--- title: "Julius Caesar" year: 1953 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/julius-caesar" fi1m_score: 76 critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-09-20T02:36:08.472708+00:00" updated: "2026-09-20T02:36:24.791994+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Julius Caesar (1953) Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz · 2h 01m · MPA NR · Drama, History **Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 75 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Knives under the togas, and Brando, of all people, is the one who can work a crowd > Mankiewicz films Shakespeare’s Roman conspiracy as men talking in doorways, and mostly it holds. Gielgud’s Cassius is the best thing in it, Brando is a real surprise, and only when the film leaves the city does it look like the studio production it is. ## Synopsis Rome, at the feast of Lupercal. Julius Caesar (Louis Calhern) has beaten Pompey and comes home to crowds that cheer him as if he already wore a crown. A soothsayer (Richard Hale) tells him to beware the Ides of March; he walks on. Cassius (John Gielgud), a senator who cannot stomach the cheering, works on his friend Brutus (James Mason), who loves Caesar and fears what Rome becomes under one man. Casca (Edmond O’Brien) reports that the crowd offered Caesar a crown three times and that he refused it, and looked sorry to. Mark Antony (Marlon Brando) stands at Caesar’s side and says little. Over one night of thunder, Cassius gathers the men who mean to meet Caesar at the Capitol, and Brutus decides whether to join them. ## Review Producer John Houseman and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz set out to put Shakespeare’s play on screen with almost nothing added. No chariot race, no thousands on a hill. Two hours, black and white, the text more or less as written, and a cast split between the English stage and the Hollywood contract list. It is a film about a handful of men talking each other into something terrible and then arguing about whether it was right, and it is good: worth your evening, and better than a big studio Shakespeare had any right to be. The best thing in it is John Gielgud. His Cassius is lean and hungry and speaks the verse as if it were the only way he knows how to think, fast, with no pauses for the audience to admire him. The scene where he works on Brutus in the street, while the crowd cheers Caesar somewhere offscreen, is the one we leaned forward for. He never raises his voice. He just keeps finding the next thing Brutus does not want to hear. James Mason plays Brutus as a careful man arguing himself into a position by inches, and it is a thoughtful piece of work; the cost is that he is sometimes so reasonable he goes grey, and the film leans on Gielgud to keep the pulse up. Then there is Marlon Brando, whom at least one critic at the time thought did not have the voice for it. We disagree, and so have most people since. He plays Mark Antony as a man who has stood at Caesar’s shoulder for years saving his breath. There is a speech to a crowd in the Forum, and we will not set it up, since that would mean saying what happens at the Capitol, which schoolchildren have known for four centuries and we will still not repeat. Brando starts it low, almost embarrassed, and turns a mob by agreeing with it. We found ourselves wanting the crowd to go his way, and were slightly alarmed at ourselves afterwards. That is Shakespeare’s doing and Brando’s, and Mankiewicz has the sense to keep the camera on the faces in the crowd as much as on him. Joseph Ruttenberg shoots it in hard black and white, faces lit from one side so that half of every conspirator is in shadow, which is not subtle but is correct. The storm on the night before the Ides, with Edmond O’Brien’s Casca sweating and Alan Napier’s Cicero refusing to be impressed, is the stretch that looks most like a film: lightning, wet stone, men in doorways. Herschel McCoy’s togas are heavy and plain and hang like wool rather than bedsheets, and by the second hour some of them have dirt on the hem. Miklós Rózsa’s score comes in with brass for the processions and mostly stays out of the rooms. John Dunning’s cutting holds on the listener as often as the speaker, which is the right instinct for a play about persuasion. The flaws are the ones you would guess. The streets of Rome have the swept, painted look of a soundstage, and when the film finally leaves the city late on, it becomes plainly a backlot with a hill on it. Greer Garson’s Calpurnia and Deborah Kerr’s Portia each get one scene in which to worry about their husbands, which is Shakespeare’s fault rather than Mankiewicz’s, but hiring two stars to do it makes you notice. Louis Calhern’s Caesar is vain and tired, a chairman more than a tyrant. It does make it harder to see why anyone would need a knife. Mankiewicz had just made [*All About Eve*](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve), and he knows what a room full of people who despise each other sounds like. That is the approach here: Rome as an office, with the senators as middle management and a vacancy at the top. He adds no tricks, no dream sequences, no voice-over, and the cost is that the film looks, in places, like a well-acted television play. You do hear every word. If you last met the play at school, the surprise is how fast it goes. Do not let the opening put you off; it is two officials scolding some citizens about Pompey, and it plays like a lecture. Once the whispering starts, the film improves, and stays improved until the togas leave town. *Fi1m score 76, published 20 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like Julius Caesar, and they like it