Quo Vadis | |
---|---|
Directed by | Arturo Ambrosio Gabriellino D'Annunzio Georg Jacoby |
Written by | Gabriellino D'Annunzio Georg Jacoby |
Based on | Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz |
Produced by | Arturo Ambrosio |
Starring | Emil Jannings Elena Sangro Lillian Hall-Davis Rina De Liguoro |
Cinematography | Curt Courant Alfredo Donelli Giovanni Vitrotti |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Unione Cinematografica Italiana (Italy) First National Pictures (US) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes 120 minutes (director's cut) |
Country | Italy |
Languages | Silent Italian intertitles |
Quo Vadis (or 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.
In Rome, during the reign of Nero, a young pagan general named Marcus Vinicius falls in love with a beautiful Christian hostage named Licia. Their love appears to be impossible, because of the conflict of their religions. Nero burns the city of Rome and blames the Christians, already hated by the pagan Romans.
Unione Cinematografica Italiana announced the film in 1921, and began production in 1924. [1] D'Annunzio, the son of the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, was considered a rising director and also wrote the film's screenplay. It was one of several attempts in early Fascist Italy to recapture the success of the historical epics of the previous decade. [2] Rudolph Valentino was invited to star in the film, but was forced to turn the offer down due to contractual reasons. [3] Production quickly became troubled – the film ran seriously over-budget, and additional financing had to be raised from Germany. The new backers insisted that a German director, Jacoby, be appointed to co-direct. [4]
The film was co-directed by Arturo Ambrosio, Georg Jacoby, and Gabriellino D'Annunzio. Bruno Kastner was initially cast for the film, but withdrew due to an illness causing all of his scenes to be reshot. [5]
The film was distributed by First National Pictures in the United States. [6]
The film was a critical and commercial failure on its release, effectively ending the career of its producer Arturo Ambrosio, who had been one of the major figures of early Italian cinema. [7] In its review The New York Times described it as "excellent as spectacle, but is too tedious in many sequences to be a good entertainment". [8] D'Annunzio never directed or wrote another film. Jacoby's reputation also suffered heavily, and he switched to working on musicals and comedies. [9] Emil Jannings's performance, on the other hand, received moderate praise. The New Yorker noted that Jannings was the "one item beside boredom" [10] the movie had, but despite his "able performance" [10] they "still prefer him in Germanic studio surroundings". [10]
The French film star Max Linder and his wife Hélène watched the film in October 1925. Later, both were found with narcotics overdoses and slit wrists, resulting in their deaths of either a suicide pact or a murder-suicide. The suicide of Petronius and Eunice in the film has been proposed as an inspiration adding to Linder's previous depression. [11]
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).
Ofonius Tigellinus was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during the reign of emperor Nero. Tigellinus gained imperial favour through his acquaintance with Nero's mother Agrippina the Younger, and was appointed prefect upon the death of his predecessor Sextus Afranius Burrus, a position Tigellinus held first with Faenius Rufus and then Nymphidius Sabinus.
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.
Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian era. He is one of the most important characters in Henryk Sienkiewicz' historical novel Quo Vadis (1895). Leo Genn portrays him in the 1951 film of the same name.
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz in Polish.
The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 65 CE was a major turning point in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. The plot reflected the growing discontent among the ruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasingly despotic leadership, and as a result is a significant event on the road toward his eventual suicide and the chaos of the Year of the Four Emperors which followed.
Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?".
Lillian Hall-Davis was an English actress during the silent film era, featured in major roles in English film and a number of German, French and Italian films.
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.
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.
Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (Italian title: Scipione l'africano is a 1937 Italian historical propaganda film directed by Carmine Gallone about Scipio Africanus from the time of his election as proconsul until his defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. The film received financial backing from Benito Mussolini's dictatorship and its production was overseen by Vittorio Mussolini.
Elena Sangro was an Italian actress.
Piotr Stachiewicz was a Polish painter and illustrator.
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, with 5,000 extras, lavish sets, and a lengthy running time of two hours, setting the standard for "superspectacles" for decades to come.
Arturo Ambrosio (1870–1960) was an Italian film producer who was a pioneering and influential figure in the early years of Italian cinema.
Andrea Habay (1883–1941) was a French film actor. Habay appeared in more forty films during the silent era, mostly in Italy. He also directed three films during the early 1920s. He played the role of Petronius in the 1924 epic Quo Vadis, one of his final films.
Gino Viotti (1875–1951) was an Italian film actor who appeared in more than forty films, mostly in supporting roles. He played the part of Chilone Chilonides in the 1924 epic Quo Vadis.
Gabriele Maria "Gabriellino" D'Annunzio was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He was the son of the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio. He adapted the 1921 film The Ship from a novel by his father. In 1924 he co-directed the epic Quo Vadis with Georg Jacoby, but the project was a commercial failure and he retired from filmmaking. He died on 8 December 1945 at 59 years old, due to a disease that afflicted him.
Julius Caesar is a 1914 Italian silent historical film directed by Enrico Guazzoni and starring Amleto Novelli, Bruto Castellani and Pina Menichelli. Taking minor inspiration from William Shakespeare's 1599 play of the same title, the film portrays the events leading up to the assassination of Julius Caesar. In the wake of Guazzoni's internationally successful Quo Vadis it was produced on an epic scale, including vast sets recreating Ancient Rome and more than 20,000 extras.