This excellent and stagy adaptation of the Shakespeare play concerns greedy fighting power and epic-historical treatment in ancient Roman empire . The picture happens after battles of Munda and Farsalia when Pompeyo is defeated by Julius Caesar (Louis Calhern) and once having conquered Gaul . Caesar (100-40 B. C.) goes back to Rome and crosses the river Rubicon with attempt to do himself sole governor of the empire , a purpose resented by those who still had hopes of retaining the centuries-old Republican form of ruling . Then the aristocratic party , including Brutus (James Mason) , supposedly Caesar's illegitimate son, and Cassius (John Gielgud) prepare a conspiracy at March 15 , 44 B. C. -Idus of March- and they murdered Caesar. The filming developed an intent at historic realism , retelling various facts , finishing in the battle of Philippi , where the second triumvirate (Marc Anthony , Lepido and Octavius Augustus: Caesar's grandnephew and his heir) defeated Caesar's assassins and subsequently splitting the Empire among them . MGM's acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar !.

Julius Caesar(1953) displays outstanding performances from James Mason as Brutus , Louis Calhern as unforgettable Caesar , Deborah Kerr as Brutus's wife, and Greer Garson as Calpurnia , Caesar's first wife, the second one was Cleopatra who is left out of the action entirely . And , of course , an electrifying Marlon Brando as Mark Anthony , who makes a terrific acting using Stanislawski method and extraordinary soliloquy over Caesar's body . Acting enjoyable enough spread correctly to the secondaries roles as Ian Wolfe , George McReady ,Michael Pate , Edmund Purdom , Douglas Drumbull and Alain Napier as Cicero . Remains surprisingly faithful to Shakespeare playwright and writing directly from original , unlike many other historic movies at the time . Caesar assassination is well staged and a spectacular final regarding the battle of Philippi was added by film production , though Mankiewicz to be opposed because he wished a movie completely theatrical . Deservedly won Academy Award for art direction and production design by Cedric Gibbons . Efficiently produced by actor John Houseman and directed with professionalism and imagination by Joseph L Mankiewicz . This gripping movie will appeal to Shakespeare devotees but its spirit is intact , despite being taken brief liberties in its adaptation . Shakespeare would have admired this classic film. It's followed by an inferior remake , being the original much better version , and directed in 1970 by Stuart Burge with Charlton Heston (Marlon Brando's role) , Jason Robards (James Mason-lookalike) , Robert Vaughn (Edmond O'Brien,Casca role-alike),Jill Bennet (Greer Garson) , Diana Rigg (Deborak Kerr's character) and repeating acting by John Gielgud as Julius Caesar role replacing his phenomenal previous character as Cassius .

This excellent adaptation of the Shakespeare play concerns on greedy, fighting power and epic-historical treatment in ancient Roman empire . The picture happens after battles of Munda and Farsalia when Pompeyo is defeated by Julius Caesar(Louis Calhern) and one time having conquered Gaul. Caesar(100-40 B.C.) goes back to Rome and crosses the river Rubicon with attempt to do himself sole governor of the empire, a purpose resented by those who still had hopes of retaining the centuries-old Republican form of ruling. Then the aristocratic party , including Bruto(James Mason),supposedly Caesar's bastard son, and Cassio(John Gielgud) prepare a conspiracy at March 15, 44 b.c.-Idus of March- and murdered Caesar. The shooting made an intent at historic realism finishing in the battle of Philippi where the second triumvirate(Marc Anthony,Lepido and Octavius Augustus: Caesar's grandnephew and his heir) defeat Caesar's assassins and posteriorly split the Empire among them.

Displays outstanding performances from James Mason as Brutus, Louis Calhern as memorable Caesar, Deborah Kerr as Brutus's wife, and Greer Garson as Calpurnia ,Caesar's first wife, the second one was Cleopatra who is left out of the action entirely. And of course, an electrifying Marlon Brando who makes a terrific acting using Stanislawski method and extraordinary soliloquy over Caesar's body.Acting enjoyable enough spread correctly to the secondaries roles as Ian Wolfe,George McReady,Michael Pate, Edmund Purdom,Douglas Drumbull and Alain Napier as Cicero. Remains surprisingly faithful to Shakespeare playwright and writing directly from original, unlike many others historic movies of the time. Caesar assassination is well staged and spectacular final regarding the battle of Philippi was added by production film , though Mankiewicz to be opposed because he wished a movie completely theatrical.Deservedly won Academy Award for art direction and production design by Cedric Gibbons. Efficiently produced by actor John Houseman and directed with professionalism and imagination by Joseph L Mankiewicz.This gripping movie will like to Shakespeare devotees but its spirit is intact ,despite are taken a briefs liberties.Shakespeare would have admired this classic film. It's followed by an inferior remake, being the original much better version, and directed in 1970 by Stuart Burge with Charlton Heston(Marlon Brando's role),Jason Robards(James Mason-lookalike),Robert Vaughn(Edmond O'Brien,Casca role-alike),Jill Bennet(Greer Garson),Diana Rigg(Deborak Kerr's character)and repeating acting by John Gielgud as Julius Caesar role substituting his phenomenal previous character as Cassius.

In some ways, I am a bad person to review "Julius Caesar" and I avoided watching it for years. Why? Because I don't enjoy Shakespeare. Sure, in school and college we read and discussed Shakespeare at length...but I still didn't like his plays. Part of it is because I was a history teacher, and historically speaking, most of his historical plays are terrible versions of what really happened. Part of it is that I don't understand the reverence folks have towards early 17th century language....which is why I sometimes love updated versions, such as several of Kurasawa's films ("The Bad Sleep Well" and "Throne of Blood" are both terrific). Heck, I even love "Strange Brew", one of the dopiest (and funniest) versions of "Hamlet" you could imagine. So, if you are looking for a review by someone who adores the Bard...well, you might want to just go on and read the next review.

Apart from the source material (which I am very familiar with, as we did this play back in middle school),it's obvious that MGM really pulled out all the stops for this film. The direction is good, the mood music appropriate and the left over sets from "Quo Vadis" were put to good use. But what really impressed me are the actors...a who's who of wonderful American and British actors of the era. And, fortunately, they weren't all A-list stars like Brando and Mason but also included some of the top character actors of the age as well, such as John Hoyt (a woefully underappreciated actor),Edmond O'Brien and many others. They gave lovely performances...particularly O'Brien, who you would not normally associate with Shakespeare (his face and expressions were amazing given his few lines).

So how do I score this film? It's really well made and was nominated for many Oscars (receiving one)...so I cannot give the film a bad score. But I also didn't enjoy it very much although I appreciated it. Overall, I'd give this a 8...which seems reasonably fair because it is so well made. But for me, I'd score this just for me a 3 or 4.