Julius Caesar |  | Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Actors: Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O'Brien
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $4.43
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Rating:  61 reviews
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 65918
UPC: 012569659186
EAN: 0012569659186
Theatrical Release Date: June 4, 1953
Release Date: November 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Film adaptation of Shakespeare's play chronicling the aftermath of Caesar's assassination at the hands of Marc Anthony, Cassius and Brutus.Running Time: 121 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 012569659186 UPC: 012569659186 Manufacturer No: 65918 |
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Product Description
Film adaptation of Shakespeare's play chronicling the aftermath of Caesar's assassination at the hands of Marc Anthony Cassius and Brutus.Running Time: 121 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569659186 Manufacturer No: 65918
Amazon.com
An examination of the relationship between political power and personal conscience, Joseph Mankiewicz's traditional Julius Caesar (1953) is a veritable master class for aspiring thespians. As the opportunistic Marc Antony, Marlon Brando delivers the famous funeral speech with pure conviction, elsewhere casting an intense physicality that recalls his work in A Streetcar Named Desire. James Mason suggests a latent Hamlet in his turn as the honorable Brutus, while John Gielgud is positively serpentine as the lean, hungry Cassius. Louis Calhern invests Caesar with intelligence and edgy noir echoes, and director Mankiewicz astutely balances the Renaissance view of Caesar as a power-obsessed, corrupt tyrant destined for punishment with modern suggestions that his murder may have been ill advised. The director's scrupulous pacing is supported in no small measure by Miklós Rósza's stunning score. At film's end, power itself is without a master, and the spirit of Caesar has been left unrevived: and to Mankiewicz's credit, the latter is revealed to be the true tragedy of Julius Caesar. --Kevin Mulhall
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 61
 Stagey and poorly-paced October 27, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:
This 1953 version of Julius Caesar can boast a terrific rendering of Marc Antony's famous speech (and Brutus is an honorable man!) but that's the natural high point of the film which unfortunately continues on for another 40 minutes or so; it's tempting to recommend the film on the basis of that one speech alone but I can't, what with the lacking performance by James Mason as Brutus (who, despite the title, is the main character of the film) and pitiful sets which seem like they were put together an hour before shooting.
2.5/4
 Julius Caesar (Mason,Gilgud, Brando etc) September 12, 2009
HCE Anderson (Harvard, Illinois United States)
As a 20th century classic it is excellent, in the 21st century ... more so !!
NOT for Deborah Kerr Fans September 4, 2009
smgsmc
I'm posting this as a cautionary note for Deborah Kerr fans. She only has a bit part in this film. Less than 10 min total; maybe only 5. In fact, all women have only bit parts here. If you want to see Deborah in a classic Roman drama, I highly recommend Quo Vadis.
 Better than the Charlton Heston Version August 2, 2009
Jeremy Hoyt (Jacksonville, FL USA)
I watched the 1953 Marlon Brando version last weekend, and I just finished watching the 1970 Charlton Heston version today. Even though the 1970 version is in color with better production quality, the black and white 1953 Marlon Brando version with antiquated scenery is a better movie. The 1953 version also had much better casting. This includes the roles of Mark Antony, Brutus, and Cassius. The only actor in the 1970 version that was better than the 1953 version was Sir John Gielgud's Caesar. Ironically, John Gielgud played Cassius in the 1953 version and Caesar in the 1970 version. He was superb in both roles. I was disappointed with Lewis Calhern's Caesar in the 1953 version. The 1953 version of Julius Caesar was superior in almost every way that matters.
There is a reason the Brando version costs $13.99 and the Heston version costs $8.99. If you have to choose between the two, buy the $13.99 version.
A Classic June 5, 2009
C. C. Black (Princeton, NJ USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Arguably this is the best filmed adaptation of Caesar and one of the finest Hollywood versions of any Shakespearean play (produced by John Houseman and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz--no slouches, they). Except for Louis Calhern, who doesn't outlive the Ides of March, the cast--including James Mason (Brutus), John Gielgud (Cassius), and Edmund O'Brien (Casca)--is impeccable. The revelation is, of course, Brando's Antony. His rendering of the funeral oration that turns the masses against the assassins remains spellbinding: the performance that convinced even hardened Brits that Americans--method actors, no less--could play Shakespeare. The disc contains only a few extras: an introduction by TCM's Robert Osborne; an interesting if brief conversation with Dennis Hopper and Laurence Fishburne; a hodgepodge of Shakespearean trailers. The remastering is hardly pristine but nice enough at the price.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 61
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