''Quo Vadis'' (or ''Quo Vadis?'') is a 1924 Italian silent

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

directed by

Gabriellino D'Annunzio Gabriele Maria "Gabriellino" D'Annunzio (10 April 1886 – 8 December 1945) 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 ...

and Georg Jacoby and starring

Emil Jannings Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss born German actor, popular in the 1920s in Hollywood. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' The La ...

Elena Sangro Elena Sangro (born Maria Antonietta Bartoli Avveduti, 5 September 1897 – 26 January 1969) was an Italian actress. Selected filmography * '' The Crusaders'' (1918) * '' Fabiola'' (1918) * ''Samson'' (1923) * '' Emperor Maciste'' (1924) * '' Ple ...

, and

Lillian Hall-Davis Lillian Hall-Davis (23 June 1898 – 25 October 1933) 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. Born Lilian Hall Davis, the daughter of a London ...

. It is based on the 1896 novel '' Quo Vadis'' by

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, espe ...

which was notably later adapted into a 1951 film.

Plot

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

, 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 Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

, already hated by the pagan Romans.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by the ambitious

Unione Cinematografica Italiana The Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI) was an Italian film production and distribution consortium of the silent era. Following the end of the First World War, a group of eleven leading Italian companies joined forces in a single conglomerate ...

. 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.

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

was invited to star in the film, but was forced to turn the offer down due to contractual reasons. 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.

Reception

The film was a critical and commercial failure on its release, effectively ending the career of its producer

Arturo Ambrosio Arturo Ambrosio (1870–1960) was an Italian film producer who was a pioneering and influential figure in the early years of Italian cinema. Biography Ambrosio was a photographer who owned a shop in Turin. In 1904, after returning from a visit ...

, who had been one of the major figures of early Italian cinema. In its review ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it as "excellent as spectacle, but is too tedious in many sequences to be a good entertainment". D'Annunzio never directed or wrote another film. Jacoby's reputation also suffered heavily, and he switched to working on

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

and

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

's performance, on the other hand, received moderate praise. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' noted that Jannings was the "one item beside boredom" the movie had, but despite his "able performance" they "still prefer him in Germanic studio surroundings". The French film star

Max Linder Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

and his wife 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 A suicide pact is an agreed plan between two or more individuals to die by suicide. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed. General considerations Suicide pacts are an important concept in the study of suicide, and h ...

or a murder-suicide. The suicide of Petronius and Eunica in the film has been proposed as an inspiration adding to Linder's previous depression.

References

External links

*
''Quo Vadis'' at The GreatStars.com; Lost Films Wanted
(Wayback Machine) (note: ''the film survives'')

at silenthollywood.com * nglish subtitles {{Authority control 1924 films Italian silent feature films Italian historical drama films Italian epic films Films directed by Georg Jacoby Films directed by Gabriellino D'Annunzio Films set in Rome Films based on Polish novels Films based on works by Henryk Sienkiewicz Films set in ancient Rome Films set in the Roman Empire Films set in the 1st century Depictions of Nero on film Cultural depictions of Poppaea Sabina 1920s historical drama films Italian black-and-white films 1924 drama films 1925 drama films 1925 films Silent drama films Silent adventure films 1920s Italian films