for the same reason: Mankiewicz keeps the camera on the actors and stays out of their way. The praise clusters around the cast. Brando’s Mark Antony draws the most comment, admired for bringing something modern to the verse, with Gielgud and James Mason close behind. Several reviews describe the result as a political thriller rather than a costume pageant, and count the absence of spectacle as a virtue. The reservations are about what the film does not attempt. A number of critics concede it is not cinematically adventurous, and some find the casting uneven beyond the leads. The spread is fairly narrow, with one dissent: The New Yorker finds the whole thing chilly and slow, all elocution and little invention, and, against the general view, thinks Brando and Calhern struggle with the language. Den of Geek, otherwise enthusiastic, notes the sets look artificial. ### Reviews we read (7) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (90/100, inferred): The film surprises with a tense, melodramatic story clearly presented and excellently acted by a top cast, staying faithful to the classic form without excessive spectacle. Highlights include compelling turns from Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, John Gielgud as Cassius, and James Mason as Brutus. [Read](https://variety.com/1952/film/reviews/julius-caesar-2-1200417476/) - **The New York Times**, Bosley Crowther (80/100, inferred): The film is a bold cinematic version of Shakespeare's play that stays close to the characters' faces and words to convey the drama of clashing interests and political intrigue. It features strong performances from a cast including Marlon Brando, James Mason, and John Gielgud. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1953/06/14/archives/-julius-caesar-shakespeares-play-done-boldly-on-the-screen.html) - **Empire**, William Thomas (70/100, inferred): The film is a perfectly adequate portrayal of Shakespeare's play, held together well by Brando and the cast. Mankiewicz directs the story as a 1950s boardroom thriller with a fine ensemble delivering the Shakespearean dialogue unfussily. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/julius-caesar-review/) - **Time Out**, TM (70/100, inferred): The film is a remarkably successful adaptation of Shakespeare that respects the text and lets performances shine without directorial tricks, emerging as a bold political thriller. Outstanding turns from Gielgud, Calhern and Brando stand out amid some weaker casting choices. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/julius-caesar) - **The New Yorker**, John McCarten (50/100, inferred): The production respects Shakespeare's language but results in a chilly, slow-moving exercise with strong elocution but limited visual innovation. Standout performances come from James Mason as Brutus and John Gielgud as Cassius, while Brando and Calhern are less successful with the verse. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1953/06/13/1953-06-13-065-tny-cards-000045335) - **Den of Geek**, Tony Sokol (4.5/5): The critic praises Mankiewicz's adaptation for its intimate portrayal of Roman politics and Brando's standout performance as Mark Antony, which brings contemporary energy to the classic role. The film is commended for its nuanced acting and focus on character over spectacle, though sets are noted as looking artificial. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/julius-caesar-marlon-brando-and-the-ides-of-march/) - **Paste**, Amy Glynn (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's acting, particularly John Gielgud as Brutus and Marlon Brando as Marc Antony, noting the director's clean style allows the performances to shine, while acknowledging it's not cinematically innovative. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/1950s/best-movies-1950s) ## Details - **Director:** Joseph L. Mankiewicz - **Director:** Joseph L. Mankiewicz - **Screenplay:** Joseph L. Mankiewicz - **Cinematography:** Joseph Ruttenberg - **Editor:** John Dunning - **Music:** Miklós Rózsa - **Costume design:** Herschel McCoy - **Producer:** John Houseman - **Cast:** Marlon Brando as Mark Antony; James Mason as Brutus; John Gielgud as Cassius; Louis Calhern as Julius Caesar; Edmond O'Brien as Casca; Greer Garson as Calpurnia; Deborah Kerr as Portia; George Macready as Marullus - **Runtime:** 2h 01m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 4 June 1953 - **Genres:** Drama, History - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $4 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcGenSlgwAM ## Where to watch in the US - Tubi: free, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-20.* Also available in: AT, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1954: Best Actor (nominated); Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (nominated); Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score (nominated); Best Picture (nominated); Best Art Direction, Black and White (won) ## If you liked this - *Coriolanus* (2011): Fiennes drops the other Roman play into a modern war zone and lets the verse shout. - *Rome* (2005): The same conspiracy seen from the gutter up, with more blood and far better sets. - *All About Eve* (1950), Fi1m 90: Mankiewicz a few years earlier, and everyone still talking behind their hands. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md) - *Throne of Blood* (1957): Kurosawa’s Macbeth, with fog instead of a soundstage and no less talk of ambition. - *Z* (1969): A modern political murder and its cover-up, cut like a thriller and angrier than any Roman. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. 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