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Julius Caesar
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Julius Caesar (1953) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   3,306 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writer:
Contact:
View company contact information for Julius Caesar on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
4 June 1953 (USA) more
Genre:
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(10 articles)
Me and Orson Welles
 (From The Guardian - Film News. 5 December 2009, 4:10 PM, PST)

Me and Orson Welles | Review
 (From SmellsLikeScreenSpirit. 24 November 2009, 10:00 AM, PST)

User Comments:
"Ah, how you weep" more (54 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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)
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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)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
  • Intrada  score album released by (Excalibur Collection)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
more
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Black and White | Black and White (tinted) (1969 UK re-release)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (original release)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The film's soundtrack was actually recorded in four-track stereo, although it had not been filmed in widescreen, but the movie was eventually released in mono. If it had been released in four-track stereo, this film, and not The Robe (1953), which was made both in Cinemascope (a screen ratio of 2.55:1) and standard "Academy ratio" (1:37:1), would have been the first motion picture released using that method of recording. "Julius Caesar" was eventually released in stereo on laserdisc and DVD. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Inside Brutus' tent, the shield on the wall changes its position and disappears between shots. more
Quotes:
Julius Caesar: [after being stabbed by Brutus] Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Hebrew Hammer (2003) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
27 out of 35 people found the following comment useful.
"Ah, how you weep", 16 February 2005
7/10
Author: Michael Bo (michael.bo@pol.dk) from Copenhagen, Denmark

50 years after the fact, the most interesting angle on Mankiewicz' 'Julius Caesar' is perhaps the blend of acting styles that characterizes it. With Mankiewicz dialogue is all, and it is a source of endless fascination to me how he manages to make this a uniformly brilliantly acted film.

Mankiewicz doesn't strive to open up the play and make it naturalistic, but he does allow his camera to roam freely, creating space around his characters. But it is in his directing of the actors that he excels, the way that he shows the fragile dynamics in the crowd of conspirators before and after their stabbing of Caesar even more than in the famous monologues. Will history frown upon them? Or applaud their act? "That we shall die, we know", all else is uncertain.

Of course the key scene of the film and Shakespeare's play, takes place right after Caesar's assassination. The rabble has gathered at the Capitol to hear Brutus explain himself, and James Mason, in a refreshingly un-actorish way, beautifully defends Brutus the well-intentioned butcher, laying bare the dilemma of the noble assassin. It was "not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more", and he sways the crowd with his rhetoric.

Then Brando takes the floor, speaking up for his benefactor, the slain Caesar: "Friend, Romans and countrymen, lend me your ear", he says, having carried the bloodied corpse out in his arms. His speech gradually builds in momentum, and the sheer excitement of watching Brando's performance today is reason enough to watch the film. How elegantly, deftly he speaks treason against Brutus and the new would-be rulers. "They are honourable men", he says, and the discrete colouring of the adjective makes it obvious how Mark Anthony really feels about it. "If you have tears, prepare to shed them now" indeed. There are layers in Brando's performance that warrants more than one viewing, just the tolerant half-smile when he is playing the rabble for suckers. "Ah, how you weep". His unfathomable half-smile turns up again near the end, and it speaks volumes.

Of course, John Gielgud as Cassius is volatile and very rooted in the British thespian tradition which doesn't lend itself easily to film in my opinion. Film actor Edmond O'Brien is great as the ambitious and untrustworthy Casca, but unfortunately the women have little to do. Brutus' wife Portia is played by Deborah Kerr who never looked more stunning than here, and she delivers her few lines with conviction. Greer Garson is Caesar's wife, warning him against making an appearance at the Capitol on the fateful day, but she is hardly given any screen-time.

The film is not the last word in Shakespeare in any sense of the word, but it is entertaining and true to what it sets out to do. And the acting styles blend together wonderfully.

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