Spartacus:
Still Censored
by Duncan L. Cooper
Follow-up research to my article "Who Killed Spartacus?"
(Cineaste, Summer 1991) has revealed evidence that Universal Studios
deliberately censored this film's explosive historical content in an
effort to keep it within the confines of the implicitly established mass
media limits of acceptable political discourse. Despite the vigorous
objections of executive producer Kirk Douglas, director Stanley Kubrick
and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, Universal's unwillingness to confront
prevailing political myths with historical reality resulted in the
elimination of approximately ten sequences which fostered the hope that
Spartacus' rebellion might actually have succeeded in destroying Rome.
These cuts included a six second battle sequence titled "Battle of
Luceria," a ten second map sequence titled "Battle Map-Metapontum," and
a lengthier battle sequence titled "Battle of Metapontum," all of which
depicted some of Spartacus' greatest military victories. Four additional
sequences were also eliminated but later restored thanks to the
determined resistance of the filmmakers and the opposition of the
Catholic Church's Legion of Decency.
Unlike the other conventional cuts imposed on the film by the
studio censors for sex, violence and nudity, these political excisions
were intended to reduce the film's main character to a primitive
spontaneous rebel who never really had a chance and to suppress
screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's vision of him as "a great military leader
who for four years running defeated the finest legions and the greatest
armies Rome could put in the field against him." For Trumbo, this
relentless attack on what he termed the Large View of Spartacus, gave
evidence of 'an obsession with the Small View ... as to almost represent
a conspiracy, a vulgar conspiracy, to kill any distinction this film
might have had.[1]
In his autobiography, Kirk Douglas described his conception of
the historical Spartacus based on his reading of the Howard Fast novel:
Special consultant on Spartacus Saul Bass has confirmed to this
author that during the whole time he worked on the project there was
never any doubt or wavering about this point in the minds of Douglas,
producer Eddie Lewis, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo or any of the other
members of the production company.[6] As the shooting
of the picture
came to a close all the key promotional materials produced for the film:
the thumbnail plot summaries, the comic book, the historical pamphlet,
the study guide, the souvenir book, the Soundtrack Album Program Notes,
the coming attractions trailers, the Bantam paperback edition of the
Fast novel ... all told the same story of a slave revolt against Rome
which won victory after victory and all but overthrew the Empire itself.
The film's director Stanley Kubrick also subscribed to Douglas's
basic premise; but, in contrast to Dalton Trumbo (as well as Douglas
himself) he believed that historical realism demanded a more complex and
ironic slave story line. To accomplish this Kubrick proposed some far
reaching plot changes while filming was in progress; but because of
Trumbo's opposition, these changes were only adopted after major
alterations. Finally they were eliminated from the script altogether,
probably by the studio, leading Kubrick to virtually disavow the
picture. In response to Michel Ciment's question as to whether there
was any relationship between his interpretation of antiquity in
Spartacus and his parody of the inauthentic Hollywood sword and
scandal
epics of the 1950's in A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick replied:
Of course, every big-budget film like Spartacus is a compromise
between the writer, director, producer and the studio which is providing
the financial backing. However, in the case of Spartacus, so
bitter did the conflict over the film's content become that Muhl only
consented to
speak with this author on the condition that the painful clash of
personalities, now almost 35 years in the past, would not be discussed.
According to Tony Curtis, "Universal was being so heavy handed about
everything including production values.... Spartacus cost $12
million and was the most expensive picture Universal had ever made. It
ended up
grossing $14 or $15 million but they were scared shitless at the time."[10]
In his autobiography Kirk Douglas also complained about studio
interference in several pictures including Spartacus which his
production company, Bryna Films, produced with Universal's financial
backing and distribution. He wrote: "The Last Sunset is another
example of how a studio operates. Universal insisted on controlling the
production."[11] In the case of Spartacus
Douglas was particularly
frustrated with the elimination by studio censors of the famous Oysters
and Snails Scene between Tony Curtis and Laurence Oliver because of its
veiled homosexual references.
However, according to Muhl, Universal watched the picture closely
"because it needed watching." Universal appointed Marshall Green
assistant director to keep a close eye on Kubrick while Muhl's right
hand man, Mel Tucker, viewed all the dailies, worked closely with Eddie
Lewis, conferred frequently with Muhl himself, and accompanied Kubrick
to Spain, where many of the battle scenes were filmed, to keep the young
director within budget.
