Rome en flammes

This movie was given a rough ride by historians and we find little fault with their opinions: the persecutions began AFTER the great fire ;Nero needed scapegoats to calm things down among the plebs,and the Christian were ideal .Anyway ,he was not in Rome when the fire started.

The lack of means is obvious and the great fire is not impressive at all:the town which's burning looks like a model .The screenplay is incredibly poor,even for an Italian sword and sandals ;it consists of murders,tortures,orgies and stakes ,without a firm narrative line; Lang Jeffries ,later secret agent Coplan in Riccardo Freda's spy thriller (1967)),does not seem to care about the situation,even about his mom's fate,a cardboard character ;and the heroine's hairdo is horrible.

Historic figures are featured and they easily steal the show from the principals (but is there anything to steal?):the pagans ,Petronius and Seneca ,the latter showing himself to be a wise philosopher;Peter and Paul,preaching in the catacombs;Peter tells about his denial and he urges his flock to return good for evil:which is not easy to do in those troubled times.

Lang Jeffries looks good in this ambitious tale of a Roman Centurion returning to the Eternal City only to find himself at odds with his mad emperor Nero's persecution of the Christians. To his horror, Marcus eventually learns that both his mother and his fiancee are numbered among those Christians destined to become Nero's human torches and resulting in Fire Over Rome. This glossy spectacle looks good and is well acted until it reveals its budget constraints with laughable burning models supposed to represent Rome burning. (Stock footage from the same sequence in "Quo Vadis? would have answered better) If the viewer overlooks this flaw the film is otherwise admirable.

While I'm not partial to the insanity of the Nero storyline (no spoilers), I love the tie-ins with the infamous Seneca and Sts Peter and Paul. What gets me about this film is the strong ethical pull and the fact that having ethical principles is immediately misunderstood as being Christian -- which at the time is an accusation punishable by death, usually without evidence or trial in Nero's time. (No more on this so as not to include any spoilers, BUT it's fair to mention that this line of action ultimately leads to the great fire of Rome.)

The acting and costumes are quote good. My favorite character is the mother (NO SPOILERS).

After successfully campaigning in Gaul for several years, Consul Marcus Valerius arrived back in Rome with his legion. He and his men were looking forward to celebrating their return with their families and friends. The fearless warrior expected his Emperor to be pleased with his conquests, but Nero showed little interest. Other priorities were far more important. Nero ordered Marcus to assist Menecrate, the hated leader of the Praetorian Guards, in cleansing the city of its Christian presence but he refused and resigned as Consul in protest. He was immediately sentenced to death and his legion disbanded. Marcus Valerius is a valiant soldier and the killing of innocent people goes against all his principles. The former hero is now the hunted.

Fire over Rome is a smaller scale Quo Vadis, obviously on a much lower budget, but despite this, it's a neat little peplum with good performances from Lang Jeffries as the consul who realises that Nero is a Christian killing nut job and other actors, too. It moves briskly, wastes no time in over padding and its focus is more on the conflict than the romance (Quo Vadis lingered on this). There's some good swordplay. Yes, the overview of Rome burning is obviously models, but the fire scene within city is well-done, as well as can be for a B-picture.

Only see this if you're forced by spear point... Nero's a bright ginger-haired fem, Marcus is as wooden as a spanking paddle... they keep showing a model of Rome burning or not, that should have been left on the cutting room floor but favorite is the actors frozen breath... no heated soundstage, costs money!

Extra laugh... at the end, Peter and Paul come out the gate of a medieval castle!