Spartacus

Spartacus (1960)

3:17 (197 min)

History, War, Drama, Adventure

United States

7.9/10
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All about film

Video 19

Photo 145

Actors and characters

2:54

Photo 145

Production

Bryna Productions, Universal Pictures

Release date

13 October 1960

Budget

$12 000 000

Revenue

$60 000 000

Director

Stanley Kubrick

Scenario

Howard Fast

Author

Composer

Alex North

Producer

Edward Lewis

All team (52)

Actors

Kirk Douglas

Spartacus

Laurence Olivier

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Jean Simmons

Varinia

Charles Laughton

Sempronius Gracchus

Peter Ustinov

Lentulus Batiatus

John Gavin

Julius Caesar

Tony Curtis

Antoninus

Nina Foch

Helena Glabrus

All actors and roles (10)

• Laurence Olivier and Charles Laughton demanded script revisions, as they were dissatisfied with the text. Furthermore, the stars suspected they had been sent different versions of the script. As a result, during production, Douglas had to deal with Olivier, Laughton, and Ustinov engaging in intrigue in the manner of Roman senators. Suspecting each other of foul play, they tried to secure larger roles and longer lines. Ustinov wrote in his autobiographical book: "As in the Balkans in days gone by, the same intrigues."
• Ingrid Bergman, Jeanne Moreau, Elsa Martinelli, and Jean Simmons all declined the role of Varinia. Sabina Betmann was originally cast to play her, but when Kubrick joined the project, he fired her and re-invited Simmons, who this time accepted his offer.
• Production of the film began on January 27, 1959.
• The film and the script became the subject of a clash between three different approaches and visions of “Spartacus.” Universal representative Ed Mul saw the film created without grandeur, intimate, “chamber-like” and as close as possible to real facts, with a budget of about $3-4 million. Mul said: “It’s very nice to see deep ideas in a film, but what’s really important is the audience’s opinion.” Kirk Douglas was also believed to adhere to the studio’s point of view. Dalton Trumbo invested a left-wing political subtext in the script and tried to convey a message to the audience. Kubrick saw the film as spectacular and visually perceived. He was also concerned with the theme of the moral decay of the Roman Republic, which was undermining it from within. Douglas and Trumbo understood that a film that was too politicized might not be of interest to the public. If it did not recoup the largest studio budget in history at the box office, the consequences for them would be unpleasant.
• Douglas believed that Kubrick would be grateful to him for the opportunity he had given him, but the director rarely compromised, striving to defend his opinion wherever possible. The studio and the producer were dissatisfied with the pace of production. Kubrick was happy with shooting only two scenes a day, while the studio demanded a much faster tempo. He behaved rather arrogantly and imperiously. Behind his back, the actors called the head of production Stanley Hubris («Haughty Stanley»). With his usual perfectionism, the director interfered with the work of the cinematographer in details that were usually left to the specialists. Stanley had his own understanding of how the camera should move and how the lighting should be set. He demanded more close-ups of the actors’ faces, a moving camera following them. Kubrick, engrossed and not paying attention to his appearance, worked for several days without changing his clothes. Douglas, unable to bear it anymore, rode up to him on horseback (he was filming a scene on horseback) and told him that he needed to buy new clothes.
• The film premiered at the De Mille Theatre in New York City on October 6, 1960. Before the release, representatives of the conservative organization American Legion sent approximately 17,000 letters to residents of the country calling for a boycott of the film, which had been created with the involvement of “communists.” After all the changes caused by censorship, the Legion of Decency gave the film an A3 rating (a stricter B rating had initially been assigned), which affected its performance. This rating carried weight with Catholic audiences. John F. Kennedy’s visit to a cinema in November 1960 was of great importance for the film’s distribution fate. The newly elected President of the United States walked through pickets of the American Legion and attended a screening of the film at the Warner Theatre in Washington.
• In 1967, the film was re-released with a significantly reduced runtime of 162 minutes. This was no longer a matter of censorship, but rather common practice: the film was too long for a re-release with the established schedule of screenings. The film’s length in television broadcasts of that time was approximately the same. In 1991, Universal Studios decided to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary and discovered that copies of satisfactory quality had not been preserved in the archives. The company’s management decided to restore the film to its original runtime of the 1960 release copy, 197 minutes.
