THE JOSEPHINUM REVIEW, November 1960: Spartacus movie review

SPARTACUS

Movies Review by John J. Fritscher (Jack Fritscher)

This Spartacus movie review by John J. Fritscher (Jack Fritscher) ran in The Josephinum Review in November 1960, when Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus was a new kind of Hollywood epic: a three-hour-and-twenty-five-minute super-spectacle in Super-Technirama 70 with 8,000 extras and stars including Kirk Douglas, Sir Laurence Olivier and Jean Simmons. The review moves from the film’s spectacle to its historical hero, the gladiator who led a slave revolt in 73 B.C.

The Spartacus Movie Review

A new kind of Hollywood movie…a super-spectacle with spiritual vitality and moral force…another Ben Hur…wide screen, full color process known as Super-Technirama 70…runs for three hours and twenty-five minutes…employs 100 major sets…8,000 extras…such stars as Kirk Douglas, Sir Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis, John Gavin, Nina Foch, John Ireland…As to historical character, Spartacus was a leader of a band of 78 slaves who in the year 73 B. C. escaped from a training school for gladiators at Capua…He revolts for two years, during which time he defeats nine armies…Spartacus commands a force of 90,000 cavalry and foot…He is the patron saint of revolutions, and today the Communists have claimed him…Young, talented Stanley Kubrick directed this movie and shows mastery in all departments…Action is followed with delicacy and precision…Olivier makes a memorable Crassus, a moral idiot whose only feelings are in his skin…Laughton plays a jolly demagogue, Gracchus…The script is adorned with humor, eloquence, and sophistication…

©1960, 2002 Jack Fritscher

More Movie Reviews from the Catholic Press

This Spartacus movie review was an early film review by Fritscher for the Catholic press. He went on to review The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and Lafayette in 1963, and later wrote the film essay What to Look For in a Dirty Movie. For the full list of his Catholic magazine writing, see the Annotated Bibliography: Catholic Press.