different hats.<br /><br />I hadn't realised that the end of <i>Quo Vadis</i> is a nod to <i>Little Caesar</i> (I don't think Rico is ever called that in the movie other than in the title). Interesting.Tony Keenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07125792825206480340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-57556839602206487212011-09-17T23:35:01.087+01:002011-09-17T23:35:01.087+01:00Your review reminded me how silly this is in place...Your review reminded me how silly this is in places. But in a fun way. <br /><br />My fave scene is the one where Petronius's slave-girl kisses his statue. I used a similar scene in The Sirens of Surrentum, where Flavia kisses a statue of Pollius Felix, the bronze still warm from the sun. <br /><br />A fun fact, Hebrew letters all have numerical value and the value the Hebrew letters of ‘Nero Caesar’ add up to 666.Caroline Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249424644829463560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-53286175476509819362011-09-17T18:44:32.699+01:002011-09-17T18:44:32.699+01:00Excellent review Juliette.
Quo Vadis has a long h...Excellent review Juliette.<br /><br />Quo Vadis has a long history in Hollywood. <br /><br />The story first came to the attention of MGM in 1925 when the studio considered making a film based upon the book Quo Vadis: A Narrative Of The Time Of Nero written by the Polish Nobel Laureate Henryk Seinkiewicz. <br /><br />In 1935 it was rumored that Marlene Dietrich would play that part of Poppaea, and then in 1942 both Orson Wells and Charles Laughton were approached to play the role of Nero, however World War Two put an end to those plans.<br /><br />After the war, in 1947, Louis B Mayer hired John Houston to direct and Gregory peck to star, but scheduling conflicts arose (as they often do in Hollywood) and both Peck and Houston moved on to other projects.<br /><br />When MGM finally did mount the production of Quo Vadis we know today, it was seen at that time as Hollywood's answer to the popularity of the new box invading homes all over America - the Television. <br /><br />MGM set out to make the most visually extravagant spectacle ever seen. To that end the production involved over 200 speaking roles, nearly 30, 000 extras and even 120 lions. At the conclusion of principle photography the director had over 580,000 feet of film to edit.<br /><br />When all was said and done, Quo Vadis cost $57 million to make and brought in over $312 million in US Box office alone. (in 2005 adjusted dollars). THe film still ranks #97 on the lost of top US Box Office films as of 2009.<br /><br />This info courtesy of the book: George Lucas's Blockbusting (c2010) pages 348-349.<br /><br />For my review of that book:<br />http://www.ancient-warfare.com/cms/magazine/david-reinke/280-box-office-gladiators.html<br /><br />Once again, great review Juliette.Narukamihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16884079775625846790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-783507141561478262011-09-17T17:06:39.611+01:002011-09-17T17:06:39.611+01:00It's weird, I'd never seen it before - I g...It's weird, I'd never seen it before - I guess either it hasn't been on here much, or it was on at times of day I was doing something else!Juliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-16712733856689920282011-09-17T16:35:20.567+01:002011-09-17T16:35:20.567+01:00Great review Juliette!
I have rather vague memori...Great review Juliette!<br /><br />I have rather vague memories of this one, despite having seen it several times! I seem to remember it being on TV here in Spain quite frequently when I was on holiday visiting my grandparents.<br />Funny how movies influence your later views, I think all I know about Nero probably comes from this film! :pCrazyCrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17512240982215608638noreply@blogger.com