• As a co-producer of the film, Kirk Douglas managed to insist that Dalton Trumbo, a screenwriter and Peter Brocco, an actor, who were on the “blacklist” at the time, be involved in the work on the picture. Trumbo's name appearing in the credits became the first official recognition of the disgraced writer since 1947 and de facto ended the “blacklist’s” effect.
• Julius Caesar did not command the Rome garrison, and in principle could not have commanded it, as at the time of the events in the film, there simply was no garrison in Rome.
• According to rumors, Tony Curtis, tired of the long and exhausting filming, asked Jane Simmons: “Who do I have to sleep with to get off this picture?” To which Simmons replied: “Let me know when you find out.”
• Filming of the picture was completed on August 1, 1959. A preliminary screening of the technical assembly copy took place at the studio on September 14. Only Kubrick was satisfied with the results. Everyone else was dissatisfied, especially Trumbo. According to eyewitnesses, he was furious with what he saw. Screenwriters usually do not interfere with the production process, and it was especially difficult for Trumbo to do so, but he did not refrain from it. Over the next three days, Trumbo wrote an 80-page memorandum detailing and critically analyzing the film's materials.
• Arthur Krim, head of United Artists, refused to put the picture into production. The company had already announced a film with the working title “Gladiators,” based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Koestler. Martin Ritt was to direct the project, Abraham Polonsky was to write the screenplay, and Yul Brynner had agreed to play the lead role. The cover of one of the issues of Variety magazine at the time featured a photograph of Brynner in a gladiator costume. Douglas proposed merging the two projects into one, but Brynner rejected the offer. Furthermore, United Artists owned the copyrights to the titles “Gladiators” and “Spartacus.” Nevertheless, Douglas decided that his competitors were bluffing and that he should bring his own idea to the greatest possible readiness. Douglas learned from informants that the “Gladiators” team was going to shoot entirely in Europe, which meant they would not start until spring 1959. He proposed filming “Spartacus” entirely in the USA and starting immediately—in January 1959.”
• Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo wanted the role of the pirate to be given to Orson Welles. However, Herbert Lom ultimately played the part.
• The film ranked 5th in terms of attendance among foreign films in the first week of its release in the Soviet Union.
• On February 13, 1959, Anthony Mann received his final payment. Filming was not delayed by a single day. On February 14, Douglas, using the sets of the gladiatorial school's training arena, introduced the team to its new director. Kirk understood that in Stanley Kubrick he was getting a talented director, but with ambitions and vanity commensurate with his abilities. After becoming more familiar with the script and the state of affairs with "Spartacus," Stanley did not express optimism. As he later recalled, "the film had everything except a good story." Universal Studios and Douglas, as executive producer, found themselves in a difficult position. A major project based on a "Marxist" work was headed by a little-known, 30-year-old director and screenwriter from the "blacklist." Kubrick also found himself in a controversial situation. On the one hand, he was put in charge of the production of one of the most expensive films in the history of cinema, but on the other, he found himself in the position of a studio director and was limited in many decisions. He had no opportunity to change the script or concept. Douglas attributed his dissatisfaction to the forced change of director, which never benefits a film, but "the ship had already sailed," and there was no turning back.
• Operator Russell Metty left the set, complaining that Kubrick wasn't letting him work. When Metty finally returned to the set, Kubrick continued to put pressure on him and even took over a large part of the cinematography. Metty was very unhappy about this and even wanted his name removed from the credits.
• The final version of the film's script was created through a collaborative effort. As Trumbo noted, his contribution to the script in the final version of the film was about 50%. As a result of the script revisions by the director, all of the main character's lines were removed from the first 30 minutes of the film.
• Casting began as early as summer 1958. When choosing actors, Douglas focused on the most famous and followed a tried-and-true principle: slaves – American actors, Romans – British performers. Douglas immediately cast himself in the leading role.
