Quo Vadis was a long shoot, running from May to November of 1950. The film had been in development since the 1930’s, when it was to star Robert Taylor, who would have been too young. In the late 40s Gregory Peck was set to star and John Huston to direct. Peck developed an eye infection and was replaced by none other than the original choice, Robert Taylor. Mervyn LeRoy stepped in to direct. As befitted his status, Mr. Taylor was treated very well. He had a huge apartment, two cars, one with a chauffeur, at his disposal and a chef who had worked for the King of Italy. These photos are a look at life behind the scenes on the set in Rome.
Visitors to the set: Barbara Stanwyck with producer Sam Zimbalist; Irene Dunne with director Mervyn LeRoy; Mary Livingstone and Jack Benny with Zimbalist and LeRoy.
Taylor was an avid photographer with both a still and a movie camera.
There was lots of time for reading between takes.
Deborah Kerr; the intricacies of Roman dress; scriptwriter John Lee Mahin; brushing up on Italian.
Mervyn LeRoy at work; chatting from a chariot; Director of Photography Robert Surtees and LeRoy doing a check; a script the size of a phone book.
Mervyn LeRoy; Sam Zimbalist; Marina Berti and Leo Genn.
Needlework and letter writing help to pass the time; the ubiquitous thermos of coffee.
A few of the sets.
Robert Taylor Actor 