Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas in the title role, a slave and gladiator who leads a rebellion against Rome during the events of the Third Servile War. Adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast's 1951 novel of the same title, the film also stars Laurence Olivier as Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, Charles Laughton as rival senator Sempronius Gracchus, Peter Ustinov as gladiatorial school owner Lentulus Batiatus, and John Gavin as Julius Caesar. Jean Simmons played Spartacus' wife Varinia, a fictional character, and Tony Curtis played the fictional slave Antoninus.
Douglas, whose company Bryna Productions was producing the film, removed original director Anthony Mann after three weeks of shooting. Kubrick, with whom Douglas had made Paths of Glory (1957), took over as director. It was the only film directed by Kubrick where he did not have complete artistic control. Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted at the time as one of the Hollywood Ten. Douglas publicly announced that Trumbo was the screenwriter of Spartacus, and President John F. Kennedy crossed American Legion picket lines to view the film, helping to end blacklisting; Howard Fast's book had also been blacklisted and he had to self-publish the original edition.
The film won four Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design) from six nominations. It also received six nominations at the Golden Globes, including Woody Strode’s only career Golden Globe nomination (for Best Supporting Actor), ultimately winning one (Best Motion Picture – Drama). At the time of the film’s release, it was the highest grossing film in Universal Studios' history, which it remained until it was surpassed by Airport (1970). In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Plot In the first century BC, the Roman Republic has slid into corruption, its menial work done by slaves. One slave, a Thracian named Spartacus, is so uncooperative in his position in a mining pit that he is sentenced to death by starvation. By chance, he is displayed to Roman lanista (gladiatorial school manager) Lentulus Batiatus, who – impressed by his ferocity – purchases Spartacus for his school in Capua and instructs trainer Marcellus not to overdo his indoctrination, believing the slave "has quality". Amid the abuse, Spartacus forms a quiet relationship with Varinia, a serving woman, with whom he refuses have sex when she is sent to his cell because he doesn't want to force himself on her for the amusement of his captors. The two endure numerous humiliations for defying the conditions of servitude, including Varinia’s assignment to another gladiator.
Batiatus receives a visit from the fabulously wealthy and powerful Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus, who aims to become dictator of Rome. Crassus eventually buys Varinia, and for the amusement of his companions arranges for a private show, with Spartacus and three other gladiators to fight to the death. When Spartacus is disarmed, his opponent, an Ethiopian named Draba, spares his life in a burst of defiance and solidarity, and instead attacks the Roman audience, only to be speared in the back by a guard and then personally killed by Crassus. The next day, with the ludus's atmosphere still tense over this episode, Batiatus sends Varinia away to Crassus' house in Rome. When Marcellus taunts Spartacus over his affection for Varinia, Spartacus attacks Marcellus by drowning him in a pot of soup, and a riot breaks out. Batiatus flees while the gladiators overwhelm their guards and escape into the countryside.
Spartacus is elected chief of the fugitives and decides to lead them out of Italy and back to their homes. They plunder country estates as they go, collecting enough money to buy sea transport from the pirates of Cilicia, foes of Rome. Many slaves join the group, making it as large as an army. Among the new arrivals is Varinia, who escaped while being delivered to Crassus. Another is Antoninus, a slave entertainer who also fled Crassus' service after finding out the bisexual Crassus expected Antoninus to become his sex slave. Spartacus feels inadequate because of his lack of education. However, he proves an excellent leader and organizes his diverse followers into a tough and self-sufficient community. Spartacus impregnates Varinia.
The Roman Senate becomes increasingly alarmed as Spartacus defeats every army sent against him. Crassus' opponent Gracchus knows that his rival will try to use the crisis as a justification for seizing control of the Roman army. To try to prevent this, Gracchus channels as much military power as possible into the hands of his own protégé, the young senator Julius Caesar. Although Caesar lacks Crassus' contempt for the lower classes of Rome, he mistakes the man's rigid outlook for a patrician. Thus, when Gracchus reveals that he has bribed the Cilicians to get Spartacus out of Italy and rid Rome of the slave army, Caesar regards such tactics as beneath him and goes over to Crassus.
Crassus bribes the pirates to abandon Spartacus and has the Roman army secretly force the rebels away from the coastline towards Rome. Amid panic that Spartacus means to sack the city, the Senate gives Crassus absolute power. Now surrounded by Roman legions, Spartacus persuades his men to die fighting. Just by rebelling and proving themselves human, he says that they have struck a blow against slavery. In the ensuing battle, most of the slave army is massacred. The Romans try to locate the rebel leader for special punishment by offering a pardon (and return to enslavement) if anyone will identify Spartacus or his corpse. Antoninus shouts "I'm Spartacus!" and his cry is taken up by others. Crassus sentences them all to death by crucifixion along the Via Appia, where the revolt began.