• In the film, Spartacus was a slave from birth. In reality, he served in auxiliary troops of the Roman army, deserted, but was captured and sold into slavery. Stanley Kubrick was aware of this, but he considered such a plot twist insufficiently heroic.
• The film is based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast.
• In late 1957, Edward Lewis, Kirk Douglas’s partner in the Bryna production company, suggested he acquire the rights to adapt Howard Fast’s book. Kirk was interested in the book but did not attach great importance to it and delayed buying the rights. Douglas already had successful experience working with historical themes with United Artists on the film “The Vikings,” but he had no plans to return to it at that moment. The situation changed when, in early 1958, Douglas learned about MGM’s new big-budget project “Ben-Hur.” Douglas, believing he was well-suited for the lead role, began “working on” William Wyler. Wyler, in response, offered Douglas the supporting role of Messala instead of Ben-Hur. Kirk refused and conceived retaliatory actions of a corresponding scale, returning to the postponed idea. He acquired an option to adapt Fast’s novel at his own expense. Then the actor began negotiations with United Artists about filming a picture dedicated to the gladiator uprising.
• In October 1958, a meeting between United Artists and Universal held a discussion about further actions of the two studios. Universal’s executive director Milton Rackmill unexpectedly told Douglas that the company would begin work on the film "Spartacus" in January of the following year (1959). Representatives of United Artists responded to this with laughter. During a break in negotiations, Douglas approached Arthur Krim, a United Artists representative, and offered to resolve everything amicably. "We have a long history together, and there will be many more films," he said. On October 27, 1958, United Artists conceded defeat on the "Gladiators" project, stating that they had no claims against their competitors. This was largely due to the efforts of Kirk Douglas’s agent, Leo Wasserman, a representative of the talent agency MCA Inc. The reputations of Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov, all established in peplum films, spoke for themselves. Negotiations with the British actors regarding their participation took place in London in July 1958. “Spartacus” was included in Universal’s plans for the following year.
• The film was re-released in Soviet distribution in 1984, and was seen by 28.2 million viewers per run with a print run of 1171 copies. The total number of tickets sold for 'Spartacus' in the USSR amounted to (including both runs) 178.4 million. Even at an average price of around 30 kopecks, the film’s box office takings in Soviet distribution could have amounted to 53.5 million rubles, which at the then-official exchange rate would have been equivalent to $86.3 million.
• Following ‘Spartacus,’ remembering all the censorship problems he had endured, Kubrick moved to England and subsequently worked primarily overseas. The transition from ‘Spartacus’ to ‘Lolita’ is considered one of the most unorthodox in the history of directing, so different are these two films. It is believed that this unexpected turn to Nabokov’s scandalous and ‘unfilmable’ prose was a kind of challenge to the Hollywood system and to everything that remained unrealized in ‘Spartacus.’
• The film's sets were mainly constructed on land owned by Universal in the vicinity of Los Angeles, where the studio had approximately 422 acres. Some location shooting took place in the Death Valley area. The country residence of media magnate William Randolph Hearst, built in an antique style, was used as Crassus' villa.
• Kubrick was not given control over the script, which he considered “stupid moralizing.” Since then, Kubrick has fully controlled the production of his films.
• In October 1989, Robert Harris began restoring the film. Engineers spent several months searching for surviving working materials of the picture in the studio vaults in Los Angeles. They discovered approximately 2,000 boxes of film, which contained the complete negative. The color negative proved unsuitable for restoration due to the complete degradation of the film quality. However, they were able to find 65mm black-and-white negatives, used as intermediate materials for development. Using a color filter, each copy recorded its color, so that after exposure, a final full-color copy could be printed. Such backup materials are usually not kept by film studios for long, and in the case of 'Spartacus,' they were preserved by chance. The operation also partially used a 35mm copy lasting 182 minutes, provided by a private collector, as well as, in part, a version of the film used for television broadcast. The editor of the restoration, Harris, was unable to find scenes of the rebel battles, as the studio destroyed most of the archival rough footage. It is reliably known that these scenes existed. Several seconds from the battle for Metapontus (Spartacus giving the signal to begin the attack) have survived in the film's trailer. A total of approximately one year of effort was spent on this operation, with a budget of approximately $1 million. The premiere of the restored version took place on April 21, 1991, in New York at the Ziegfeld cinema.
