Big, brassy, vulgar, and -- above all -- entertaining historical piece about a slaves' revolt in the Roman Empire (First Century B.C.). The plebes tend to be played by American actors, and the patricians by British (including the movie-stealing Peter Ustinov as dean of a gladiator school). The casting concept is at best simple-minded, and a good bit worse than that if, for instance, you were to happen to be British yourself; somewhere in between it's just a half-baked idea that doesn't extend to the womenfolk (Jean Simmons is a slave girl, Joanna Barnes and Nina Foch are society dames). With Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and (to bring home the anti-slavery message to the American audience) the dignified black actor, Woody Strode; written by Dalton Trumbo (still on the blacklist at the time); directed by Stanley Kubrick (who replaced Anthony Mann midstream). (1960) — Duncan Shepherd
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