The picture went through sweeping changes during the editing
process, particularly in the section between the beginning of the
slaves' trek across Italy and the end of their victorious march at the
seaport of Brindusium (see below). According to supervising editor
Irving Lerner, the struggle over the final content of the film became so
intense that Universal executives, in an unprecedented move,
periodically came right into the editing room and ordered him to
reinstate or delete individual scenes, overriding Douglas' instructions.
As a result, a number of scenes, particularly those featuring Charles
Laughton, went in and out of the picture several times. The process of
arriving at a final cut on which Lerner, Douglas, Kubrick and Muhl could
even temporarily agree dragged on for so long that Lerner was finally
forced to walk off the picture in order to begin directing his own film,
Studs Lonigan.[12]
The politically motivated cuts made during the editing obliterated
the film's intended inspirational message and seriously undermined its
claim to historical authenticity, both of which depended upon the
inclusion of at least a few battle sequences depicting some of
Spartacus' historic victories. As Spartacus editor Robert Lawrence
told this author: "the idea [of shooting full blown additional battle
scenes]
was discussed, but it was never actually done" because the money was not
forthcoming from Universal. According to Lawrence, purportedly there
were fears that if the scenes of the early slave victories were too
good, they would detract from the impact of the final battle. In fact,
following the conclusion of principle shooting, on August 4, 1959 an
agreement was reached between Bryna and Universal to film six days of
these slave victory scenes in Spain as part of a total of twelve days of
battle scenes at an estimated cost of half a million dollars. However,
when Douglas came back with Trumbo's proposals for a large number of
additional scenes to be shot in Spain, the deal was re-negotiated. The
new agreement of October 21, 1959 called for a total of twenty-two days
of shooting in Spain the following month at an estimated cost of nearly
a million dollars. However, the number of days for battle scenes was cut
down to six, enough to accommodate the final battle but not the early
slave victories.
Instead, Douglas had to fall back on the idea of a "battle map"
described to Trumbo as a map "with some pictorial device superimposed
indicating the sequence of [a dozen important slave] victories ... during
the march from Luceria to Metapontum."[13] However,
the evidence
suggests that the studio initially rejected the Battle Map concept in
favor of a map without pictorial battles or superimposed descriptive
titles.[14] According to Spartacus editor Bob
Lawrence, "We had maps
with battles and maps without battles because some people wanted one
kind and some people wanted the other." Saul Bass was commissioned to
design this alternate map and produced several different versions, "very
elaborate at first, then later much simpler." Bass was told that his map
was to be cut into segments to be used as inserts for a big montage
containing marching and dialogue but no battles.
However, in December 1959 a significant amount of battle footage
did become available for additional battle scenes when the studio
rejected the first version of the final battle filmed in Spain as
"boring and conventional" and ordered a series of retakes featuring gory
shots of severed arms, legs and heads.[15] As Bob
Lawrence told this
author, "We had hundreds of feet of battle footage [for additional
battle scenes]. But some people wanted it in the picture and some people
didn't."
The following month a six second battle scene, the "Battle of
Luceria," depicting Spartacus' first great victory, was inserted into
the film following the first big slave march from Mt. Vesuvius to
Luceria.[16] At the same time, following the Revised
Final Screenplay
the filmmakers apparently decided to go ahead with the Battle Map using
the rejected battle footage from Spain as well as titles naming the
sites of the great slave victories.[17] To this end
they inserted into
the picture a ten second sequence probably containing more Spanish
battle scenes, titled "Battle Map-Metapontum," following the second big
slave march from Luceria to Metapontum.[18]
There is also some evidence suggesting that the filmmakers
subsequently assembled a much longer battle montage using the Spanish
outtakes which they intended to combine with Bass' map inserts. In a
post-production scheduling memorandum dated February 12, 1960 to Ed
Muhl, Mel Tucker, Eddie Lewis and Bob Lawrence, Editorial Department
Chief Sid Lund requested that "In addition, the number, design and
timing of the map inserts for the battle sequences should be finalized
as soon as possible." Lund was working on five other pictures at the
time and does not specifically remember this memorandum; but as he told
the author, if his memo made such a reference, "then the facts at the
time had to support it." Mel Tucker was more non-committal, asserting
that although he had never personally seen such a battle montage on
film, it was possible that the filmmakers did put one together but then
decided not to use it, before a screening for the studio could be held.