• Kirk Douglas approached Dalton Trumbo for help with the screenplay. Bryna had a long-term contract with Trumbo, and "Spartacus" was one of their many collaborations. The producers consistently faced difficulties paying the fee to the "shadow" employee. Part of the deal was a promise to include Trumbo's name in the film's credits, which would help both the studio and the worker by legitimizing the arrangement. In March 1958, Bryna specifically hired a PR specialist to gauge public opinion in case Dalton's name appeared in the credits.
• 'Spartacus' is the only work by Kubrick where he was a hired studio director. Some scholars of his work even do not include 'Spartacus' among his auteur films.
• Kirk Douglas initially chose the book's author to write the film's screenplay. Howard Fast had no experience in script development. The 102-page draft of Fast's screenplay pleased no one. After reading the first 60 pages, Douglas called them a "disaster": the characters were stilted and the plot was too "conversational." In general, the narrative focused less on Spartacus himself and more on the revolt. However, lacking a better option, Douglas brought this draft to his competitors at United Artists — to Universal Studios. The meeting took place on May 27, 1958. Ed Mul, head of Universal's production department, showed moderate interest upon reviewing the manuscript, but overall, the idea was well-received. The studio representatives agreed to the proposal and recommended revising the script. The option on the novel was expiring; a decision was needed immediately. Douglas turned to Dalton Trumbo.
• In reality, Spartacus was only one of the leaders of the rebel slaves, and not the sole leader, as shown in the film.
• The picture underwent final changes immediately before its release. MPAA representative Geoffrey Shurlock made several censorship-related comments. He demanded the shortening of the crucifixion scene, as he believed it excessively dwelled on the protagonist’s suffering. He disapproved of the scene in which Gracchus and Caesar visit the Roman slums. The MPAA representative demanded the reworking of scenes with Jane Simmons nude. He also found ambiguity in Spartacus’s phrase, “I have never had a woman,” which he also asked to be changed. Kubrick cut these scenes. However, the main loss for the film was the ambiguous “homoerotic” scene involving Crassus and Antoninus. After lengthy proceedings, the scene did not make it into the 1960 release version at all and was only restored in 1991.
• Of the 167 days it took Kubrick to film the movie, six weeks were spent staging the large-scale battle scenes, in which 8,500 extras recreated the battles between Roman troops and Spartacus' army.
• Stanley Kubrick stated about the film: “'Spartacus' is the only film I haven’t controlled and which, I think, was weakened by that. It happened because of the necessity of making thousands of decisions, and if you don’t make them yourself, if you’re not on the same wavelength as the people who are making them, (the process) becomes very painful, as it was. Obviously, I directed the actors, laid out the shooting scenes, and edited the film, so, limited by the weakness of the story, I tried to do as much as possible… The only (my) film that I dislike is 'Spartacus.'”
• To attract stars to supporting roles, Kirk Douglas gave them different versions of the script in which their characters appeared in the most favorable light.
• The studio was so confident in the commercial success of the film that it pre-set a fixed ticket price for the roadshow circuit, which had only been done once before in Universal's history.
• The first thing Kubrick did as director was to dismiss Sabina Betmann. In his usual peremptory manner, he summoned the German actress and told her that he doubted her acting abilities. Kubrick asked the actress to improvise, portraying a strong emotion, but Sabina was taken aback and was fired. Kubrick invited British actress Jean Simmons to the film.
• There was no role for Tony Curtis in the original script, but the actor, through persistence, convinced the producer of its necessity. The role of the slave Antoninus was written «for him» and added to the script.
• Stanley Kubrick demanded that the script be revised and shortened, as it initially consisted of about 1600 pages. The final, fourth draft was written for Stanley Kubrick after he took the director’s chair; however, even this version caused serious disagreements.
