Julius Caesar (1953)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)
(more)

Release Date:

4 June 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

The assassination of the would be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for the idealist and the republic.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Roman | Assassination | Ghost | Soothsayer

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Mark Antony
James Mason	...	Brutus
John Gielgud	...	Cassius
Louis Calhern	...	Julius Caesar
Edmond O'Brien	...	Casca
Greer Garson	...	Calpurnia
Deborah Kerr	...	Portia
George Macready	...	Marullus
Michael Pate	...	Flavius
Richard Hale	...	Soothsayer
Alan Napier	...	Cicero
John Hoyt	...	Decius Brutus
Tom Powers	...	Metellus Cimber
William Cottrell	...	Cinna
Jack Raine	...	Trebonius
Ian Wolfe	...	Ligarius
Morgan Farley	...	Artemidorus
William Phipps	...	Servant to Antony (as Bill Phipps)
Douglass Watson	...	Octavius Caesar (as Douglas Watson)
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Lepidus
Rhys Williams	...	Lucilius
Michael Ansara	...	Pindarus
Dayton Lummis	...	Messala
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Citizen of Rome
Edmund Purdom	...	Strato
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Citizen of Rome
Jo Gilbert	...	Citizen of Rome
John Hardy	...	Lucius
Chet Stratton	...	Servant to Caesar (as Chester Stratton)
Lumsden Hare	...	Publius
Preston Hanson	...	Claudius
Victor Perry	...	Popilius Lena
Michael Tolan	...	Officer to Octavius
John Lupton	...	Varro
Joseph Waring	...	Clitus (as Joe Waring)
John Parrish	...	Titinius
Stephen Roberts	...	Dardanius
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Volumnius
David Bond	...	Citizen of Rome
Ann Tyrrell	...	Citizen of Rome
John O'Malley	...	Citizen of Rome
John Doucette	...	Carpenter, Citizen of Rome
Oliver Blake	...	Citizen of Rome
Donald Elson	...	Citizen of Rome
Alvin Hurwitz	...	Citizen of Rome
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Alderson	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Henny Backus	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
John Call	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Booth Colman	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Darren Dublin	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Michael Frasco	...	Little Boy (uncredited)
Robert Fuller	...	Extra (uncredited)
Chief Leonard George	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Ned Glass	...	Cobbler (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Chester Hayes	...	Roman Soldier (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Neyle Morrow	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Robert Nichols	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Vic Perrin	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Jack Perry	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Joe Ploski	...	Citizen of Rome (uncredited)
Barry Regan	...	Sentry (uncredited)
Norman Rice	...	Little Man (uncredited)
Irene Tedrow	...	Bit Role (uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writing credits
William Shakespeare		(play)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz		uncredited

Produced by
John Houseman	....	producer

Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa		(as Miklos Rozsa)

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg

Film Editing by
John D. Dunning		(as John Dunning)

Art Direction by
Edward C. Carfagno		(as Edward Carfagno)
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Hugh Hunt
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Herschel McCoy

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Howard W. Koch	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Music Department
Eugene Zador	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Pier Maria Pasinetti	....	technical advisor (as P.M. Pasinetti)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm tinted and 16mm prints)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album released by (Excalibur Collection)

Also Known As:

William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Black and White (tinted) (1969 UK re-release)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (original release)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16281)

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The one scene in the play involving Cinna the Poet, in which he is mistaken for Cinna the Conspirator and killed by the angry mob, was filmed but deleted before release.

Goofs:

Continuity: Marc Antony's left hand changes between shots when people from the crowd ask him to read Caesar's testament.

Quotes:

Julius Caesar: [after being stabbed by Brutus] Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Hebrew Hammer (2003)

Mankiewicz fills the screen with vitality on the plains of Shakespeare's imagination...

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer of all time... His plays, written in the 16th and early 17th centuries for a small repertory theater, are today performed more often and in more countries than ever before...

"Julius Caesar" is rich in its insights, the struggle for political power, the embellishment of the mind, and the characters of men...

Joseph L. Mankiewicz captures Shakespeare's characters in elegant visuals projecting the beauty of the language, producing civilized entertainment... Its message fills the screen with vitality on the plains of Shakespeare's imagination...

The film is set in Rome 44 B.C. The city is rich with the privileges of its empire, much of it caused by the pretentious Caesar (Louis Calhern) appointing himself dictator... Caesar's greater character flaw, thinking that he is far above others and somehow invincible...

Loyal to Caesar is Mark Antony (Marlon Brando), a brave, intelligent, pleasure-loving cunning man - a character with many hidden traits, misunderstood by all...

Mark Anthony looks at life as a game in which he had a signified part to play... He seems slow to emerge, until he is forced to show his true potential... He is devoted and prefers to be dependent upon Caesar... He wants the crown of emperor to be given to him, so all conflicts could be avoided...

But Brutus (James Mason), an old friend of Caesar, is torn between his personal feelings and his integrity and idealism where the Romans would possess peace, liberty and freedom...

The scrupulous, unselfish Brutus resents Caesar's ambition as absolute ruler... Being very honorable, but very naive, he underestimates Mark Antony, perceiving him as a person who didn't always take life seriously and therefore - he is not a cautious thinker...

The story begins on a festival day as Caesar and his entourage make their way to the stadium... On the way, a blind beggar warns Caesar of 'The Ides of March' (On the middle of the month, the daggers came from every side...) but he is ignored...

In the stadium, the sarcastic Cassius (John Gielgud) sees Brutus as the influential Roman able to unite the nobles in the conspiracy... He implores him to join his cause... For him, Caesar has become too powerful and too popular... He must be removed from power...

Cassius is the most significant character for his ability to perceive the true motives of the characters... He thinks the nobility of Rome is responsible for the government of Rome... Brutus, the back-bone of the plan, agrees to the plot, but refuses Cassius's proposal to slain Mark Antony...

After the conspirators have left, Brutus' wife Portia (Deborah Kerr) asks to know what it is that worries him...

Caesar's wife, Calpurnia (Greer Garson) begs her husband to stay home and not to go to the Senate, for fear of danger... As a superstitious woman she was convinced that some falling meteors are warnings of her husband's death... But Caesar believes his friends have assembled to offer him the crown of emperor... So he moves forward, leaving unopened letter which lists the conspirators...