Spartacus
(Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Brutus (Peter
Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt
Roman senator Marcus Licinus Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Lentulus'
gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event,
the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus'
companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania.
When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads
78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire,
and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause
is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus'
house slaves, the sensitive Antonius (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the
principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a
more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was
the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick,
who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4
Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene
between Oliver and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its
subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded
soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing
in for the deceased Olivier.| Kirk Douglas | Spartacus |
| Laurence Olivier | Marcus Licinius Crassus |
| Jean Simmons | Varinia |
| Charles Laughton | Lentulus Gracchus |
| Peter Ustinov | Lentulus Batiatus |
| Tony Curtis | Antoninus |
| John Gavin | Julius Caesar |
| Nina Foch | Helena Glabrus |
| Herbert Lom | Tigranes |
| John Ireland | Crixus |
| John Dall | Glabrus |
| Joanna Barnes | Claudia Marius |
| Harold J. Stone | David |
| Woody Strode | Draba |
| Peter Brocco | Ramon |
| Paul Lambert | Gannicus |
| Robert J. Wilke | Guard Captain |
| Nick Dennis | Dionysius |
| John Hoyt | Caius |
| Dayton Lummis | Symmachus |
| Larry Perron | |
| Chuck Roberson | Slave |
| George Robotham | |
| Eddie Parker | |
| Gil Perkins | Slave Leader |
| Regis Parton | |
| Leonard Penn | Garrison Officer |
| Frederic Worlock | Laelius |
| Lili Valenty | Old Crone |
| Ken Terrell | |
| Jo Summers | |
| Louise Vincent | Slave Girl |
| Wayne Van Horn | |
| Dale Van Sickel | Trainer |
| Wally Rose | Gladiator |
| Russell Saunders | |
| Aaron Saxon | |
| Autumn Russell | |
| Kay Stewart | |
| Bob Stevenson | Legionnaire |
| Rube Schaffer | Soldier |
| Tom Steele | |
| Carleton Young | Herald |
| Ted de Corsia | |
| Dick Crockett | |
| Chuck Courtney | |
| Harold Goodwin | |
| Terence de Marney | Major Domo |
| Seamon Glass | |
| Sol (Saul) Gorss | |
| Buff Brady | |
| Jerry Brown | |
| Arthur Batanides | |
| Tap Canutt | |
| Joe Canutt | |
| Robert Burns | |
| Paul E. Burns | Fimbria |
| Bob Morgan | |
| Harold Kruger | Pirate |
| Jill Jarmyn | Julia |
| Charles Horvath | |
| Charles McGraw | Marcellus |
| Carey Loftin | Guard |
| Cliff Lyons | |
| James Griffith | Otho |
| Harry Harvey, Jr. | |
| Joe Haworth | Marius |
| Brad Harris | |
| Anthony Hopkins | Marcus Licinius Crassus |
| Hallene Hill | Beggar Woman |
| Vinton Haworth | Metallius |
| Chuck Hayward | |
Genre/Type - Epic, Historical Film, Sword-and-Sandal, Historical Epic, Costume Adventure
Produced by - Bryna Productions / Universal
Released by - Universal
Running time - 196 min.
Costantino il grande (1962, Lionello de Felice)
Dacii (1967, Sergiu Nicolaescu)
Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott)
Quo Vadis? (2002, Jerzy Kawalerowicz)
Spartaco (1952, Riccardo Freda)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964, Anthony Mann)
The Robe (1953, Henry Koster)
The Vikings (1958, Richard Fleischer)