Review: Julius Caesar (1953)

Set in politically treacherous Ancient Rome, Louis Calhern plays the doomed and arrogant title character, plotted against by the insidious Cassius (Sir John Gielgud) and the more conflicted Brutus (James Mason). Marlon Brando is Marc Antony, looking to take down the conspirators of his fallen emperor. Edmond O’Brien plays co-conspirator Casca, with Deborah Kerr and Greer Garson appearing briefly as the wives of Brutus and Julius Caesar, respectively. A host of familiar character actors have peripheral roles (among them Michael Ansara, George Macready, Michael Pate, Edmund Purdom, and as two crowd members, John Doucette and Lawrence Dobkin).

This 1953 adaptation of the Shakespeare play from writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“All About Eve”, “Sleuth”)  has a lot of star power and for the most part it comes off rather well, and certainly more consistent than the 1970 version. In what surely must be one of the greatest casts ever assembled, top honours go to Sir John Gielgud and James Mason, which is probably no surprise to anyone. Gielgud (who played the title role in the 1970 version) is especially masterful as Cassius, whilst anyone would’ve been better than 1970’s horrendously miscast Jason Robards in the role of Brutus, but Mason is very fine indeed. However it must be said that American actors Marlon Brando (in one of his better performances), Louis Calhern, and Edmond O’Brien fare much better than you might expect with the language. I personally think the actors who played their roles in the 1970 version are superior, though (Charlton Heston was more persuasive as Marc Antony, Sir John Gielgud is simply a much better Shakespearean actor than is Louis Calhern, and Robert Vaughn was a sly surprise as the shifty Casca).

Deborah Kerr and Greer Garson don’t get much of a look-in here, but Kerr in particular plays her one scene well and never looked more beautiful. It’s quite regrettable that she’s not in the film more, I think (Truth be told, Brando’s Marc Antony isn’t in the film a whole lot, either), but to be honest, her character isn’t really all that necessary here. There aren’t too many duds in the cast, to be honest. Character actors Lawrence Dobkin and especially John Doucette (a veteran of westerns) sound way too much like Ernest Borgnine when they talk, which just isn’t right for Shakespeare, but they have very minor roles. The biggest dud is probably Douglas Watson as Octavius, he’s just awful and completely out of his depth here.

Aside from the sets (recycled from “Quo Vadis?” admittedly, but I for one needed to look that up, and so would you had I not told you) and most of the acting, there’s also a terrific music score by Miklos Rozsa (“El Cid”, “Double Indemnity”, “Spellbound”), a major asset. This is a definite must for fans of the language and fans of these actors, it’s not a great film but there are certainly great aspects to it. Definitely a most respectable effort, it looks sensational.

Rating: B-