The worst that can be said for Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar is that the maudlin Scottish mare Deborah Kerr is a member of the cast; thankfully, however, the Bard's tragedy allows for few sterling moments from Portia, and this is a great boon ... (read more) The worst that can be said for Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar is that the maudlin Scottish mare Deborah Kerr is a member of the cast; thankfully, however, the Bard's tragedy allows for few sterling moments from Portia, and this is a great boon to the overall success of the film. James Mason provides the finest performance of his illustrious career (seconded, perhaps, by his scandalous romp as Humbert Humbert in Kubrick's Lolita), and John Gielgud nears his finest work on film (his Clarence in Olivier's Richard III) as the vulpine Cassius. Edmond O'Brien (an unexpected delight as the vinegary Casca) and George Macready gleam among a consistently strong supporting cast. And who better than sex symbol Marlon Brando to caterwaul the eminent Act III diatribe "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" in P.T. Barnum-inspired brio before the gullible Roman mob? As a particularly supercilious Marc Antony, Brando's performance lacks the subtle potency of Mason's Brutus, and he does not possess Gielgud's mechanical grasp of Shakespeare's physical text (and it is, indeed, a great shame for lovers of the most extraordinary of playwrights that Mankiewicz did not give the part to Paul Scofield, his first choice and, by all accounts, the greatest Shakespearean actor of the cinematic age, sans Laurence Olivier), but he milks the role with screen-filling zest. Aesthetically, the film is a paradigm for the Old World Hollywood epic, from Joseph Ruttenberg's crisp, silvery cinematography to Miklos Rozsa's robust, tempestuous score. By strides, an exciting and eminent classic.

Right off target as far as I'm concerned, the actor playing Caesar is nothing like the great man, not physically, not emotionally. This almost plays like a theater play, very very talkative, and to complicate matters more, it's in an old English lang... (read more) Right off target as far as I'm concerned, the actor playing Caesar is nothing like the great man, not physically, not emotionally. This almost plays like a theater play, very very talkative, and to complicate matters more, it's in an old English language based on the Shakespeare Book, and it can be hard to understand all the subtleties of the dialogue, it was a chore for me. This black and white film is a real dinosaur in terms of entertainment values, it's so boring that after 17 mins I stopped it.

Une fabuleuse adaptation de la pièce de Shakespeare. L'oraison de funèbre César par Marc-Antoine (Marlon Brando) porte à elle seule le filme aux sommets. Quelle scène d'anthologie !

interesting movie version of Shakespear's classic play with an all star Cast.

Shakespeare has for a long time been a four letter word to me, but I decided to give this one a try since a documentary on brando told that he "basically destroyed" the British pros in his scenes. Maybe, but by the time it was his turn to take the st... (read more) Shakespeare has for a long time been a four letter word to me, but I decided to give this one a try since a documentary on brando told that he "basically destroyed" the British pros in his scenes. Maybe, but by the time it was his turn to take the stage I was already preoccupied with post-processing some photographs on my laptop. Maybe there is something in Shakespeare that can be only appreciated by native English speakers. I'm almost trilingual but the only greatness I noticed was that brando actually delivered his lines clearly without mumbling, maybe he truly had a prime and it was in the 1950's. Also the classic big budget B/W cinematography is always pleasant to the eye.

Brando's speech to the crowd is enough reason to watch this movie. Powerful and moving words delivered with resounding strength.

Solid principal cast. Good costumes.

Pleasantly surprised when I saw "Joseph L. Mankiewicz" pop up in the opening cred... (read more) Brando's speech to the crowd is enough reason to watch this movie. Powerful and moving words delivered with resounding strength.

Solid principal cast. Good costumes.

Pleasantly surprised when I saw "Joseph L. Mankiewicz" pop up in the opening credits. Wilkes-Barre is swelling up with pride. Great work.

One of the better film adaptations Ive seen of Shakespeare's works.

It was the first time Ive actually seen Shakespeare's take on this story and I thought it was pretty good. The acting by most of the people in the film was also a pleasant surpri... (read more) One of the better film adaptations Ive seen of Shakespeare's works.

It was the first time Ive actually seen Shakespeare's take on this story and I thought it was pretty good. The acting by most of the people in the film was also a pleasant surprise.