Finding Varinia and Spartacus' newborn son, Crassus takes them prisoner. He is disturbed by the idea that Spartacus can command more love and loyalty than he can, and hopes to compensate by making Varinia as devoted to him as she was to her former husband. When she rejects him, he guesses which man is Spartacus, and saves him for last, along with Antoninus. He forces them to fight to the death. The survivor is to be crucified. Spartacus kills Antoninus to spare him this terrible fate. The incident leaves Crassus worried about Spartacus' potential to live in legend as a martyr. In other matters, he is also worried about Caesar, whom he senses will someday eclipse him.
Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus' family from Crassus and take them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group passes under Spartacus' cross. Varinia comforts him in his dying moments by showing him his son and promising he will grow up free and knowing who his father was.
Cast
Production Development The development of Spartacus was partly instigated by Kirk Douglas' failure to win the title role in William Wyler's Ben-Hur (1959). Douglas had worked with Wyler before on Detective Story (1951), and was disappointed when Wyler chose Charlton Heston, instead. Shortly after, Edward Lewis, a vice president for Douglas's film company, Bryna Productions (named after Douglas's mother), had read Howard Fast's novel, Spartacus, which had a related theme—an individual who challenges the might of the Roman Empire. Douglas was impressed enough to purchase an option on the book with his own finances. He proposed the project to Arthur B. Krim, the head of United Artists, which was set to distribute The Vikings (1958), which also starred Douglas. Krim turned down the project as Yul Brynner had been developing his own Spartacus film, tentatively titled The Gladiators. Martin Ritt was set to direct, and he was incensed after learning about Douglas's rival project. Lewis then proposed merging the two projects, with Douglas and Brynner in leading roles. Brynner declined the offer, and proceeded to film The Gladiators after Ritt had finished editing The Sound and the Fury (1959).
Douglas's agent Lew Wasserman suggested he try having his film produced for Universal Studios. With Dalton Trumbo's screenplay being completed in two weeks, Universal and Douglas pulled ahead of Brynner's rival project. Brynner's project was later placed on hold as the weather conditions in Europe grew unsuitable for filming. Brynner then chose to film The Magnificent Seven (1960) instead. By the fall of 1958, Universal Studios eventually agreed to finance the film after Douglas persuaded Olivier, Laughton, and Ustinov to act in it. Olivier was also to direct the picture. Lewis became the producer of the film, with Douglas taking executive producer credit.
Douglas originally offered the role of Varinia to French actress Jeanne Moreau, but she did not want to leave her boyfriend in France. German actress Sabine Bethmann was then cast. The studio gave her the anglicized name of "Sabina Bethman" for use in the film's publicity, but she was replaced by Jean Simmons after only two days of filming.
Writing Howard Fast was initially hired to adapt his own novel into a screenplay. After 60 days had passed, Kirk Douglas read Fast's first draft, which he described as a "disaster, unusable." Pressed for time, and in competition with Brynner's rival project, Douglas turned to Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted as one of the "Hollywood 10". Trumbo did not like Fast as he found him to be narrow-minded in his Marxist views, but agreed to write a treatment. Trumbo submitted his treatment, which Douglas and Edward Lewis then gave to Fast stating this was their preferred direction for the screenplay. Fast refused to follow Trumbo's treatment, so Douglas hired Trumbo to write the final screenplay. Lewis was to serve as the front for Trumbo, with the latter receiving payments directed to his pseudonym "Sam Jackson".
Douglas insisted that Trumbo be given screen credit for his work, which helped to break the blacklist. Trumbo had been jailed for contempt of Congress in 1950, after which he had survived by writing screenplays under assumed names. Douglas publicly announced that Trumbo was the screenwriter of Spartacus. Further, President John F. Kennedy publicly ignored a demonstration organized by the American Legion and went to see the film.
In his autobiography, Douglas states that this decision was motivated by a meeting that Edward Lewis, Stanley Kubrick, and he had regarding whose names to list for the screenplay in the film credits, given Trumbo's shaky position with Hollywood executives. One idea was to credit Lewis as co-writer or sole writer, but Lewis vetoed both suggestions. Kubrick then suggested that his name be used. Douglas and Lewis found Kubrick's eagerness to take credit for Trumbo's work revolting, and the next day, Douglas called the gate at Universal saying, "I'd like to leave a pass for Dalton Trumbo." Douglas writes, "For the first time in 10 years, [Trumbo] walked on to a studio lot. He said, 'Thanks, Kirk, for giving me back my name.'
In reality, the public announcement of Trumbo's screenwriting credit for Spartacus did not come until August 1960, seven months after producer-director Otto Preminger's January 20, 1960, announcement that he had hired Trumbo to adapt Leon Uris' novel Exodus for the screen. Douglas later successfully denied Trumbo credit for the film Town Without Pity, as he worried that his continued association with the screenwriter would hurt his career.
Filming