Spartacus (1960)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick
(more)

Writers:

Howard Fast (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

7 October 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

They trained him to kill for their pleasure. . .but they trained him a little too well. . .

Plot:

The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman empire.

Plot Keywords:

Controversial | Homosexual Subtext | Ancient World | One Word Title | Rome Italy

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Spartacus
Laurence Olivier	...	Marcus Licinius Crassus
Jean Simmons	...	Varinia
Charles Laughton	...	Sempronius Gracchus
Peter Ustinov	...	Lentulus Batiatus
John Gavin	...	Julius Caesar
Nina Foch	...	Helena Glabrus
John Ireland	...	Crixus
Herbert Lom	...	Tigranes Levantus
John Dall	...	Marcus Publius Glabrus
Charles McGraw	...	Marcellus
Joanna Barnes	...	Claudia Marius
Harold J. Stone	...	David
Woody Strode	...	Draba
Peter Brocco	...	Ramon
Paul Lambert	...	Gannicus
Robert J. Wilke	...	Guard captain
Nick Dennis	...	Dionysius (as Nicholas Dennis)
John Hoyt	...	Caius
Frederick Worlock	...	Laelius (as Frederic Worlock)
Tony Curtis	...	Antoninus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arthur Batanides	...	Legionnaire (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
Buff Brady	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Rudy Bukich	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Bob Burns	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Fimbria (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Tap Canutt	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Al Carmichael	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Chuck Courtney	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Dick Crockett	...	Guard (uncredited)
Carol Daniels	...	Christian girl (uncredited)
Ted de Corsia	...	Legionnaire (uncredited)
Terence de Marney	...	Majordomo (uncredited)
Johnny Duncan	...	Beheaded man (uncredited)
Roy Engel	...	(uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	...	(uncredited)
Charlotte Fletcher	...	Mother with Child (uncredited)
Robert Fuller	...	Extra (uncredited)
Seamon Glass	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Joe Gold	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Harold Goodwin	...	Slave (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Slave leader (uncredited)
James Griffith	...	Otho (uncredited)
Brad Harris	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Harry Harvey Jr.	...	Slave (uncredited)
Joe Haworth	...	Marius (uncredited)
Vinton Haworth	...	Metallius (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Hallene Hill	...	Beggar woman (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	...	Slave leader (uncredited)
Robert F. Hoy	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Jil Jarmyn	...	Julia (uncredited)
Valley Keene	...	Soldier (uncredited)
George Kennedy	...	Rebel soldier (uncredited)
Aron Kincaid	...	Crassus' standard-bearer (uncredited)
Irvin 'Zabo' Koszewski	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Stubby Kruger	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Carey Loftin	...	Guard (uncredited)
Dayton Lummis	...	Symmachus (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Gordon Mitchell	...	(uncredited)
Bob Morgan	...	Galeno (uncredited)
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	Slave (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	...	Guard (uncredited)
Regis Parton	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Leonard Penn	...	Garrison officer (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	...	Slave leader (uncredited)
Vic Perrin	...	Narrator (uncredited)
Bill Raisch	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Slave (uncredited)
George Robotham	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Autumn Russell	...	Slave girl (uncredited)
Russell Saunders	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Charles Schaeffer	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Jim Sears	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Tom Steele	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Robert Stevenson	...	Legionnaire (uncredited)
Jo Summers	...	Slave girl (uncredited)
Ken Terrell	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	Trainer (uncredited)
Louise Vincent	...	Slave at Gracchus' home (uncredited)
Carleton Young	...	Herald (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick
Anthony Mann		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Howard Fast		(novel)
Dalton Trumbo		(writer)
Calder Willingham		(battle scenes) uncredited
Peter Ustinov		uncredited

Produced by
Kirk Douglas	....	executive producer
James C. Katz	....	producer (1991 restoration)
Edward Lewis	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Russell Metty		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert Lawrence
Irving Lerner		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Alexander Golitzen

Art Direction by
Eric Orbom

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman
Julia Heron

Costume Design by
Valles
William Ware Theiss		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Larry Germain	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist
Jay Sebring	....	hair designer: Kirk Douglas (uncredited)

Production Management
Norman Deming	....	unit production manager
Eduardo García Maroto	....	unit production manager: Spain (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marshall Green	....	assistant director
Joseph E. Kenney	....	assistant director
Foster H. Phinney	....	assistant director (as Foster Phinney)
Charles Scott	....	assistant director
James Welch	....	assistant director
Yakima Canutt	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Irving Lerner	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Julio Sempere	....	third assistant director (uncredited in original version)
Robert Webb	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer (1991 restoration)
James Bolt	....	sound re-recording mixer 1991 restoration
Joel Fein	....	sound re-recording mixer 1991 restoration
Mark Gordon	....	sound effects editor (1991 restoration)
David W. Gray	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (1991 restoration) (as David Gray)
Gib Jaffe	....	sound effects editor (1991 restoration)
Joe Lapis	....	sound
Diane Marshall	....	foley artist (1991 restoration)
Ronald Pierce	....	sound
Karin Roulo	....	foley mixer (1991 restoration)
Murray Spivack	....	sound
Waldon O. Watson	....	sound
Glenn E. Anderson	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Jack Foley	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Steve Kohler	....	foley recordist: 1991 restoration (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Paul Rutan Jr.	....	manager of optical operations 1991 restoration
Peter Ellenshaw	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunt coordinator
Paul Baxley	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Benson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Norman Bishop	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buff Brady	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Brown	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Bruggeman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ron Burke	....	stunts (uncredited)
Polly Burson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Wayne Burson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tap Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Yakima Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Catching	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Courtney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Crockett	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Daheim	....	stunts (uncredited)
Louie Elias	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Harold Goodwin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	....	stunts (uncredited)
Brad Harris	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert F. Hoy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns	....	stunts (uncredited)
Stubby Kruger	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carey Loftin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Michael Masters	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Miles	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Morgan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Regis Parton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Peterson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Robotham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Wally Rose	....	stunts (uncredited)
Russell Saunders	....	stunts (uncredited)
Charles Schaeffer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Shannon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alex Sharp	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Steele	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Summers	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ken Terrell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Don Turner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	....	stunts (uncredited)
Red West	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Fortenberry Jr.	....	camera operations 1991 restoration
Bob Rose	....	additional grip
John Rupkalvis	....	camera operations 1991 restoration
Clifford Stine	....	cinematographer: additional scenes
William Read Woodfield	....	still photographer
George Dye	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Harry L. Wolf	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ditta Peruzzi	....	wardrobe (as Peruzzi)
Bill Thomas	....	costumes: Miss Simmons

