A bit long, but great casting, Kubrick’s ever-impressive direction, and the use of some 10,000 extras make this a classic among “gladiator epics.” Jean Simmons is a dish, Peter Ustinov certainly deserved his Supporting Actor Oscar for his part, and Kirk Douglas plays the lead of the renegade slave perfectly. The version I saw (Universal Home Video, 1998) had been wonderfully restored with the opening overture and intermission intact. One “lost” scene, the famous “oysters and snails” seduction scene in the Roman bath, was restored using Anthony Hopkins voice over for Laurence Olivier (deceased) and rerecording the audio with a much, much older Tony Curtis. Certainly worth watching as fiction, though historically none too accurate.

I watched this shortly after seeing Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, also with Kirk Douglas. Whereas that film had impressed me, this one seemed bogus both historically and psychologically. A lot of Hollywood here, and not so much Kubrick. It has moments (“I am Spartacus”), but you have to wade through the schmaltz to get to them.