My memories of seeing this when younger were not good so my expectations were low but I completely went with this - a gripping tale of life in Ancient Rome under Nero. Charles Laughton's fake nose was distracting but his performance is excellent as the tyrannical leader, frequently bored, longing for distraction, keen to blame the city's ills on that new sect, the Christians. He's bested by Claudette Colbert as his seductive wife Poppea, who in pre-Code Hollywood never looked sexier, whether taking milk baths while kittens lap at the edge or wearing a variety of gowns that barely cover her.
Sex is very much on the brain in this Ancient Rome bodice ripper - Colbert wants to get it on with tight-shorts-wearing centurion Frederic March who wants to shag hot little Christian Elissa Landi, who wants to bang March too (lust is all over both their faces when they first meet) but can't bring herself to do it. (Or does she? When she lives in his house you could assume she's banging him). He tries to get her to loosen up and join in the orgies, even sending in a hot woman to do a lesbian seduction dance (I'm not making this up), but she holds fast... and he falls in love with her.
The basic plot was used in Quo Vadis? and is very effective - I'm surprised they haven't used this story again, it and Ben Hur offer the two can't-miss Ancient world templates. The last half hour or so is terrific - one long sequence at the Circus where Romans bitch and moan about their seats as various midget gladiators kill each other and Christians get taken out one by one and March decides to go to his death with Landi. Powerful, hokey melodrama but I completely bought it, in part because it was so dark - Poppea and Nero aren't punished in this film.
Maybe I saw this in a weak moment but I was really moved and impressed.
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