‘A more permanent world’

Abstract

This chapter traces the long production history of Quo Vadis at MGM, beginning in the mid-1930s and including an unsuccessful attempt to bring Sienkiewicz’s novel to the screen during the Second World War. It examines the predominantly economic factors which led to the film being made as a ‘runaway’ production, initially bound for locations in Italy and studios in London but ultimately realized as an all-Italian production based at the revived Cinecittà studio. MGM’s need to repatriate revenues which had been temporarily blocked by the Italian government was instrumental in this decision: their money could not be withdrawn from Italy directly, but it could be invested in local production and then exported back to America as materials for a film. This chapter also considers the legacy of Quo Vadis, both in Italy and America. The film’s success not only propelled a cycle of highly profitable epic movies set in the ancient world but also established a model for relocating big-budget film production overseas. Giulio Andreotti later claimed that the film ‘did more for Italy than the Marshall Plan’, but others have been less sanguine about the industrial restructuring which occurred in its wake. More than sixty years later, overseas production (buttressed by an array of tax-incentive schemes) remains a key element in the American film and TV industry’s global reach. In this context, the transnational production history of Quo Vadis is perhaps more relevant than ever.