• The invitation to write music for ‘Spartacus’ found Alex North in France. The usual time to work on a soundtrack in Hollywood is about 10 weeks, including arrangement and orchestration. The composer was given about 13 months. North had the opportunity to turn to sources and gain a clearer understanding of ancient, Roman music. North also acknowledged the great influence that Prokofiev’s music from ‘Alexander Nevsky’ had on him. The length of the soundtrack was about 2 hours. Approximately 70 musical themes were written for the film in total. For the first time in Kubrick’s practice, music was played on set, creating the necessary atmosphere.
• A recurring theme favored by Kubrick in many of his films was chess. In the film, it can be seen in the form of black and white tiles on the floor in the Roman senate, where complex political combinations are played out. Also, the rehearsed realignment of cohorts of the Roman army into a chess-like formation on the battlefield of the decisive battle with the rebels.
• Evaluating the results of his work, Kubrick said that he did not intend to shoot another ‘costume epic,’ but rather aimed at the most avant-garde viewer. ‘“Alexander Nevsky” by Eisenstein had a greater influence on me than “Ben-Hur” and any film by Cecil B. DeMille,’ the director recalled.
• During the production of the film, Jean Simmons was out of work for a month – she needed emergency surgery due to gynecological problems. Curtis, after suffering a leg injury while playing tennis, spent a significant amount of time in a cast. These and other illnesses delayed the work on the film by more than a month, which worried Douglas, who tried to save money in every way possible.
• Far-right Hollywood figures Hedda Hopper and John Wayne influenced the decision not to nominate the film for the “Best Picture” Oscar.
• After Mann’s departure, Kirk Douglas again proposed Kubrick as a candidate, with whom he had successfully collaborated on “Paths of Glory,” calling him “the future Eisenstein” and simultaneously “a talented piece of shit.” This time, all the leading actors sided with Douglas, and the studio was forced to agree with the collective opinion. Kirk and Stanley were close acquaintances and often played poker together. During one game, Kirk offered him the position of director for a fee of five thousand dollars a week. Kubrick received a total of $155,000 for the film (twice as much as Mann). Stanley agreed, even without reading the script. The 30-year-old director and his production company, Harris-Kubrick, were looking for work at the time.
• From the very beginning of working on the script, Trumbo never stopped trying to preserve his understanding and vision of Spartacus. The working draft of the script (December 1958) contained not a single battle scene, including the final one. The audience only saw the consequences of the battles, presented figuratively and surrealistically, for example, helmets floating down the river, blood in the water, and numerous bodies left on the battlefield. Trumbo concentrated on developing scenes taking place in Rome, as they involved expensive British actors who needed to be filmed first. Scenes with slave battles were added to the script only after its revisions during production.
• The bulk of the screenplay work took place between July and December 1958. During this time, Trumbo, writing under the pseudonym "Sam Jackson," prepared one after another three versions of the script, the last of which satisfied the producers to such an extent that filming plans could already be made. Meanwhile, in late 1959, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) raised the issue of why a writer convicted by the committee continued to actively collaborate with Universal, and studio representatives had to explain themselves on the matter.
• Kirk Douglas considered Joseph Mankiewicz and Stanley Kubrick as director candidates. But the studio insisted on its own choice of director. Anthony Mann was selected, who had a reputation as a commercially successful director but was primarily known for Westerns. Douglas agreed only because the production schedule was already three months behind and it was important to start immediately. He believed that Mann would find it difficult to portray the tragedy of an individual in a high-budget peplum with battle scenes.
• Two weeks after filming began, Douglas returned to the issue of the director’s choice and raised the matter in negotiations with the studio. According to one account, Anthony Mann found it difficult to work with the brilliant British cast. He excessively favored Peter Ustinov, agreeing with his opinions where he shouldn't have, which had a corrosive effect on the team. Douglas himself found it challenging to work alongside Laurence Olivier. Kirk lacked such a solid acting background, relying more on intuitive understanding of the craft and his physical attributes. He needed someone else in the director's chair. Another source of contention was the disagreement between the producer and director regarding the romantic relationship between Spartacus and Varinia, which they believed should play a key role in the film, a view Mann did not share.
• The events of the scene 'I am Spartacus!', as well as all subsequent ones, are a fiction of the screenwriters and have no historical basis: most sources agree that Spartacus died in battle.
