Film

Spartacus

Cert: PG

Description: The Roman slave Spartacus is spared from a death sentence by the wily Batiatus, who trains the condemned man at his academy as a gladiator, to fight to the death for the entertainment of the rich and the powerful including Gracchus and his scheming successor Crassus. Enraged by how little the Empire values human life, Spartacus leads a uprising with Antoninus at his side but the valiant slaves are no match for Crassus, who desires Spartacus' wife Varinia.

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Dir: Stanley Kubrick.

Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov

Country: US.

Year: 1960.

Duration: 177mins

Spartacus gets top marks

Kirk Douglas stars as Spartacus

By Derek Malcolm
5 Jun 2009

Anthony Mann, director of some of the best Westerns ever made, was sacked by Kirk Douglas after the first week of shooting this tale of the slave rebellion against Rome in 73BC.

Stanley Kubrick was brought in and produced what is often considered the most impressive Western ever made.

Douglas is Spartacus, the gladiator who leads the revolt, while Peter Ustinov, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis and Jean Simmons also star.

The restored version includes a suggestive homosexual scene between Olivier and Curtis.
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