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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0012569659186
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: November 07, 2006
Running Time: 121 minutes
Sales Rank: 4786
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: June 04, 1953
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Editorial Review:
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Bardolotry vs. Brandolotry
Marlin Brando as Antony unquestionably dominates this production of Julius Caesar. Although James Mason as Brutus, is equally strong and has more lines, Brando's Hollywood aura shines more brightly. Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, Mason and Brando together nearly succeed in making the jump from a traditional, theatrical presentation on film of Shakespeare to a movie with the values expected by today's audiences. Examples of recent successes are Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet and Trevor Nunn's "Antony and Cleopatra."
John Gielgud as Cassius, brooding mastermind of the plot to assassinate Caesar, illustrates perfectly the difference. Gielgud's every syllable, down to his slightly rolled letter "r"s, and his nuanced facial expressions and gestures, exhibit theatrical perfection. Gielgud earns perfect marks as a Shakespearean stage actor. However, movies unfurl on Hollywood sets, not a stage, and they ask audiences to suspend more of their disbelief than do plays. Brando and Mason, better than all the other fine actors in this movie, understand the difference and give film performances that are as natural and convincing as Gielgud's theatrical performance is impressive.
The question of tyranny was certainly present in Shakespeare's experience of Elizabethan monarchy and intrigue in the late 1600s. Awareness of the abuse of power must have been more present to audiences in 1953, when the film came out than now for today's carefree consumers. Then, fascist dreams of world domination ... Read More
Rating: - Julius Casear for high school
This movie nicely follows the text in the Prentice-Hall 10th grade literature book until Act V. Then it seems like the director ran out of time and rushed the ending. Even though it is in black and white, the acting is excellent and the students are able to follow the dialogue. I teach play from this movie and have had good success in doing so. It would be nice if it were colorized, but oh, well. I recommend this version to get a clear understanding of Brutus'conflict and of Antony's manipulation of the crowd.
Rating:  - Julius Ceasar
I am not able to view this dvd since you sent me a dvd that can only be seen in the US. I find that strange when you send it to me in Norway, Europe and obviously we don't use American systems here.
Rating: - The spirit of the play brought to life
I have been raised on this play and saw many versions. I have had the real story pointed out to me and meaning behind many of the words explained. However it is this adaptation that brought it to life not just intellectually but emotionally.
One of the first things you notice is the setting is a balance between stage and reality. This film being in black and white may have contributed to the atmosphere.
The actors are not just popular names but are able to bring the characters to life. I was impressed with everyone's ability to the point that it took time to realize that Mark Antony is Marlon Brando; he among others is able to make the words real and meaningful, not just a bunch of Shakespearian phrases.
If somehow you missed the play or the history, basically Julius Caesar let his status go to his head and is about to take on the role of implorer. It is up to a handful of Noble Romans to see that this does not happen. The play is about these individuals, their individual purposes and what happens to them after the attempt to stop him. The focus is on Caesar's right arm (Mark Antony).
Julius Caesar
Rating: - JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ, OPUS 12
****1/2 1953. Adapted from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (Shakespeare, William, Works.) and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Five nominations for the Academy awards but only one win in the Best Art Direction category. An all-star cast with Marlon Brando, James Mason, Deborah Kerr, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Greer Garson and Edmond O'Brien. The high points of this adaptation are Marlon -Mark Antony- Brando's speech at the Capitol, John -Crassus- Gielgud and James -Brutus- Mason's quarrel before the battle of Philippi and, of course, Louis -Caesar- Calhern's assassination. The quality of this Warner DVD is very good and the 20 minutes interview of Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne and John Avildsen interesting. A DVD for your library.
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