In fact, the evidence indicates that some time over the next two
months the filmmakers decided to drop the battle montage concept and the
Battle of Luceria in favor of inserting one major slave victory sequence
between the Battle-Map Metapontum and the triumphal March Into
Metapontum which followed. This sequence, for which composer Alex North
wrote a pencil sketch score entitled "Battle of Metapontum," is cited in
the post-editing April 13, 1960 Revised Music Notes with the annotation
"NOT IN AS YET."[19]
Regrettably, by the end of April the Battle of Metapontum had also
been eliminated from the film. However, National Screen Service did
complete work on a shorter six second version of the Battle Map
Metapontum for the filmmakers just in time for the June previews. This
version included the Bass map together with a series of titles,
superimposed over scenes from the film, possibly those used in the
deleted six second Battle of Luceria. Spartacus production
assistant
Stan Margulies, who oversaw the production of the battle map by National
Screen, cannot recall whether these scenes consisted of marching or
battle sequences. However, as he told this author, his inclination is
that the titles represented the sites of Spartacus' important victories.[20]
Composer Alex North devoted the first six seconds of his piece
entitled "Metapontum Triumph" to the four crescendos which comprise the
music for the Battle Map and which can still be heard today as the
opening bars of the film's Overture.[21] However,
after the previews
the film was handed over to Universal and "the Metapontum Map" was
eliminated as part of a whole series of 42 cuts and trims made by the
studio, according to Muhl, "for content, not for length." With the
cutting of the Battle-Map Metapontum the entire triumphal March Into
Metapontum which followed was rendered practically meaningless and the
last vestige of truth about the real magnitude of Spartacus historic
achievements was eliminated from this film.
The studio cuts might have met with more determined resistance from
the filmmakers except for the fact that, with the exception of Kirk
Douglas, all of the other major players had departed for new projects
and were (probably) unaware of what was taking place. Kubrick had
returned to England to begin work on Lolita, Irving Lerner was off
directing Studs Lonigan, Bob Lawrence was in Spain making EL
CID, and Dalton Trumbo was busy working on his next project
Exodus. Lawrence sensed that the picture was long even for first
run theatres and might be cut by the studio. However, when he returned he
was horrified to
discover that, "All my notes, all the script notes: Gone. Gone. They
were thrown out. All the trims, all the should-we-or shouldn't-we stuff,
all the 'Stanley says hold onto it but Kirk doesn't like it'. All that
kind of stuff, beautifully labelled and ready: Gone."
However, composer Alex North was still on the scene and protested
against the damage the cuts were doing to a number of his music cues.
When he learned that additional cuts were being made he was infuriated
and dictated the following scathing telephone message to Eddie Lewis:
At the same time that almost all of Spartacus' historically
significant actions were eliminated from the film during the editing
successful attempts were made to eliminate almost all the amplifying
reactions to them as well. These cuts not only reduced the film's
dramatic impact, in some cases they also seriously damaged its internal
logic, as the following examples amply demonstrate.
