Ned Sherrin and Terry Glinwood formed Virgin Films, which made seven films beginning with this and its sequels. Frankie Howerd's agent
Beryl Vertue sold the idea of a film version of
Up Pompeii to
Nat Cohen. Sherrin wrote that Cohen "had spotted the potency of cheap TV spin-offs and was envious of the Boulting brothers’ success with
Till Death Us Do Part (1968)." Cohen hired Sherrin to produce. In May 1970 it was announced the film would be the first in a series of comedies produced by Ned Sherrin for Anglo-EMI, the second of which would be
The Last Virgin Left Alive from a script by
Eleanor Bron and
John Fortune based on the novel
Jam Today by Susan Barratt. Anglo-EMI's head Nat Cohen said "I am convinced the key to recapturing large cinema audiences is a good, uproarious comedy." The deal was negotiated by Vertue, a director of London Associated Films Limited with Cohen and Sherrin. Sherrin felt "Frankie’s unique comic quality had never been captured on the screen. Nor did we, despite the ingenuity of the director, Bob Kellett, really manage to pin it down." Talbot Rothwell wrote the scripts to the television series but was busy writing
Carry On movies so the screenplay was written by Sid Colin. The
Robert Stigwood Organisation had money in the film. In March 1972 Stigwood would buy out Virgin Films. Filming took place at MGM-EMI
Elstree Film Studios,
Borehamwood, in August 1970.
Billy Walker the boxer was given his first screen role. The producers were able to use left over sets from
Julius Caesar (1970) which had just finished filming. A version was made for American audiences with six minutes of additional footage including a prologue and epilogue and Lurcio setting the scene. It is ironic to note that on television, where the story took place many years before Nero's rule, Lurcio and the others lived on to a further series. ==Reception==