• In reality, Crassus was not eager to pursue Spartacus's army. It is believed that the decisive battle began with the slaves attempting to lure the Romans into a trap. Furthermore, Crassus essentially won the battle alone – Pompey's role was limited to destroying 5,000 slaves who had fled the battlefield.
• Dalton Trumbo tried to convince the studio to add more scenes of battles with slave victories, but failed. Studio representatives cited the film’s budget overruns. Douglas attempted to implement a compromise idea of showing an animated map demonstrating the sequence of battles and the scale of the rebels' victories. Sol Bass prepared several sketches of the map. They were even planned to be inserted into the film, but they stylistically clashed with the visual range.
• Douglas was considered a rather difficult person to deal with in Hollywood and, according to Charles McGraw, sometimes lost control of himself. The filming of the picture was not without injuries. In one of the episodes of the revolt in Batiatus’ school, Spartacus took lanista Marcellus (McGraw) in a double nelson and lowered his opponent’s head into a pot of soup. Due to carelessness, Douglas broke Charles McGraw’s jaw. The injured actor, nevertheless, bravely finished the take to the end. In another episode, during a fight with wooden swords, Douglas broke a stuntman’s rib. The scene of Spartacus’ crucifixion was quite difficult for the team and required many takes. When Douglas discovered during test screenings that the scene had been significantly cut during editing, he caused a scandal. Grabbing the assistant director Bob Lawrence by the lapels, he began to shout: «Do you know how long I had to hang on that damned cross!? And now it’s all cut out? You’re fired!». The enraged actor tore Lawrence’s shirt, and he was barely pulled away by producer Edward Lewis.
• David Lean turned down the directing job, and Laurence Olivier did not want to combine acting and directing roles.
• The famous scene and phrase “I am Spartacus” was invented by Kirk Douglas and described in a note to the screenwriter, which Kirk sent on May 7, 1959. “I am Spartacus” was to be shouted by thousands of people, and it was not possible to achieve the necessary effect using conventional recording techniques. The sound accompaniment was recorded at the “Spartan” stadium, with the phrase chanted by a choir of 73,000 fans of the local football team.
• With a budget of $12 million, the film became Universal's most expensive project in 1960.
• Stanley Kubrick took over directing the film after Kirk Douglas, the lead actor, had a falling out with director Anthony Mann. According to Peter Ustinov, the scene at the salt mines was the only one Mann managed to film.
• Douglas jokingly lamented that working on 'Spartacus' had taken longer than the revolt itself. Production lasted over two years, which was well outside the unwritten standards of the American film industry. Evaluating the film, Trumbo felt ambivalent. He was dissatisfied that not all of his visions were realized in the final cut, although he spoke positively about the film itself and worried that the scandal surrounding his name and credits would hurt box office performance. The final cut is considered to have aligned with the studio's and executive producer's (Douglas's) views. Bryna Productions and Kirk Douglas continued to collaborate with Trumbo after 'Spartacus,' jointly creating a number of films. Charles Lawton was dissatisfied with the editing, changes to his scenes, and threatened legal action.
• Following Dalton Trumbo’s dissatisfaction with the film’s assembly copy, Kirk Douglas and Edward Lewis acknowledged the criticism as valid and supported the screenwriter. The studio allocated another half a million dollars for improvements and agreed to continue filming. To save money, Douglas suggested moving the battle scenes to Europe. The studio insisted on keeping all production in the USA. Eventually, they reached an agreement to move part of the production to Spain. In October, the film crew spent about 20 days in the vicinity of Madrid. The dictator Franco himself participated in negotiations regarding the involvement of Spanish army soldiers as extras. 8,000 soldiers portrayed Roman legions and a gladiatorial army. Three towers approximately one hundred feet (30 meters) high were built to mount cameras at a high vantage point and capture the formations of the Roman army in detail from a distance of about 800 meters. Clifford Styne worked as the cinematographer on this part. The spectacular maneuvers of the Roman cohorts on the battlefield were based on sketches by Sol Bass. According to the artist, he created them under the influence of battle scenes from 'Alexander Nevsky'. The skill of the filming made such an impression on the studio representatives and the entire film crew that talk behind the young director’s back ceased after the Spanish part of the film.

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