SPARTACUS BARGAINS WITH THE PIRATE TIGRANES FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF
LUCERIA
An added scene written by Trumbo as part of the retakes and
originally inserted following the first big slave march from Vesuvius to
Lucaria, it contained the following lines addressed to Spartacus:
CAESAR DISCUSSES THE BATTLE OF METAPONTUM
The opening section of the scene in the Roman baths, this sequence
contained the following dialogue referring to the Roman defeat at
Metapontum:
SPARTACUS' SPEECH TO THE SLAVES BY THE SEA
A cutting sheet dated
March 2, 1959 reads "dialogue out" in reference to Spartacus' lines:
THE PANIC IN ROME
A sequence depicting defeated legionaries
limping back into Rome while a terrified citizenry begins to flee the
city, these scenes were meant to convey the historical fact that
Spartacus' revolt reached such proportions that it precipitated a panic
which led to the installation of a dictatorship, signaling the beginning
of the end of Roman democracy. As a result of Trumbo's Report on
SPARTACUS, this sequence was reinstated on the Present Edited
Continuity of Completed Picture as one of the Added Studio Scenes to be
shot as part of the retakes which were approved at the top level meeting of
October 10, 1959. It showed up a month later on the Revised Music Notes
of November 2, 1959 marked "SCENE MISSING," but apparently it was
never
shot.[27]
THE SENATE APPOINTS CRASSUS
A scene intended to follow the PANIC IN ROME sequence, it contained
dialogue in which the Senate offers
Crassus the command against the slaves and warns him that if he does not
accept, Rome will fall to Spartacus - a prospect to which Crassus reacts
with indifference. Shot, according to Trumbo, as part of the retakes, it
was never used in the film.[28]
THE BALCONY SCENE
A scene which follows Crassus' assumption of
power in which Gracchus tells an increasingly outraged Caesar, "This
Spartacus has quite a talent when it comes to handling an army.... He's
developed such a bad habit of winning that Crassus may not be able to
cure him of it ... If Spartacus wins I intend to ask the Senate to
emancipate his whole army." Eliminated from the film's first rough cut
this scene was belatedly restored as a result of Trumbo's Report on
SPARTACUS and went in and out of the picture several times. Its
final
elimination by the studio after the Final Preview, destroyed the whole
motivation for Caesar's epochal defection from his mentor, Gracchus---
and republican democracy, to Crassus---and imperial dictatorship.[29]
THE ORIGINAL PROLOGUE
Part of the first rough cut flashback
version of the film, this scene contained Crassus' long address to his
staff officers on the eve of the final battle including the lines: "Nine
Roman armies have been destroyed by Spartacus ... and our defeat will mean
the fall of Rome." Cut along with the rest of Crassus' original speech
when the flashback was eliminated, these lines were still considered to
have enough audience appeal to be used as the opening scene of the
film's trailer.[30]
SPARTACUS AND VARINIA'S LAST NIGHT TOGETHER
A scene in which
Spartacus confesses his fear of impending defeat to Varinia:
THE FINAL BATTLE
A crucial reaction shot from this sequence
remains in the film, in which a visibly dazed and frightened Crassus
heaves a surreptitious sigh of relief at the appearance of his allies,
Pompey and Lucullus.[32] However, in contradiction to
the filmmakers'
express written intentions, the long and medium range rather than the
closeup take of this shot was used, obscuring Olivier's brilliant
performance during the picture's climactic moments and destroying the
basis for his character's words and actions during the remainder of the
film.[33]
CRASSUS WALKS AMONG THE SLAVE DEAD
This scene originally
contained Crassus' lines expressing his shock and disbelief at the sight
of the clearly evident love between the fallen slave men and women, a
love which has banished their fear of death, transforming them into a
force which he senses will ultimately prevail over the power of Rome.
The cutting of these lines without the author's knowledge during the
initial filming of this scene provoked some of the bitterest charges of
bad faith in Trumbo's entire Report on SPARTACUS. But despite his
vehement protests, these lines were nevertheless excluded from the
subsequent retakes.[34]
Despite these cuts a large number of scenes from the first half of the
film presaging great military success for the slave army did survive
through the Final Preview and beyond, including such scenes as
Spartacus' Speech to the Gladiators upon their return to the
gladiatorial school, Spartacus' Greeting To New Recruits on Mt.
Vesuvius, Spartacus Bargains With the Pirate Tigranes (Second Version),
Spartacus Confronts The Defeated Glabrus and Glabrus Reports Back to the
Senate (see my article, "Spartacus - A Second Look," Cineaste, Fall
1974). Furthermore, a number of scenes from the second half of the film
which built upon or recapitulated the great slave victories also
survived, including such scenes as the slaves' Triumphal March into
Metapontum, Caesar Discusses Metapontum, Spartacus' Speech on the Beach
at Brindusium, Spartacus and Varinia's Last Night Together and the
Balcony Scene. Together these scenes formed a veritable constellation
whose outline portrayed the figure of Spartacus, the rebel slave who
almost defeated Imperial Rome.
However, the power source which illuminated this constellation was
the Battle-Map Metapontum which encapsulated in six seconds the action
to which the dialogue in these scenes referred. Thus, once the studio
pulled the plug by cutting the Battle Map after the Final Preview, all
the lights in the constellation went out and the filmmakers' underlying
conception of the picture simply disappeared.
