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.
Theatrical release poster
Scene from Quo Vadis
Screenshot of Marina Berti & Leo Genn from the trailer for the film Quo Vadis
Deborah Kerr as Lygia
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz in Polish.
Quo Vadis (novel)
Nero and the burning of Rome, illustration by M. de Lipman, Altemus Edition, 1897.
Scene from the novel, entitled "Ligia leaves Aulus' house", illustration by Domenico Mastroianni, postcard from 1913, published by Armand Noyer, Paris.
Nero's Torches by Henryk Siemiradzki (1876) served as an inspiration for Quo Vadis
