Julius Caesar

Pros: The acting is first rate, pretty much across the board; solid direction
Cons: The second hour doesn't hold up quite as well, typical 1950s Hollywood epic feel

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!  I come to praise Julius Caesar, the 1953 Joseph L. Mankiewicz production, that is.  Moreover, I come to praise Brutus - the noblest Roman of them all, indeed - Cassius, he of the lean and ...

Pros: Script, Acting, Photography, Direction
Cons: Cheesy props

Julius Caesar (1953)

A star-studded cast puts on what has been often said to be the greatest Julius Caesar ever filmed.

Nearly everyone knows the story of Julius Caesar and his assassination in the Roman Senate House in 44...

Pros: Good performances by John Gielgud and Louis Calhern. Marlon Brando handles a classical part.
Cons: The 1950's TV design for the film is too mechanical. It has dated.

Following the exotic efforts of Olivier's HENRY V (1945) and Welles' MACBETH (1948), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's JULIUS CAESAR (1953) was establishment Hollywood's first Postwar attempt to film Shakespeare. European motion pictures, and even our own TV at the...

Pros: cast, script, cinematography, direction
Cons: Battle of Phillipi, dense dialogue

Late in his life, John Houseman would become famous as a professorial character actor. But his film career actually covered a half century. His most important work was a producer, first with Orson Welles' Mercury Theater, and later with MGM....