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Post by snsurone on Nov 3, 2018 17:29:21 GMT
These two movies focus on the same subject: the persecution of early Christians in ancient Rome.
Both had plots about Roman soldiers falling in love with Christian women and both contained the characters of Nero and his wife Poppea Sabina.
But there, the similarities end.
TSoTC is a pre-Code DeMille film containing a few outrageous scenes, such as the one where a lesbian (an over-the-top Joyzelle Joyner) tries to seduce the heroine only to be frightened away by an angelic choir, and an almost naked woman in the arena menaced by an ugly gorilla.
And, unlike later movies, the villains were never punished for their sins.
Instead, the hero and heroine (Fredric March and Elissa Landi) bravely went to their deaths.
In the second film, which is longer, there is time enough for plot and character development, Nero and Poppea die, and the two leads (Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr) escape with their lives.
Of course, there was no nudity or overt sexuality. No milk bath for Poppea!
And of course, there is the beautiful technicolor photography, as opposed to the B&W of DeMille's movie.
IMHO, the performances of March and Landi (especially the latter) were better that those of Taylor and Kerr, who were too stiff and unconvincing for my liking.
But Peter Ustinov's deliciously hammy Nero in QV? was better than Charles Laughton's in TSoTC, where he really had little to do.
As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on who was the better Poppea: Claudette Colbert or Patricia Laffan.
What do you think?
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Post by politicidal on Nov 3, 2018 18:25:52 GMT
Hadn't seen Sign of the Cross but I dug QUO VADIS?. It still ranks as one of the best bible epics from that era.
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Post by teleadm on Nov 3, 2018 21:11:11 GMT
 Empress Poppaea's famous/infamous milk bath, the lovely Claudette, I can see why this was problematic for the censorship  The Robe 1953 and Demetrius and the Gladiators 1954 also cover that time, but maybe it took place a little bit earlier since they mention Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. Quo Vadis 1951 is not a great movie but a well-made good movie with great scenery, in my opinion. and my favorite was actually Petronius as played by Leo Genn, and how he always manages (nearly) to swoon the behaving like a spoiled child but grown-up Nero, by flattering him. |
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Post by claudius on Nov 3, 2018 21:36:04 GMT
The heat from the studio lights kept turning the milk bath into cheese.
The ROBE duo does indeed occur earlier between the reign of Tiberius where the Crucifixion probably happened (29-30 AD) and the assassination of Caligula/ascension of Claudius (41 AD).
I would choose QUO VADIS? (based on the polish novel) over THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (based on a play). I haven't seen SIGN in full since its restoration premiere on AMC's Film Preservation Festival Marathon in 1993 (from what I've gathered, the SIGN that people grew up on was a censored Edit with an added WW2 prologue about dictatorship). Aside from the Moon Dance and the Games, I thought it a dull affair with a somewhat downer ending. I remember first viewing of QUO alongside my first full (minus the Nativity prologue and titles) viewing of BEN-HUR on TNT in Spring 1991. I would rarely miss an airing of the film on TNT. Yes, Taylor and Kerr (although beautiful) were dull, but the supporting cast was fine like Peter Ustinov's Nero, Rosalie Crutchley's Acte, Max Baer's Ursus, Finlay Currie's Peter, and Leo Genn's Petronius & his survivalist witticism, until he realizes his kiss-ups to Nero have made things worse for the innocents, motivating him to do one major F-You epitaph before his suicide end (he forgives Nero his murders and collateral damage but not his horrible attempts at artistry: "Mutilate your subjects if you must, but please don't mutilate the Arts!"). Not to mention spectacular production values, and Miklos Rosza's first 'Epic' score.
Interesting that Patricia Laffan's other major work was as the shrewish wife in A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM.
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Post by snsurone on Nov 3, 2018 21:42:03 GMT
Um, claudius--it was Buddy Baer who played Ursus, and not his brother Max.
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Post by OldAussie on Nov 3, 2018 21:43:41 GMT
The heat from the studio lights kept turning the milk bath into cheese. The ROBE duo does indeed occur earlier between the reign of Tiberius where the Crucifixion probably happened (29-30 AD) and the assassination of Caligula/ascension of Claudius (41 AD). I would choose QUO VADIS? (based on the polish novel) over THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (based on a play). I haven't seen SIGN in full since its restoration premiere on AMC's Film Preservation Festival Marathon in 1993 (from what I've gathered, the SIGN that people grew up on was a censored Edit with an added WW2 prologue about dictatorship). Aside from the Moon Dance and the Games, I thought it a dull affair with a somewhat downer ending. I remember first viewing of QUO alongside my first full (minus the Nativity prologue and titles) viewing of BEN-HUR on TNT in Spring 1991. I would rarely miss an airing of the film on TNT. Yes, Taylor and Kerr (although beautiful) were dull, but the supporting cast was fine like Peter Ustinov's Nero, Rosalie Crutchley's Acte, Max Baer's Ursus, Finlay Currie's Peter, and Leo Genn's Petronius & his survivalist witticism, until he realizes his kiss-ups to Nero have made things worse for the innocents, motivating him to do one major F-You epitaph before his suicide end (he forgives Nero his murders and collateral damage but not his horrible attempts at artistry: "Mutilate your subjects if you must, but please don't mutilate the Arts!"). Not to mention spectacular production values, and Miklos Rosza's first 'Epic' score. Interesting that Patricia Laffan's other major work was as the shrewish wife in A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. WW2 prologue - that's the version I saw on my only viewing around 1970 - which confused the heck out of me as I knew the movie was made in the early 30s. As for Quo Vadis, I agree all the enjoyment is in the supporting cast especially Genn. |
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Post by claudius on Nov 4, 2018 12:00:20 GMT
Um, claudius--it was Buddy Baer who played Ursus, and not his brother Max. And I was doing look up to confirm the strong man's name. Should have looked further for the actor. |
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Post by snsurone on Nov 4, 2018 12:14:18 GMT
Um, claudius--it was Buddy Baer who played Ursus, and not his brother Max. And I was doing look up to confirm the strong man's name. Should have looked further for the actor. LOL |
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Post by llanwydd on Nov 4, 2018 13:33:22 GMT
I like The Sign of the Cross slightly more than Quo Vadis for reasons I could not entirely explain except that for me, QV had some boring stretches, whereas TSofC is an early 30s blockbuster which is a genre I cannot get enough of. Quite a spectacle. Laughton and Colbert are excellent as well.
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Nov 4, 2018 18:15:48 GMT
Both were enjoyable. Ustinov made a better Nero than Laughton, nd, while Colbert was sexy as Hell, Patricia Laffan made a better Poppaea. The martyrdom scenes in Quo Vadis were pretty good. But I don't like Robert Taylor. Never did. He was the poster boy for wooden acting.
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