Search - Julius Caesar on DVD

"The King of B-Westerns & Serials...VCI Entertainment ~ Juli

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 08/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"VCI Entertainment presents "Julius Caesar" (1950) (93 min. B/W)...under director, producer & screenwriter David Bradley, producer Owen Davis Sr., author of the play William Shakespeare, cinematographer Louis McMahon, music score by John Becker...the cast includes Charlton Heston (Antony), David Bradley (Brutus), Theodore Cloak (Emil Lepidus), Mary Sefton Darr (Portia), Homer Dietmeier (Artemidorus), Alfred Edyvean (Flavius), George Gilbert (Strato), Grosvenor Glenn (Cassius), Russell Gruebner (Cinna-the poet), Walter Hardy (Cimber), George Hinners (Lucius), Bob Holt (Octavius Caesar), Sam Needham (Pindarus), John O'Leary (Marullus), Cornelius Peeples (Popilius), Frederick Roscoe (Decius), Helen Ross (Calpurnia), Arthur Sus (Cinna), Don Walker (Soothsayer), Jeffrey Hunter (Third Plebian). . . . . . our film Julius Caesar (1950) was a film adaptation of the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar...was produced and directed by David Bradley using actors from the Chicago area...the lead was Charlton Heston, who had known Bradley since his youth, Heston was establishing himself in television and theater in New York, played Mark Antony...Heston was the only paid cast member. Bradley himself played Brutus, and Harold Tasker had the title role...Bradley recruited drama students from his alma mater Northwestern University for bit parts and extras, one of whom was future Hollywood star Jeffrey Hunter...outstanding drama tells of the powerful rise of emperor Julius Caesar along with his swift fall in this adaptation of William Shakespeare's play.

Special footnote, the 16 mm film was shot in 1949 on locations in the Chicago area, including Soldier Field, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Elks National Veterans Memorial, and the Field Museum...the Indiana sand dunes on Lake Michigan were used for the Battle of Philippi...one indoor set was built in the Chicago suburb of Evanston...in order to save money, about eighty percent of the film was shot silently, with the dialogue dubbed in later by the actors...this innovative approach to a Shakespearean classic and one of the two "unofficial" films (the other being Peer Gynt) Heston appeared in before his 1950 "debut" film, Dark City....after its premiere in Evanston in 1950, the film had only limited showings in the United States, mainly in schools, until it played at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1951, opened in New York City in late 1952, and tied for first place at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1953...on the basis of a private screening in Hollywood, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Bradley as a directing intern in 1950.

EXTRAS:
1. Scene Selection
2. PHOTO GALLERY
3. PROMO TRAILER
4. "Beware the Ides of March" - an analysis of Marc Anthony's Funeral Speech.

SPECIAL FEATURE BIOS:
1. Charlton Heston (aka: John Charles Carter)
Birth Date: 10/04/1924 - Evanston, Illinois
Died: Still Living
2. David Bradley (Director/Actor/Producer/Cinematographer)
Birth Date: 4/06/1920 - Winnetka, Illinois
Died: 12/19/1997 - Los Angeles, California

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the "Julius Caesar" (1950), digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with the classics that only VCI Entertainment (King of the Serials) can deliver...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 93 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video 8394 ~ (7/25/2006)"