Rating: NR
Length: 121 minutes

Standard 1.33:1 B&W

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 2.0
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 2.0

English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Follow the assassination plot of Julius Caesar from the planning stage through it's execution and then to the demise of those involved.

Though it's black & white and over 50 year old, the picture is remarkably crisp. The cast consisted of some of the most popular and talented actors of the day including Marlin Brando, James Mason, Deborah Kerr and John Gielgud. Even though Brando gets top billing and this dvd can be found in the Marlon Brando DVD box set, James Mason gets most of the screen time as Brutus. He takes advantage of this by giving an excellent performance of a man that did what he felt was absolutely right for his country yet went down in history as a traitor. But give Brando his due, the speech he gave to the people after Caesar's death is a classic; I love the way sarcasm was so beautifully interwoven into the speech by Shakespeare and then delivered by Brando.

I hope your Old English skills are sharp because the actors spoke the words that Shakespeare wrote. There are subtitles for those of you that may not understand what they are saying but the subtitles are identical to the words spoken.

• Introduction by TCM Host Robert Osborne
• "The Rise of Two Legends" Featurette
• Marlon Brando Movie Trailer Gallery

I was one of those weird kids in high school that actually liked Shakespeare so there could be a little bit of bias in my rating of this film. I can't help but wonder what this production actually looked like in color on the sets.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz   [Cleopatra (1963)]

Marlon Brando - Mark Antony

[Apocalypse Now, The Formula, The Godfather, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Mutiny on the Bounty, Reflections In A Golden Eye, The Score, Superman, The Teahouse Of The August Moon, The Young Lions,]

Louis Calhern - Julius Caesar

William Cottrell - Cinna

James Mason - Brutus

[20000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Blue Max, The Boys from Brazil, Cross of Iron, The Desert Fox, The Desert Rats, The Fall of the Roman Empire, North by Northwest, Salem's Lot]

Greer Garson - Calpurnia

John Gielgud - Cassius

[Becket, Chariots of Fire, The Elephant Man, Elizabeth, First Knight, Gandhi, Merlin, Murder on the Orient Express, The Scarlet and the Black]

Richard Hale - Soothsayer

[To Kill a Mockingbird]

John Hoyt - Decius Brutus

Deborah Kerr - Portia

George Macready - Marullus

[The Desert Fox, Paths of Glory]

Alan Napier - Cicero

Edmond O'Brien - Casca

[The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Wild Bunch]

Michael Pate - Flavius

Tom Powers - Metellus Cimber

[Double Indemnity]

Jack Raine - Trebonius