Not satisfied with the elimination or neutralization of nearly all
of the scenes which affirmed the idea of the Large Spartacus, the studio
appears to have forced radical changes in key dialogue as well in order
to make its message unmistakable. Thus, during the last days of 1959, a
retake was done of the last scene between Spartacus and Antoninus in
which the key historical question posed by this film is addressed:
Possibly as the result of audience reaction, the original version
of this scene was ultimately restored after the previews of June 1960.[37] But simultaneously a hastily revised version of the
film's
voiceover prologue was introduced with a new downbeat conclusion:
In summary, de facto studio censorship reduced Spartacus from
the
tragic, but ultimately uplifting, historical epic that Douglas, Kubrick,
Trumbo and even the Universal publicity department believed they were
making, to a sad reflection from which all traces of hope for progressive
social change had been eliminated. Even worse, all the deleted scenes
from the picture which might have formed the basis for a full restoration
were junked by Universal in 1975. Thus, although Stanley Kubrick and the
Spartacus restoration team wanted to restore the full 202 minute
June 1960 Final Preview version of the film, the best they were able to do
was a shortened 196 minute version of the 199 minute July 1960 studio
censored cut which was shown to the press.
Kubrick now reportedly feels the film is "better than he thought it was."
However, the director has expressed no interest in going beyond the
restoration to the reconstruction that is necessary to make a "director's
cut" possible. Only such a Kubrick-designed and approved director's cut
can legitimately express the filmmakers' real intentions in making
Spartacus.
Such a director's cut of Spartacus would not be very difficult or
expensive to produce, as the following sample outline of a reconstructed
minimal "director's cut" indicates:
1) The six second Battle-Map Metapontum depicting Spartacus' historic
series of victories should be reshot and, together with North's
accompanying music, overlaid onto some of the fighting scenes currently in
the film. The completed scene should be inserted prior to the triumphal
March into Metapontum. According to Saul Bass, this would cost no more
than $100,000 or approximately ten percent of the total cost of the
current restoration.
2) The Intermission could be moved back to follow the Metapontum Triumph
to underscore Spartacus' initially victorious campaign.
3) A battle montage using stills from the lost Spanish battle scenes,
sound from the final battle, and the current intermission music, could be
inserted, either as part of the intermission or just prior to the Battle
Map-Metapontum thus reinforcing the action implied by the Battle Map.
4) Olivier's "nine Roman armies" lines which still appear on the film's
trailer, could be reinserted into the Tent scene in place of Crassus'
redundant lines: "Spartacus has every reason to believe that he has
outdistanced the pursuing armies of Pompey and Lucullus."
5) Several successive closeup versions of Olivier's anxiety filled
reaction shots during the final battle could be reinserted.
Were a "director's cut" to be produced along these or similar lines, then
a far greater and more authentic version of this film may yet emerge into
the light of day.
[1] Dalton,Trumbo, "The Sequence on Vesuvius: Notes,"
pg.2; "Report on
Spartacus," Section II, pp.46-47
[2] Kirk Douglas, The Ragman's Son, pg.304
[3] Michael Munn, Letter to the Author
[4] Michael Munn, Kirk Douglas, pg.78
[5] Tony Curtis, Taped Radio Call-in Interview with the
Author;
Marshall Green [assistant director], Interview with David Chandler,
March 25, 1960, pp.18-19; Spartacus, The Criterion Collection,
[Laserdisc],Voiceover Commentary by Kirk Douglas, Analog Track 2
[6] Saul Bass: Interview with the author
[7] Michel Ciment, Kubrick, pg.151; See also
Duncan Cooper, "Dalton
Trumbo vs. Stanley Kubrick: Their Debate Over Arther Koestler's
The Gladiators," in Cineaste, Summer 1991.
[8] Eddie Lewis, Interview with David Chandler, April
7, 1960,
pp.34-35; Edward Muhl: Interview with the author; Dalton Trumbo,
"The Sequence on Vesuvius: Notes," pg.2.
[9] Dalton Trumbo, Additional Dialogue, pp.493-4
[footnote], pp.534,536
[10] Tony Curtis, Tony Curtis, The
Autobiography, pp. 180, 185
[11] Kirk Douglas, The Ragman's Son, pg.330
[12] Irving Lerner, Interview With David Chandler, June
29,1960, pp.3,17
[13]
Dalton Trumbo, "Spartacus, Material To Be Shot in Spain," pg.31;
Letter Jeffrey Asher to Eddie Lewis, January 25, 1960: Concerning
Spartacus overhead charges by Universal on Spanish Shooting;
Interview with Robert Lawrence.
[14]
Spartacus: Present Edited Continuity of Completed Picture, October
2, 1959; Seq.No.54; Appendix ST [Studio], ST-15; Spartacus:
Revised
Music Notes, November 5, 1959, pg.12, Reel XVI
[15]
Outline for Battle Sequence, August 13, 1959; Spartacus, Present
Edited Continuity of Completed Picture, October 2, 1959; Seq. No.
73; Appendix SP [Spain], SP-12; Continuity Breakdown, October 15,
1959, Added Scenes-Spain, pp.51-55, Scenes 1-38; Spartacus,
Music
Notes, Revised II, January 21, 1960, by Stanley Kubrick, Reel
XXII,
Ft.No.000-441; Spartacus, Daily Production Report, November 25,
1959, December 14, 1959; Letter From Fred Banker to Charles Block
of Globe Photos on Bill Nunley Spartacus Layout, March 10,
1960:
Containing Promo-Profile of Spartacus propman-armorer Bill
Nunley;
"Proposed List of Gory Shots Tying to Battle Sequence As Outlined
by S. Kubrick," January 4, 1960; Melville Tucker, Saul Bass, film
editor Robert Lawrence: Interviews with the author
[16] Spartacus, Music Notes, Revised II, January
21, 1960, by Stanley
Kubrick, Reel XVIII, Ft.No.000-009
[17]
Spartacus: Revised Final Screenplay, January 16, 1959 with
revisions through March 27, 1959, Scene 248E
[18]
Spartacus, Music Notes, Revised II, January 21, 1960, by Stanley
Kubrick, Reel XVIII, Ft.No.521-536.
[19] Spartacus, Music Notes, April 13, 1960,
Reels 16B, 17B; Interviews
with Alex North collaborator Mark McGurty and orchestrators Henry
Brandt and Sid Raiman
[20] Letter from James Pollak, National Screen Service,
to Stan
Margulies, May 27, 1960
[21] Gordon Thiel, Alex North Manuscripts, UCLA
Music Library:
"Spartacus", Orchestrated Score for "Metapontum Triumph";
Spartacus,
The Criterion Collection, [Laserdisc], Overture
[22] Spartacus, Music Notes, April 13, 1960,
Reel 17B; Post-Final
Preview Cutting Sheet, Item No.32; Combined Continuity on
Spartacus, June 20, 1960, Reel 9A, pg.3, no.19 [25 ft = 16
2/3
sec]; Continuity and Dialogue on Spartacus, July 26, 1960,
Reel 8B,pg.3, no.20 [13 1/2 ft = 9 sec] [Cut = 11 1/2 ft = 7 2/3
sec]; Alex North, Typed Telephone Message to Eddie Lewis; Robert
Lawrence, quoted in "The Fall and Rise of Spartacus," Film
Comment, March-April 1991.
[23] Dalton Trumbo, "Retakes; With Notes and Old Scenes
For Comparison"
October 1959; pp. 22, 24-27
[24] Spartacus, Daily Production Report, January
22,25,28,29, 1960;
Spartacus, Music Notes, Revised II, January 21, 1960, by
Stanley
Kubrick, Reel XVIII, Ft.No.000; Spartacus: Present
Edited
Continuity of Completed Picture, October 2, 1959; Seq.No.53; Dalton
Trumbo, "Report on Spartacus," Section II, pg.32
[25] Dalton Trumbo, "Report on Spartacus,"
Section II, pp.42-43;
"Projection Room Notes-Running With Mr.Douglas," November 12, 1959,
"Roman Bath Sequence"; Dialogue Continuity on Spartacus, April
18,
1960, Reel 17, pg.3
[26] Spartacus:Cutting Notes, March 2,
1960,"Speech on Beach," Reel 19;
Dialogue Continuity on Spartacus, April 18, 1960, Reel 19,
pp.1-2
[27] Spartacus, 2nd Draft Screenplay, September
22, 1958, Scenes 256,
259-260; Dalton Trumbo, "Report on Spartacus," Section II,
pg.45;
Spartacus: Revised Music Notes, November 5, 1959, pg.13, Reel
XVII;
Spartacus: Present Edited Continuity of Completed Picture,
October
2, 1959; Seq.No.66; Appendix ST [Studio], ST-19
[28] Dalton Trumbo, Additional Dialogue, pg.529;
Spartacus; Photoplay
Studies, Vol.25, No.4, August 1960; pg.18, still photo and caption
[29] Spartacus, Final Shooting Script, September
14, 1959, Sc.No. 284;
Dalton Trumbo, "Report on Spartacus," Section II, pp.45;
Spartacus:
Present Edited Continuity of Completed Picture, October 2, 1959;
Seq.No.67-68; Appendix ST [Studio], ST-15;Spartacus, Music
Notes,
Revised II, January 21, 1960, by Stanley Kubrick, Reel XX,
Ft.No.237.11; Dialogue Continuity on Spartacus, April 18, 1960,
Reel 19, pg.1; Dialogue Continuity on Spartacus [Incorporating
Changes], June 3,1960, Reel 18B, pp.2-3; Combined Continuity on
Spartacus, June 20, 1960, Reel 10A, pp.4-5; Continuity and
Dialogue
on Spartacus, July 26, 1960, Reel 10A, pg.4; Post-Final
Preview
Cutting Sheet, Item No.31
[30] Spartacus, Final Shooting Script, September
14, 1959, [actually a
Cutters Continuity in the form of a script], Sc.8
[31] Spartacus, Final Shooting Script, September
14, 1959, Sc.No. 273
[32] Spartacus, Unrestored Pan-and-Scan Video
Tape Version,1985, Reel 2
[33] Spartacus, Daily Production Report,
December 28, 1959; Spartacus,
Additional Shots Beyond The Script Requirements, December 1959
[34] Spartacus: Revised Final Screenplay,
January 16, 1959 with
revisions through June 1, 1959, Sc.321-323; Dalton Trumbo, "Report
on Spartacus," Section II, pp.46-47
[35] Dalton Trumbo,"Retakes; With Notes and Old Scenes
For Comparison,"
October 1959, pp. 69-70
[36] Dialogue Continuity on Spartacus, April 18,
1960, Reel 26, pg.1;
Combined Continuity on Spartacus, June 20, 1960, Reel 12B,
pg.5
[37] Continuity and Dialogue on Spartacus, July
26, 1960, Reel 12B, pg.4
[38] Dialogue Continuity on Spartacus, April 18,
1960, Reel 2, pg.1;
Combined Continuity on Spartacus, June 20, 1960, Reel 1B, pg.1;
Continuity and Dialogue on Spartacus, July 26, 1960, Reel 1B,
pp.1-2;
Spartacus, Original Soundtrack Album, Decca Records, [and
MCA
Compact Disk], Program Notes
[39] Spartacus, The Criterion Collection,
[Laserdisc], Opening Prologue
After All These Years...
Introduction
The Major Players
"Spartacus was a real man, but if you look him up in the history books
you will find only a short paragraph about him. Rome was ashamed; this
man had almost destroyed them. They wanted to bury him. I was intrigued
with the story of Spartacus the slave, dreaming the death of slavery,
driving into the armor of Rome the wedge that would eventually destroy
her."[2]
According to Douglas's biographer, Michael Munn, "the film was
first and foremost Kirk Douglas' vision"[3] and the
film's star named
himself executive producer precisely "to insure that the picture would
be made his way."[4] Recent comments by Tony Curtis
have confirmed that
Douglas was determined to give at least equal emphasis in the film to
the love story as to the slave uprising. In fact disagreements over this
basic concept led to the dismissal of the film's first director Tony
Mann two weeks into production. However, in a recent interview with
Douglas himself, the actor/auteur repeatedly stressed his own
determination to also portray on screen "the story of a slave whose
dream of freedom nearly overthrew the Roman Empire."[5]
"None at all. In Spartacus I tried with only limited success to
make the film as [historically] real as possible but I was up against a
pretty
dumb script which was rarely faithful to what is known about Spartacus.
History tells us that he twice led his victorious slave army to the
northern borders of Italy, and could quite easily have gotten out of the
country. But he didn't, and instead he led his army back to pillage
Roman cities. What the reasons were for this might have been the most
interesting question the film might have pondered. Did the intentions of
the rebellion change? Did Spartacus lose control of his leaders who by
now may have been more interested in the spoils of war than in freedom?
