Top Ancient Roman Movies July 31, 2006
Posted by derek in : Lists , trackback
Here are a few really good Roman epics and stately ancient Romans :
Ben Hur (1925, 1959) both versions feature Ancient Rome quite strongly though Jack Hawkins in the remake can’t be beaten as a stately Roman general who takes Judah Ben Hur under his wing after Heston saves his life.
Sign of the Cross (1932) : gives us a wonderful overdone Emperor Nero from Charles Laughton. Claudette Colbert’s Poppea is really Cleopatra in everything but name : in a bath of milk she exclaims to another girl who imparts some gossip : “come in here and tell me all about it.”
Cleopatra (1934, 1963) Colbert does her Cleopatra, not as good as Elizabeth Taylor IMO : neither is perfect. In the 1963 version Richard Burton is a fairly weak Mark Antony but I think Rex Harrison’s Julius Caesar is excellent.
Spartacus (1960) : my favourite Roman epic : Olivier is superb as Spartacus main adversary. Another scene-stealing performance from Charles Laughton as a wily Roman senator.
Gladiator (2000) : despite the phoney CGI, a pretty good revival of the Roman epic.
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