Editorial Department
Fred A. Chulack	....	assistant film editor (as Fred Chulack)
Robert Lawrence	....	editorial consultant (1991 restoration)
David Orr	....	color timer (1991 restoration)
Brian Ralph	....	negative cutter (1991 restoration)
Robert Schulte	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Joseph Gershenson	....	music supervisor
Joseph Gershenson	....	score co-conductor
Alex North	....	conductor
Arnold Schwarzwald	....	music editor
Milton Schwarzwald	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Other crew
Saul Bass	....	design consultant
Robert A. Harris	....	1991 reconstruction and restoration
Michael Hyatt	....	production assistant (1991 restoration)
Stan Margulies	....	production aide
Vittorio Nino Novarese	....	historical and technical advisor

Production Companies

• Bryna Productions

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures France (UPF) (1961) (France) (theatrical)
• Bio-Kuva (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1969) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Väinän Filmi (1968) (Finland) (theatrical) (70 mm print)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1977) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Esselte Video (1988) (Finland) (video)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS) (laserdisc)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1992) (Finland) (video)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS) (restored version)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1995) (Finland) (TV) (TV2)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS) (widescreen)
• Universal Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• CIC (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Egmont Entertainment (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (HD-DVD) (restored) (uncut)
• Argentina Video Home (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Costumi d'Arte Peruzzi  wardrobe
• Mayflower Recording  adr recording

Also Known As:

Spartacus: Rebel Against Rome (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

184 min (premiere version) | Sweden:187 min (1968 re-release) | UK:197 min (1991 re-release) | USA:161 min (1967 re-release) | USA:198 min (1991 restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints, restored version) | Mono (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm prints, original release)

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (1967 version) | South Korea:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) (restored version) | Spain:13 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-14 (1992) | Finland:K-16 (1962) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:AA (Ontario) (restored version) | Canada:G (Manitoba) (1967 version) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (restored version) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original release) | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:12 (video rating) | Norway:16 (1963) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (restored version) | West Germany:16 | UK:A (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Bryna Productions

Trivia:

David Lean was considered to direct, but declined. Laurence Olivier was then asked to direct, but he had relinquished the directing assignment, as he felt the dual role of actor-director would prove too demanding.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Characters are shown using stirrups to mount and dismount their horses. Stirrups were unknown in Europe during the B.C. era.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: In the last century before the birth of the new faith called Christianity, which was destined to overthrow the pagan tyranny of Rome and bring about a new society, the Roman Republic stood at the very center of the civilized world. "Of all things fairest," sang the poet...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (#4.2)" (2008)

The Eternal Cry For Freedom

From what little I've read of this film it was lucky to have been made at all. Some very big talents had some very big egos and those egos clashed repeatedly. Original director Anthony Mann was replaced by Stanley Kubrick by Producer/Star Kirk Douglas among other clashes.

But the result was all worth it. The stars all give top notch performances, but the mark of a really great film is the memorability of each individual in the ensemble. To give a few examples, Charles McGraw as the sadistic trainer at the gladiatorial school, John Dall as Sir Laurence Olivier's protégé, and John Ireland as Kirk Douglas's fellow gladiator trainee are all memorable in the brief roles they have.

Kirk Douglas wisely opts for a straightforward interpretation of a hero in the title role of Spartacus. He's a BC everyman, born into a world which hadn't heard anything about human rights, he knows and feels he's not just cattle. Catch the alternating scenes of Douglas and Sir Laurence Olivier addressing the slave army and the Roman Army. Olivier with his years of Shakespearean training coming across as the tyrant to be, and Douglas in simple prose talking about the slaves fighting for their hopes and dreams. Very effective.

The plot concerns a revolt at a gladiatorial school which mushrooms into a crisis for the Roman Empire. Political factions led by Olivier as Crassus and Charles Laughton as Gracchus seek to use the slave revolt to further their own ends.

Laughton as always is a wonder. It's a bit of unusual casting for him because his parts are usually those of very tortured souls. His Gracchus is a sly rogue, but a decent man. One of my favorite movie lines of all time is delivered by him addressing the Roman Senate where he says he'll "take a little republican corruption for a little republican freedom."

Another sly rogue in the film is Peter Ustinov who won the first of his two Oscars as Batiatus the owner of the gladiatorial school. Like so many others I'm sure in those days, he's just trying to come out on the winning side when doing so could be a life or death situation.

Jean Simmons as Varinia, beloved of Spartacus, has the only woman's part of any substance. But when was Ms. Simmons bad in anything. One of the most underrated and under-appreciated actresses in the history of film.

The lessons about man's desire for freedom and to control his own destiny are eternal and valid. And this film will be also.