The film premiered at the Booth Theatre in New York City on June 3, 1953. (However, Cinna the Conspirator does appear he is played by actor William Cottrell.)
#JULIUS CAESAR DEATH MOVIE#
Whitehead is listed on the Internet Movie Database as having played Cinna the Poet in the film and not receiving screen credit, but his one scene was deleted before release, and it is not included in any DVD or video releases of the film. Despite the feuding, production continued with only minimal disruption, thanks to what Gielgud called, "Mankiewicz's consummate tact that kept us together as a working unit." Namely on me!" The subsequent shift in directorial attention didn't escape Brando, who threatened to walk off the film if Mankiewicz "threw one more scene to Mason", alleging a ménage à trois among Mankiewicz, Mason and Mason's wife Pamela.
During filming, James Mason became concerned that Brando was stealing the audience's sympathy away from him and his character, Brutus, so Mason appealed to Mankiewicz, with whom he had bonded earlier while making the film 5 Fingers, requesting that the director stop Brando from dominating the film and "put the focus back where it belongs. In him a major talent has emerged.” Brando was so dedicated in his performance during shooting that Gielgud offered to direct him in a stage production of Hamlet, a proposition that Brando seriously considered but ultimately turned down. Brando's diction, which has been guttural and slurred in previous films, is clear and precise in this instance. Brando's performance turned out so well that the New York Times' Bosley Crowther stated in his review of the film: “Happily, Mr. Brando asked John Gielgud for advice in declaiming Shakespeare, and adopted all of Gielgud's recommendations. Mankiewicz even considered Paul Scofield for the role of Mark Antony if Brando's screen test was unsuccessful. Houseman says they "decided to do it as a small production, not a spectacle to do it for what it really is-the drama of a political power play." Casting īrando's casting was met with some skepticism when it was announced, as he had acquired the nickname of "The Mumbler" following his performance in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Many of the sets and costumes were repurposed from Quo Vadis (1951), with several setpieces deconstructed, flown from Rome to California, and rebuilt on MGM's Culver City studio backlot. Though Houseman originally intended to shoot the film in Italy, production ultimately took place in Los Angeles instead. Houseman says MGM wanted to make the film in color but he and Mankiewicz refused, "partly because we wanted people to relate to the newsreels, to the Fascist movements in Europe, which were still relevant" and also because they would be "using a lot of the Quo Vadis sets, and it seemed idiotic to invite comparison with Quo Vadis." "If it was going to be cast all-English, it should be an English picture, made in England and we might as well forget about it." "I'd done a lot of Shakespeare in America," he said. Houseman did not want to use an all-British cast. Mankiewicz to direct because he thought he and William Wyler were "probably the two best dialogue directors in the business" and that Mankiewicz was "younger and more flexible." MGM's head of production Dore Schary offered the project to Houseman, who said he wanted Joseph L. Producer John Houseman says the film was made because Laurence Olivier's 1944 production of Henry V had been a success.
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