Julius Caesar (1953)

Featured Audience Ratings

• AJ V

  
  A good production of Caesar, the cast does a good job. It could have been more exciting or interesting, but for a presentation of a classic like this it's good.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]This version of "Julius Caesar" is a dynamic take on the William Shakespeare play about politics with a great American/English cast. So great in fact that Greer Garson and Deborah Kerr are relegated to bit parts and Edmond O'Brien, no matter how… More
  [font=Century Gothic]This version of "Julius Caesar" is a dynamic take on the William Shakespeare play about politics with a great American/English cast. So great in fact that Greer Garson and Deborah Kerr are relegated to bit parts and Edmond O'Brien, no matter how much I like him, is slightly out of place in ancient Rome. If there is a problem with this production, it is that Marlon Brando botches the big "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech by bellowing it from the start. I know Mark Antony is angry at the death of his friend, Julius Caesar(Louis Calhern), but Brando should have let the speech build to a crescendo when the crowd takes over. And even though Brando may be the big star here, this is is not his movie. Not by a long shot. Instead it belongs to James Mason, giving a magisterial performance as noble Brutus who is naive enough to think that joining the conspiracy would make Rome freer, instead of in reality making it something much worse.(Louis Calhern playing Caesar as a noble statesman alone deflates much of the conspirators' rhetoric about him being a tyrant.) Brutus has the ear of Caesar, so there should have been no reason for him to resort to political violence which never ends well.[/font]

• Cinema F

  
  Although the title is Julius Caesar, the play and the film are more concerned with Brutus and his interplay with Cassius and Antony. As Brutus, James Mason displays the brooding intelligence of a man clearly swimming in political waters far deeper than he is qualified for, either by… More
  Although the title is Julius Caesar, the play and the film are more concerned with Brutus and his interplay with Cassius and Antony. As Brutus, James Mason displays the brooding intelligence of a man clearly swimming in political waters far deeper than he is qualified for, either by training or temperament. Likewise Gielgud, as Cassius, is appropriately manipulative. Cassius has his own agenda and is happy to use Brutus to reach that end. In a similar manner, Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz has filled the other roles with excellent actors who are uniformly comfortable with Shakespeare's language to the point that they can use it as a means of investing their characters with a reality that is both honest and entertaining. As Marc Antony, Marlon Brando makes the most of his few but crucial appearances, including a stunningly intense delivery of the "I've come to bury Caesar" sequence at the turning point. Brando was an actor of immense talent and is not only comfortable with the language but more than holds his own with the classically trained actors in the cast who have far more experience with the Bard. Brando's timing and dramatic sense are impeccable. What's more, Brando infuses Antony with a pugnacious air that seems completely appropriate to Antony both dramatically and historically. Antony's speech alone, as played by Brando, is worth the price of admission. But most of this play belongs to the tortured, noble figure of Brutus. James Mason's fluid voice and minimalist acting style perfectly convey the humanity-and the tragedy of humanity-represented by this figure. His interplay with Gielgud throughout the play, starting with Cassius's cunning manipulation of Brutus into the conspiracy to kill Caesar and concluding with their reconciliation as Cassius faces death, is an acting school led by veterans of both stage and celluloid. In the in the end it is Cassius who is most changed by Brutus and that because of this relationship he dies a better man than the schemer we met earlier. Indeed, if you are looking for acting at its finest you need look no further than the Mason - Brando speeches in the Forum.

• Mike T

  
  Marlon Brando performing Shakespeare's dialogue... I don't know what else to say. This is a solidly adapted play, and the performances are all very good, but Brando absolutely dominates everything. The man was without a doubt the greatest actor of his time, and possibly the… More
  Marlon Brando performing Shakespeare's dialogue... I don't know what else to say. This is a solidly adapted play, and the performances are all very good, but Brando absolutely dominates everything. The man was without a doubt the greatest actor of his time, and possibly the greatest screen actor yet.

• Andrew F

  
  I thought it was a good version of the play.

• Barry L

  
  Loved it but Ill let you in on a secret..........he dies in the end.

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