Neros tolle Nächte (1956)

Neros tolle Nächte: Directed by Steno. With Alberto Sordi, Vittorio De Sica, Gloria Swanson, Brigitte Bardot. Nero is on holiday at the seaside. Poppea, Seneca and many other guests are with him. Nero is preparing a great show where he will be the star. When Agrippina, his mother, arrives with her German praetorians and decides Nero has to conquer Britain, she is asking for trouble. Many attempts of murder and poisoning will happen on the eve of his great show.

“A very silly movie indeed. A spoof of Nero and ancient Rome. I loved Nerou0026#39;s elegiac song in the palace court, surrounded by the chubbykin cherubs. Nero to mamma Agrippina, u0026quot;How beautiful you are,u0026quot; he says, as he plans to kill her and others who annoy him or stand in his way in this movie where everybody seems to have homicide on their minds and snakes in their hands. Nerou0026#39;s philosophy: u0026quot;I have more important things than politics. I have to sing.u0026quot; Seneca turns the criticism of Nerou0026#39;s singing like a dog into a laudatory affirmation. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is all Marx Brothers mayhem, with the weirdest casting imaginable: Alberto Sordi as the demented Nero (perfect), Gloria Swanson as mom Agrippina (seething), Brigitte Bardot as gold-digger Poppea (lusty), Vittorio De Sica as Seneca (cautiously two-faced). The movieu0026#39;s release in America in a dubbed version was minimal, but itu0026#39;s really quite enjoyable.”