Spartacus (1960)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Howard Fast (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (writer)

Release Date:

7 October 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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:

Slave | Spartacus | Rome | Slave Revolt | Gladiator

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

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) | Canada:G (Quebec) (restored version) | Spain:13 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-14 (1992) | Finland:K-16 (1962) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | New Zealand:PG | 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:

For a while the studio did not want to give the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo screen credit for his work. Stanley Kubrick said that he would accept the credit. Kirk Douglas was so appalled by Kubrick's attempt to claim credit for someone else's work that he used his clout to ensure that Trumbo received his due credit - and in doing so effectively ended the Hollywood blacklist.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Slaves digging with steel shovels of a pattern invented in the early 20th century instead of Roman wooden spades.

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 "Seinfeld: The Gum (#7.10)" (1995)

Spartacus or How I learnt to live away from Hollywood

This is Kubrick's farewell to Hollywood. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall. I don't believe for a minute that it was a cordial parting of the ways. I mean, Kubrick never returned, never! With "Paths of Glory" Kubrick gave Kirk Douglas, not just his best part as an actor, but his best movie. By the time Douglas called Kubrick to "take over" "Spartacus" Douglas was already a huge star with too much saying in the matter. Look at it, it's clear. "Spartacus" is more Douglas than Kubrick. Great fun to watch, yes, absolutely. A terrific script by black listed Dalton Trumbo. Some fight sequences unequalled in the history of film. Look at the fight between Douglas and Woody Strode and compare it to the ones in "Troy" or "Gladiator" for that matter. It is sad an embarrassing to realise how low we've fallen. Computer generated images or not. The cast is unbelievable but it's clearly not Kubrick's. The casting of his movies was part of his master plan. He would cast a Ryan O'Neil as Barry Lyndon for instance so he can blend perfectly with the magnificent tapestry, without adding any colours of his own. The same can be said of Keir Dullea, in 2001, a robotic non entity in a showdown with a voice. When he needed actors to be at the very pinnacle of his universe he went to Peter Sellers, Malcolm McDowell or James Mason. Even the casting of Tom Cruise made a lot of sense. He used the star and his wife to talk about the dreamlike powers of betrayal. In "Spartacus" Tony Curtis, plays Antoninus, a teacher of the classics. A campy idea never seen in a Kubrick film, before or since. To be fair, there are some spot on, brilliant pieces of casting. Charles Laughton is, as usual, superb. Peter Ustinov, terrific. Laurence Olivier manages to give a multifaceted portrait of weakness, fear and greed. Jean Simmons makes the reason to survive totally believable. But the cutesy love scene between her and a shiny muscular, coiffed Spartacus is truly terrible. As a final blow, the scene is enveloped in a sticky, corny music theme. Having said all that. Don't you dare missing this epic. I'ts Kubrick's goodbye to Hollywood and like everything else that the master said or do, he really meant it.