In 73 B.C., a Thracian slave leads a revolt at a gladiatorial school run by Lentulus Batiatus (Sir Peter Ustinov). The uprising soon spreads across the Italian Peninsula involving thousand of slaves. The plan is to acquire sufficient funds to acquire ships from Silesian pirates who could then transport them to other lands from Brandisium in the south. The Roman Senator Gracchus (Charles Laughton) schemes to have Marcus Publius Glabrus (John Dall), Commander of the garrison of Rome, lead an army against the slaves who are living on Vesuvius. When Glabrus is defeated his mentor, Senator and General Marcus Licinius Crassus (Sir Laurence Olivier) is greatly embarrassed and leads his own army against the slaves. Spartacus and the thousands of freed slaves successfully make their way to Brandisium only to find that the Silesians have abandoned them. They then turn north and must face the might of Rome.Written by
garykmcd
Kirk Douglas was unsure about casting Jean Simmons as Varinia, as she was an English actress. American actors and actresses had been cast as the slaves, and British actors and actresses had been cast as the Romans. Douglas actually wanted German actress Sabine Bethmann to play Varinia (her actual portrayal in the Howard Fast novel), but Stanley Kubrick disagreed, claiming that Bethmann lacked the talent to display emotion. To prove this, Kubrick called her to his office and told her she was fired; her lack of dramatic response also persuaded Douglas to a re-cast. Since none of the other German actresses were pretty enough, he decided to go with Simmons. See more »
Goofs
At the start of the movie a guard says several times that Spartacus "hamstrung" a guard. The hamstring runs at the back of the leg from the top of the thigh to the knee. They show Spartacus biting the guard on the back of the ankle where the Achilles' tendon is. See more »
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, "first among cities and home of the gods is golden Rome." Yet, even at the zenith of her pride and power, the Republic lay fatally stricken with a disease called human slavery. The age of the dictator was at hand, ...
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Crazy Credits
The opening titles appear in a montage of silhouetted Roman sculptures and tablets, which evokes the strength and power of the Roman Empire. The montage ends with a zoom into the eye of a crumbling Roman bust, which hints at the Empire's coming decline and fall. See more »
Alternate Versions
The film premiered at 202 minutes. However, the prints from the premiere were lost in the 1970s when Universal threw out all the film's tracks, outtakes, additional prints etc. (This was parallel to 'John Landis'' claim during his work on creating the director's cut of The Blues Brothers). The Criterion Collection has 4 minutes of lost scenes involving the Gracchus subplot:
1.) After the first senatorial meeting scene, Gracchus and Caesar walk around the market discussing the dirty tactic of fishing votes. (Shown in production-still form)
2.) Gracchus commits suicide by slitting his wrist in the bathtub. This occurred immediately after he closes the curtain near the end of the film. Only the audio track was found in the studio vault.
I think the movie is quite good; what I want to add to the comments already made is just this:
The commentary (on the DVD) by screenplay writer Dalton Trumbo is great. Kirk Douglas said it was the greatest analysis of film-making ever. He explains the purpose of every scene, very openly and honestly critiquing the changes the actors made, for (in his estimation) better or worse.
There is another track of commentary by the actors. The actors had an unusual degree of latitude in re-writing their lines and forming their characters.
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I think the movie is quite good; what I want to add to the comments already made is just this:
The commentary (on the DVD) by screenplay writer Dalton Trumbo is great. Kirk Douglas said it was the greatest analysis of film-making ever. He explains the purpose of every scene, very openly and honestly critiquing the changes the actors made, for (in his estimation) better or worse.
There is another track of commentary by the actors. The actors had an unusual degree of latitude in re-writing their lines and forming their characters.