Mirroring The Brutality Of Today's Post 9/11 World

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2014)

WE CONFESS TO being awfully ignorant, but, up until several years ago, we did not know that there was a real life Spartacus; who did lead a revolt of slaves in the Roman Empire. The years in question were 73- 71 B.C., and we read this was the 3rd and last of what have been called THE ROMAN SERVILLE WARS.
THE STORY IS a natural subject for a Big Screen, Sword & Sandal epic and also a most desirable role for Executive Producer, Mr. Kirk Douglas to portray. Being what we now call a "Blockbuster", the procuring of a top rate, international cast was in order.
IN RESPONSE TO this need we have: Lawrence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis,Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Ireland, Nina Foch and Herbert Lom. Rounding out the players' roster are some very talented people; who are perhaps appearing in what may have been their most visible roles. Charles McGraw and Harold J. Stone come to mind and are excellent in their portrayals of brutal Trainer and Slave/Gladiator, respectively.
IN CONSIDERING THE screenplay for this huge undertaking, the choice of Exec Producer was Dalton Trumbo. Although the writer had been blacklisted following the House Un-American Activities Committee's hearings for Leftist political leanings, he had continued to work; albeit with the use of Pen Names. Kirk Douglas insisted that he use his real name in the credits.*
BECAUSE SO LITTLE is known about the events of that era, the personal lives of those involved and the political climate of Rome, a lot of filling in with supposition and fictionalization was called for.
AS WITH SO many other story lines, it became a sort of surrogate morality play for us in the modern world. The behind the scenes conniving in the Roman Senate and the arrogance displayed by the military could all be easily portrayed as pariahs of the United States in the mid 20th Century.
THE BEST EXAMPLES of this last hypothesis are the characters of Crassus (Olivier) in the military and Gracchus (Laughton) in the Senate. Mr.Laughton's characterization, in particular seems to be carefully crafted to be representative of a sort of caricature of what we think of as being a "Politician" in the worst sense. He makes a beauty of a point in the money statement to support our case.
MR. CHARLES LAUGHTON, as Senator Gracchus, states that privately he believes in none of these gods; but publicly he worships them all.
NOW THEN, AIN"T that a "Politician" for you?
NOTE * Contrary to a widespread misconception, the 'Blacklist' was not a governmental edict; but rather a creation of a consortium of the Hollywood Studio Big Wigs.