This special slice of history occurs in Rome that is firing itself and Nero : Charles Laughton accuses the Christians to have committed the burning disaster . While his alluring wife Poppea : Claudette Colbert attempts to seduce Prefect Marcus Superbus : Fredric March who at the same time has fallen in love for a beautiful Christian , Mercia : Elissa Landi , the latter along with his mates are being pursued by Nero troops commanded by Tijelinus : Ian Keith . As a result the Christians are damned to die on the arena between a menagerie of hungry , wild animals . Out of the blazing parade of Rome comes the love that has outlived 2.000 years ! . Nero fiddles Christians sing Rome burns! . A picture which will proudly lead all the entertainments the World has ever seen !
A really spectacular film with tension , emotion , religiosity , adequate miniature set burns , overwhelming combats with Gladiators and other unfortunate Christians thrown to a fearsome zoo of starving animals , dreadful events and a deep romance . Much general debauchery among the sadistic , masochism and the erotic . It begins with prologue tacked on in 1944 that ridiculously attempts to link the horrible happenings in Nero's time to the Allies' advance over Italy . It displays breathtaking , brutal combats in the arena among gladiators and Christians and lions and many spectacular sequences that include burning of Rome . Religious movie with some hokey elements , but history is always a plaything to Cecil DeMille , useful only as a surefire way of offering up sex , erotism , naughty scenes , brutal images of sacrifice , fights with strong violence and visual spectacle under the guise of moral and cultural enlightment. The eroticism is provided by Claudette Colbert and her suggestive and attractive bathing up to her nipples in asses' milk that surprisingly passed the Hays Code , along with insinuating slinking about Mitchell Leisen's gowns . The great Charles Laughton scene-steals as Nero , here as an implicitily gay emperor, while Rome burns and sermonising a speech , his acting to be partially repeated by Peter Ustinov in the similar Quo Vadis 1951 by Mervyn LeRoy with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr .
This big budget motion picture was competently directed by Cecil B DeMille following his peculiar style . DeMille was a great professional who made various epic , historical and Colossal films, such as : "The Ten Commandments 1923" , "King of Kings" , "Cleopatra" , "The Plainsman" ," The Crusades" , "Union Pacific" , "Uncomquered" , "Samson and Dalilah" and "The Ten Commandments version 1956" . Rating 7/10 . Above average.
A really spectacular film with tension , emotion , religiosity , adequate miniature set burns , overwhelming combats with Gladiators and other unfortunate Christians thrown to a fearsome zoo of starving animals , dreadful events and a deep romance . Much general debauchery among the sadistic , masochism and the erotic . It begins with prologue tacked on in 1944 that ridiculously attempts to link the horrible happenings in Nero's time to the Allies' advance over Italy . It displays breathtaking , brutal combats in the arena among gladiators and Christians and lions and many spectacular sequences that include burning of Rome . Religious movie with some hokey elements , but history is always a plaything to Cecil DeMille , useful only as a surefire way of offering up sex , erotism , naughty scenes , brutal images of sacrifice , fights with strong violence and visual spectacle under the guise of moral and cultural enlightment. The eroticism is provided by Claudette Colbert and her suggestive and attractive bathing up to her nipples in asses' milk that surprisingly passed the Hays Code , along with insinuating slinking about Mitchell Leisen's gowns . The great Charles Laughton scene-steals as Nero , here as an implicitily gay emperor, while Rome burns and sermonising a speech , his acting to be partially repeated by Peter Ustinov in the similar Quo Vadis 1951 by Mervyn LeRoy with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr .
This big budget motion picture was competently directed by Cecil B DeMille following his peculiar style . DeMille was a great professional who made various epic , historical and Colossal films, such as : "The Ten Commandments 1923" , "King of Kings" , "Cleopatra" , "The Plainsman" ," The Crusades" , "Union Pacific" , "Uncomquered" , "Samson and Dalilah" and "The Ten Commandments version 1956" . Rating 7/10 . Above average.