When Leoni originally opened Quo Vadis in 1926, it only occupied No. 27. He purchased the property, with the aid of a bank loan for £800. Its name was chosen after Leoni saw a billboard in Leicester Square advertising a film of the same name. Quo Vadis is Latin for "Where are you going?". The cinematic epic, adapted from Henryk Sienkiewicz's 1896 novel Quo Vadis, was the highest-grossing film in 1951.
