Julius Caesar

A Hollywood adaptation of Shakespeare's play. The subject is not power but the reckoning made against it. A group of senators believes Caesar will end the republic and plans an assassination. Brutus hesitates; what persuades him is not personal enmity but principle. After the killing, who Rome will belong to is settled by two speeches in the forum. Those two speeches are the film's centre. Brutus speaks with reason, Antony uses the crowd's feeling, and within minutes the crowd changes sides. The sequence is among the best-known demonstrations in cinema of how political rhetoric works. Marlon Brando plays Antony, and the casting was argued about at the time; Brando was known for modern parts and was not expected to speak classical text. He worked on the role with John Gielgud, who plays Cassius in the film. James Mason plays Brutus. It was shot in black and white. MGM was in a position to shoot in colour and chose otherwise. Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed. One of the principal examples of its kind for anyone who likes Shakespeare on film and classical Hollywood. For a viewer wanting action, the battle scenes are brief and the film runs almost entirely on speech.