- Film Review
- Reviewed By Adrian Turner
-
3 out of 5
Long and bloated, this shows both the best and worst of depicting religious fervour in the Hollywood epic style. Alongside too-lengthy scenes of po-faced piety involving pallid hero Robert Taylor and wan Deborah Kerr, there is Peter Ustinov revelling in his role as the Emperor Nero. He pouts, simpers and fiddles while Rome burns, ad-libs to perfection and sends Christians to the lions in some spectacular arena scenes. Superbly cast against him is Leo Genn as Petronius, arbiter of fashion, whose speech before he opens his veins ("Do not mutilate the arts") is a veiled attack on the communist witch-hunts and a hint of what might have been had John Huston directed the picture instead of Mervyn LeRoy. The fire of Rome, by the way, was farmed out to a second unit headed by director Anthony Mann.
Plot Summary
Historical epic starring Deborah Kerr, Robert Taylor and Peter Ustinov. Under the sadistic Emperor Nero, Christianity is outlawed and the beautiful daughter of a Roman general is forced to choose between her religion and her Roman lover.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Lygia
- Deborah Kerr
- Marcus Vinicius
- Robert Taylor (1)
- Nero
- Peter Ustinov
- Petronius
- Leo Genn
- Poppaea
- Patricia Laffan
- Peter
- Finlay Currie
- Paul
- Abraham Sofaer
- Eunice
- Marina Berti
- Ursus
- Buddy Baer
- Plautius
- Felix Aylmer
- Tigellinus
- Ralph Truman
- Nerva
- Norman Wooland
- Acte
- Rosalie Crutchley
- Christian prisoner
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Lygia's slave
- Sophia Loren
- Narrator
- Walter Pidgeon
Crew
- Director
- Mervyn LeRoy
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