Spartacus

Stanley Kubrick did not start this film. Anthony Mann shot the opening quarry sequence in Death Valley in January 1959 and was gone inside 3 weeks, at which point Kubrick, then 30, was handed the picture. His contract gave him no full control, the only time in his career, and he later refused to count the result among his own work. Kirk Douglas both starred and drove the production, having taken it up after losing the lead in Ben-Hur to Charlton Heston. The script came from the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, who was paid under the pen name Sam Jackson before his real name returned to the screen. John F. Kennedy walked through a picket line to see the film. The crowd noise was solved cheaply. In 1959 the sound crew had a stadium at a Michigan State against Notre Dame game shout Hail, Crassus and I’m Spartacus. Cinematographer Russell Metty complained about Kubrick’s detailed instructions and threatened to walk; he still collected the Academy Award for colour cinematography. The film took 6 nominations and 4 wins, plus the Golden Globe for best drama. A good fit if you want the bargaining in the senate given as much room as the battlefield. Not for anyone hunting a Kubrick signature, since nearly all the gory combat was cut after preview screenings.