Review of Julius Caesar (1953) by Walter M — 21 Dec 2007
[font=Century Gothic]This version of "Julius Caesar" is a dynamic take on the William Shakespeare play about politics with a great American/English cast. So great in fact that Greer Garson and Deborah Kerr are relegated to bit parts and Edmond O'Brien, no matter how much I like him, is slightly out of place in ancient Rome.
If there is a problem with this production, it is that Marlon Brando botches the big "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech by bellowing it from the start. I know Mark Antony is angry at the death of his friend, Julius Caesar(Louis Calhern), but Brando should have let the speech build to a crescendo when the crowd takes over.
And even though Brando may be the big star here, this is is not his movie. Not by a long shot. Instead it belongs to James Mason, giving a magisterial performance as noble Brutus who is naive enough to think that joining the conspiracy would make Rome freer, instead of in reality making it something much worse.
(Louis Calhern playing Caesar as a noble statesman alone deflates much of the conspirators' rhetoric about him being a tyrant.) Brutus has the ear of Caesar, so there should have been no reason for him to resort to political violence which never ends well.
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This review of Julius Caesar (1953) was written by Walter M on 21 Dec 2007.
Julius Caesar has generally received positive reviews.
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