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Spartacus Overview:

Spartacus (1960) was a Action - Adventure Film directed by Stanley Kubrick and produced by Kirk Douglas and Edward Lewis.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Howard Fast published in 1951.

SYNOPSIS

Director Kubrick marshals the proverbial cast of thousands in an early example of his celebrated concern for authenticity. The result is one of the finest movie depictions of the ancient Roman world. Douglas gives a muscular, emotional performance as a slave brought to the Roman gladiator school by its master, Ustinov. There he befriends and then bests Strode in an unwanted contest to the death staged for the pleasure of senator Olivier. When guards taunt Douglas with the news that Olivier has taken away Simmons, the slave girl with whom he's in love, Douglas leads a slave rebellion that shakes the foundations of the empire. Though the epic struggle ends with Douglas's crucifixion, Simmons lifts up to him his free son before he dies. Director Anthony Mann was replaced with Kubrick by executive producer Douglas after the first scenes. Trumbo's compelling script was his first after being blacklisted. The film's stunning music score was composed by Alex North.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1960 --- Ceremony Number 33 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActorPeter UstinovWon
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom; Set Decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Julia HeronWon
Best CinematographyRussell MettyWon
Best Costume DesignValles, Bill ThomasWon
Best Film EditingRobert LawrenceNominated
Best Music - ScoringAlex NorthNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Spartacus BlogHub Articles:

Spartacus (1960)

By Beatrice on Mar 8, 2017 From Flickers in Time

Spartacus Directed by Stanley Kubrick Written by Dalton Trumbo from a novel by Howard Fast 1960/USA Bryna Productions Repeat viewing/Netflix rental One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I am not big on 3 1/2 hour sword-and-sandal epics.  This one is so grand, however, that it keeps my ... Read full article

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier Blogathon: Spartacus

By Virginie Pronovost on Nov 3, 2015 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

On November 5, 2015, Vivien Leigh, my 8th favourite actress would have celebrated her 102nd birthday. Even if she has left us since the very young age of 53, that’s not a reason why my friend Joey from Wolffian Classic Movies Digest wouldn’t honour her with a blogathon! Vivien Leigh is a... Read full article

Spartacus (1960)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 4, 2014 From 4 Star Films

In this epic film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, a slave turned gladiator leads a revolt against the Roman empire. Spartacus leads his fellow plebeians in a sacking and burning of the countryside while slowly gaining followers. Along the way he is reunited with his love (Je... Read full article

Spartacus (1960)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 4, 2014 From 4 Star Films

In this epic film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, a slave turned gladiator leads a revolt against the Roman empire. Spartacus leads his fellow plebeians in a sacking and burning of the countryside while slowly gaining followers. Along the way he is reunited with his love (Je... Read full article

Spartacus

By Alyson on Jul 9, 2013 From The Best Picture Project

1960’s Spartacus was a laborious film for all involved.  After one week of filming under Anthony Mann’s direction, Stanley Kubrick took over as director.  Working with a script by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo that feels pulled between political views of the time and a main character paralleling M... Read full article

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Spartacus Quotes:

Lentulus Biatatus: [reacting to a slow servant] The sun's over there! I have to pay these people!
Antoninus: I'm Spartacus!
[everyone around Antoninus and Spartacus takes up the shout]
Tigranes Levantus: If you looked into a magic crystal, you saw your army destroyed and yourself dead. If you saw that in the future, as I'm sure you're seeing it now, would you continue to fight?
Spartacus: Yes.
Tigranes Levantus: Knowing that you must lose?
Spartacus: Knowing we can. All men lose when they die and all men die. But a slave and a free man lose different things.
Tigranes Levantus: They both lose life.
Spartacus: When a free man dies, he loses the pleasure of life. A slave loses his pain. Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That's why he's not afraid of it. That's why we'll win.
Varinia: Goodbye, my love, my life. Goodbye, good-bye.
Julius Caesar: [about Spartacus] Did you fear him, Crassus?
Marcus Licinius Crassus: Not when I fought him, I knew he could be beaten. But now I fear him, even more than I fear you.
Julius Caesar: Me?
Marcus Licinius Crassus: Yes, my dear Caesar, you.
See More Quotes from Spartacus
Spartacus Facts
The movie's line "I am Spartacus." was voted as the #64 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
The 1991 restoration contains exactly four more minutes of footage than the version that ran in theaters in 1960. Two of those minutes are taken up by the famous "snails and oysters" scene. The rest are scenes of gore and violence - including a more explicit version of the death of Draba, and a shot of the amputation of the arm of a soldier (played by real-life amputee Bill Raisch during the climactic battle scene. The remainder of the longer running time of the restored version is taken up by the Overture, Entr'acte, and Exit Music.
When Laurence Olivier as Crassus issues the order "Crucify him!", after Spartacus has killed Antoninus, the two figures who move out of shot behind Kirk Douglas, ostensibly Olivier and John Gavin, are in fact a couple of brightly-lit extras of similar build and height.
Draba, played by Woody Strode, is killed in the ring after attacking one of the senators. His body is hung upside down in the gladiators' quarters as a warning. Originally this was going to be a replica of Strode, but when the effect wasn't satisfactory, he himself hung upside-down, ropes tied around his ankles. As the gladiators slowly file past his dangling body, Strode doesn't flinch or twitch. According to his son Kalai Strode, the unused replica hung inside the entrance to Universal Studios' prop room for several years.
Hedda Hopper and John Wayne, both leaders in Hollywood's powerful right-wing element, publicly condemned the film as "Marxist propaganda" prior to its release. This was partly because the movie marked the first time screenwriter Dalton Trumbo had been credited under his own name (as opposed to a "Front," or a pseudonym) since he had been blacklisted for his membership in the Communist Party USA a decade earlier.
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