15. Julius Caesar
The Film: This excellent adaptation of the Shakespeare play concerns greedy, fighting power and epic-historical treatment in ancient Roman Empire. It displays outstanding performances from James Mason as Brutus, Louis Calhern as memorable Caesar, Deborah Kerr as Brutus’s wife, and Greer Garson as Calpurnia, Caesar’s first wife. Of course, an electrifying Marlon Brando steals the show by making terrific acting as Mark Antony using Stanislawski method and extraordinary soliloquy over Caesar’s body. This production stands as a shining example of how a big Hollywood studio can make a great Shakespeare film, cast it intelligently, and still end up with box-office names.
The question is: Why they don’t make such films these days?
The Historical Events: The film is inspired by The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. On March 15, 44 BC, the historic Caesar was attacked by a group of senators, including Brutus, who was Caesar’s friend and protégé. Caesar initially resisted his attackers, but when he saw Brutus, he supposedly said the famous Latin phrase “Et tu, Brute?” meaning “Even you, Brutus?” at the moment of his assassination. However, the historicity of Caesar’s last words is heavily debated to this day.
The Roman historian Suetonius, nearly 150 years after the assassination, claimed that Caesar didn’t say anything as he was dying, but it was others reporting that Caesar’s last words were the Greek phrase “και συ, τέκνον”, which means “You too, child?” Ultimately, famed Greek historian Plutarch also reports that a betrayed and disappointed Caesar said nothing, but merely pulled his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators.