A colorful parody or persiflage on the Roman Empire, made with some production value and some known actors - Barbara Shelley, Gloria Swanson and Bridget Bardot among some known Italian actors like Vittorio De Sica or Alberto Sordi (at least if you know a tiny bit of Italian movies). Nero's Mistress will be an entertaining ride - if the kind of humor provided strikes you, if not, you won't enjoy this ride. For sure Nero's Mistress aka Mio figlio Nerone does not play in the same league as the immortal and ueber-delicious Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), but this one was made decades before that masterpiece.

Don't expect to hear the voice of the legendary Gloria Swanson in this farcical view of the last of the original Roman empire dynasty. The Claudians, seriously documented in the brilliant BBC miniseries "I Claudius" gets a follow-up with this Italian farce. If you recall, in the television adaption of Robert Graves' classic novel, Claudius was poisoned by his evil wife, Aggrapina and her son, Nero. Claudius foresaw the end of his family's reign and gladly ate the poisoned mushrooms fed to him by his wife, as evil as any of the women who proceeded her. That's the part Swanson plays, and she's a sight to behold.

Alberto Sordi is the frivolous Nero, as mad as his uncle Caligula, cheery but irresponsible, and involved with the beguiling Pompea (Bridgette Bardot) much to his mother's displeasure. I couldn't tell if she was more upset over his putting snakes in her bed (for which she carries a mongoose around) or his choice of bed-mates. This is a bit of a history lesson, mentioning everybody going back to the mother of the nation, Aggrapina's great grandmother, Livia. As they recapped the family history, I couldn't help but laugh in recollection.

This certainly is gorgeous to look at, every detail of it as you elaborate as any of the biblical epics Hollywood was doing with extremely high budgets at the same time. However, the acting within the Italian dubbing, I couldn't properly accept as believable for Swanson's character. A lot of the Roman royalty lusts for excesses is right on, and a musical performance by Sordi with fat male children backing him up as chorus boys seems to have influenced the creators of the disastrous "Caligula".

It also seems influenced by the many overstuffed operas, although I think this is closer to Mozart's burlesque period than any of the great writers of opera's golden age. I am certainly glad that I sought this out both for the historical view (if not the method in which it was presented) and for Swanson's presence. Call this one, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Rome's Destruction". Or even better, "How to Murder your Mother while she murders your mistress".

But while there is slapstick, it sometimes feels like it is just a "normal" movie ... and not the completely out there comedy it actually is. Maybe that is because of me not being fluent in Italian and certain things being lost in translation ... or maybe the mood and flow of the movie is actually all over the place.

Having said that, the comedy does work if you don't expect much. The actors are really good and they sort of elevate an otherwise quite subpar movie I'd say ... it is a matter of taste (even if most would say bad taste)