Disowned by Director Kubrick

Rating: 9/10 (25 January 2013)

Amongst the plethora of Roman epics that graced/disgraced Hollywood in the 50s and 60s, it's all too easy to overlook Spartacus. But why? and why isn't it considered to be Kubrick enough to be better known as one of his and indeed, as my title suggests, a quick check through the best- selling Kubrick box-sets, none includes Spartacus.
Firstly, Anthony Mann was the original director and started off with the project, he's still accredited as co-director in some listings. His set- pieces include the early scenes set in Libyan desert. Star and executive producer Kirk Douglas fired Mann and enrolled Kubrick, from then on. It has been said that Kubrick since disowned the film as he considered himself a hired hand, finishing off someone else's project.
Kirk Douglas, does actually have too much control over this movie, to me, the elongated speeches and lingering slushy romance with (admittedly with the very attractive) Jean Simmons bloat both the film's already long length and but also Douglas' ego, a bit. Having said that, like in his role in the excellent The Vikings, he is perfect for the role, physically - like Charlton Heston in Ben Hur, he towers above everybody and everything and takes the film by the scruff of the neck and drags us all the way through.
There's more than a whiff of Gladiator in this - more ponderous and talky but the action really does shine - instead of some over-pampered American superstar getting stunt doubles Douglas really does seem to relish the hand-on-hand combats that epitomises what we conceive today as being the Romans at their best - and worst - the Gladiatorial fight to the death, in the ring.
For many my age, it's the seeing the greats such as Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis (as a willowy magician) Peter Ustinov, whose part is almost perfectly replicated by the late (great) Oliver Reed aforementioned Gladiator, that of a slave dealer, who first sees the potential of Spartacus, the slave and how he can fight to save himself from his inevitable plight. But mainly, for Charles Laughton, with his chubby cheeks and curly locks - look at any Roman coin or actual Roman artifact and we have the epitome of the well-fed, pleasure-seeking Roman aristocrat.
A rousing musical score by Alex North sounds great in the stereo we now enjoy but obviously did not get when seeing this on our parent's TV. The battle-scenes toward the end are exciting and well choreographed, long before CGI trickery, of course. The rolling flames down the hill are particularly effective and whilst being PG certificate, it is often really quite violent - not for small children, this.
So, a lot better than many of the Roman epics that Hollywood churned out but not necessarily one for Kubrick fans wanting actual Kubrick. Yes, he did his job supremely well and no-one could have asked more from him, but William Wyler (who directed Ben Hur) could have done it equally well.