Film Forum

U.S., 1953
Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz
Based on William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Starring Louis Calhern, Marlon Brando, James Mason, Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr
Approx. 120 min. 35mm.

The Method meets Shakespeare, in an all-star (James Mason, John Gielgud, Deborah Kerr, etc.) epic of Roman power politics and assassination, in what is still the last major studio production of the Bard. As Mark Antony, Marlon Brando’s funeral oration took a week of filming — the ultimate reply to carpers who expected him to mumble his way through the part.

Reviews

“Joseph L Mankiewicz’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play is something of a triumph, with Marlon Brando disproving the doubters who thought this was a “stunt casting” and were worried that his propensity for mumbling would ruin the production.”
– Joe Clay, The Times (UK)