Quo Vadis | |
---|---|
Directed by | Enrico Guazzoni |
Written by | Enrico Guazzoni |
Based on | Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz |
Starring | Amleto Novelli Gustavo Serena Carlo Cattaneo Amelia Cattaneo Lea Giunchi Bruto Castellani Augusto Mastripietri Cesare Moltini Olga Brandini Ignazio Lupi Giovanni Gizzi Lia Orlandini Matilde Guillaume Ida Carloni Talli |
Cinematography | Eugenio Bava Alessandro Bona |
Production company | |
Distributed by | George Kleine (U.S.) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Language | Silent |
Quo Vadis is an Italian film directed by Enrico Guazzoni for Cines in 1913, based on the 1896 novel of the same name written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. It was one of the first blockbusters in the history of cinema, [3] with 5,000 extras, lavish sets, and a lengthy running time of two hours, setting the standard for "superspectacles" for decades to come.
A worldwide success, it premiered in Germany at the opening night of the Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz (Berlin's first purpose-built, free-standing cinema), on 19 March 1913. In an unusual departure from normal cinematic practice, the crowd scenes were reinforced with "special mobs" of live costumed actors in the auditorium. [4] [6]
Quo Vadis was the first film to be projected in the Astor Theatre, a first-class theater on Broadway, where it was screened for nine months from April to December 1913. The film's first screening in London was for King George V, in the Royal Albert Hall, who complimented the performers.
The story is set during the latter years of the reign of the emperor Nero. Marcus Vinicius, one of Nero's military officers, falls in love with a young Christian hostage named Lygia. But their love is hindered by Nero, who has his soldiers burn Rome and pins the blame on the Christians. Nero launches a cruel persecution of the religious sect, who are sentenced to death in the Circus. Among the victims is Lygia. She is tied to the back of a bull in imitation of Europa. But her life is saved by her bodyguard Ursus, who wrestles the bull to death.
When the 1924 version was issued, to prevent theatres from showing the 1913 film in competition, the Unione Cinematographica Italiana purchased all rights to the performance of 1913 film in the United States and Australia, including the existing inventory of film prints, stills, posters, and glass slides, from George Kleine, who had obtained the U.S. rights back in 1913. [7]
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz, also known by the pseudonym Litwos, was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as the Trilogy series and especially for his internationally known best-seller Quo Vadis (1896).
Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?" It is commonly translated, quoting the KJV translation of John 13:36, as "Whither goest thou?"
Quo Vadis is a 1951 American religious epic film set in ancient Rome during the final years of Emperor Nero's reign, based on the 1896 novel of the same title by Polish Nobel Laureate author Henryk Sienkiewicz. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Mervyn LeRoy from a screenplay by S. N. Behrman, Sonya Levien, and John Lee Mahin. It is the fourth screen adaptation of Sienkiewicz's novel. The film stars Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, and Peter Ustinov, and features Patricia Laffan, Finlay Currie, Abraham Sofaer, Marina Berti, Buddy Baer, and Felix Aylmer. Future Italian stars Sophia Loren and Bud Spencer appeared as uncredited extras. The score is by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography by Robert Surtees and William V. Skall. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on November 2, 1951.
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz in Polish.
Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?".
Jerzy Franciszek Kawalerowicz was a Polish film director, screenwriter and politician, having been a member of Polish United Workers' Party from 1954 until its dissolution in 1990 and a deputy in Polish parliament since 1985 until 1989.
Jeremiah Curtin was an American ethnographer, folklorist, and translator. Curtin had an abiding interest in languages and was conversant with several. From 1883 to 1891 he was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology as a field researcher documenting the customs and mythologies of various Native American tribes.
Quo Vadis? is a 1985 international television miniseries made by Radiotelevisione Italiana, Antenne 2, Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft, Channel 4 Television, Televisión Española and Televisione Svizzera Italiana (TSI). It was directed by Franco Rossi and produced by Elio Scardamaglia and Francesco Scardamaglia. The script was by Ennio De Concini based on the 1896 novel Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Rafał Andrzej Kubacki is a Polish judoka.
Quo Vadis is a 2001 Polish film directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz based on the 1896 book of the same title by Henryk Sienkiewicz. It was Poland's submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not nominated.
The Sign of the Cross is an 1895 four-act historical tragedy, by Wilson Barrett and popular for several decades. Barrett said its Christian theme was his attempt to bridge the gap between Church and stage. The plot resembles that of Henryk Sienkiewicz's historical novel Quo Vadis, which was first published between 26 March 1895 and 29 February 1896 in the Gazeta Polska, 11 months after the play's first production.
The Ufa-Palast am Zoo, located near Berlin Zoological Garden in the New West area of Charlottenburg, was a major Berlin cinema owned by Universum Film AG, or Ufa. Opened in 1919 and enlarged in 1925, it was the largest cinema in Germany until 1929 and was one of the main locations of film premières in the country. The building was destroyed in November 1943 during the Bombing of Berlin in World War II and replaced in 1957 by the Zoo Palast.
Quo Vadis is a 1924 Italian silent historical drama film directed by Gabriellino D'Annunzio and Georg Jacoby and starring Emil Jannings, Elena Sangro, and Lillian Hall-Davis. It is based on the 1896 novel Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz which was notably later adapted into a 1951 film.
The Rebel Gladiators is a 1962 Italian peplum film directed by Domenico Paolella starring Dan Vadis, Josè Greci and Alan Steel.
KADR is a major Polish film production and distribution company, founded in 1955 and still producing films as of 2016. Between its founding and 2003, KADR released 150 films in total, including many classics of Polish cinema.
The Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz was a cinema located at 4 Nollendorfplatz, Schöneberg, Berlin. The chief architect was Oskar Kaufmann. Built in 1912–13 and decorated by leading artistic practitioners of the day, it was the German capital's first purpose-built, free-standing cinema Described as "historically, [...] the most important cinema in Berlin", it incorporated a number of technical innovations such as an opening roof and a daylight projection screen, and opened as the Nollendorf-Theater in March 1913.
Baghi Sipahi is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Bhagwan Das Varma and starring Madhubala, Chandrashekhar and Ranjan. It is loosely based on the 1951 American film Quo Vadis, which in turn was adapted from the 1896 book with the same title by Henryk Sienkiewicz. The film was distributed and produced by V.P. Productions, an affiliate of Varma Films. Baghi Sipahi was released on 1 January 1958.
Lucien Henri Nonguet was a French film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the first film directors and screenwriters of the Pathé company.
The 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) "because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer." He was given the prize on 10 December 1905. He is the first Polish author to win the Nobel Prize in the literary category and the second Polish citizen to win in general after the chemist Maria Skłodowska Curie in 1903. He was followed by Władysław Reymont in 1924.
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