In the film, Spartacus was prevented from escape by the silly
contrivance of a pirate leader who reneged on a deal to take the slave
army away in his ships. If I ever needed any convincing of the limits of
persuasion a director can have on a film where someone else is the
producer and he is merely the highest-paid member of the crew, then
Spartacus provided proof to last a lifetime."[7]
Kubrick may have wanted more realism but Douglas's concept still
had the makings of a tremendously exciting motion picture. However,
Universal Studios head Edward Muhl had some very different ideas leading
to what Trumbo described as "a basic conflict of opinion about the
dimensions of Spartacus and his struggle, a conflict which has been in
evidence from the earliest beginnings of the project." Originally Muhl
never really conceived of Spartacus as a "spectacle" or
"blockbuster"
but rather as an intimate film costing between $3 and $4 million. A
personal friend of Trumbo's and the man who officially broke the
Hollywood blacklist, Muhl too wanted to make an exciting, historically
accurate film. He was particularly fascinated by the struggles between
the liberal and conservative Roman senatorial factions, transparent
analogues to contemporary American politics, which the writer had
injected into the script. But, as he told this author: "Deep ideas are
nice to have in a picture. But what counts is audience appeal." In
response to the Douglas concept of Spartacus, he remarked: "its
understandable that Kirk would want to build up his own part but that's
not what the picture was about," concluding: "We did what was possible
under the circumstances.... You know that phrase, 'the art of the
possible'."[8] His attitude probably hardened when
late in 1959
persistent rumors of new Hollywood hearings by the House Un-American
Activities Committee began to surface and when a full-scale right-wing
attack on the film began after it was revealed by Walter Winchell that
blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo was the author of the screenplay.[9]
Thus, despite the fact that Spartacus was the first truly
independent
production bankrolled by Universal, in the end Muhl's cautious approach
prevailed because he and the studio still held the trump card: the legal
right to make the final cut.
The Battle For Control
The Lost Battle Scenes of Spartacus
"Since we spoke there have been additional cuts in Kitchen No. One,
Forest Meeting and Luceria Camp [scenes]. This complete disregard and
disrespect for me and for my contribution by persons not qualified in
any artistic levels an insult to my abilities. The illogical picayune
cuts force me to suggest you hire a butcher and remove my name from
screen credits. With my background and reputation I do not intend to
participate in amateur night."[22]
The Covert Censorship of the Film
"Of course it pleases Roman vanity to think you're noble. They
shrink from the idea that a slave can beat them. Keep on winning and
they'll elevate you to the rank of a prince! ... The party of Gracchus
is in difficulty because the Senate can find no one to defeat you.
Therefore the party of Crassus delights in every victory you win.... But
you---you can't actually believe you're going to win? With the endless
armies Rome can muster against you? ... Surely you understand you're
going to lose. You have no chance. The world is too small for you. Every
power on earth will fight you. Even the enemies of Rome will turn against
you if you show promise of success.... They'll butcher you to the last
man, women and child."[23]
A few days after this scene was shot it was shifted back in the film to
just prior to the slaves' first battle on Mt.Vesuvius and as a result
all the dialogue above was replaced with retakes or eliminated.[24]
Laelius: What news from Metapontum?
Eliminated from the film's first rough cut this sequence was restored as
a result of an eloquent plea by Trumbo in his Report on SPARTACUS.
Nearly cut again it survived to become the only specific reference to a
major slave victory still in the film today.[25]
Symmachus: Heralds are crying the news now. We lost nineteen
thousand
men including Commodius and all his officers!
Laelius: Nineteen Thousand! ... It takes us five years to train a
legion.
How can this Spartacus train an army in seven months? There's
something wrong. Something very wrong.
"We've traveled a long ways together. We fought many battles. Won
great victories. Now instead of returning to our homes across the sea,
we must fight again.... I'd rather be here, a free man among brothers,
facing a long march and hard fight, than to be the richest man in Rome.
Fat with food he didn't work for, and surrounded by slaves."[26]
The heart of Spartacus' speech to the slaves, these lines ultimately
remained in the film despite the initial cutting order. But without the
battle scenes to which they refer most of their impact was lost.
Varinia: They've never beaten us yet.
The only specific statement in the film referring to Spartacus' series
of brilliant victories which the censors apparently never attempted to
cut, this scene represents the exception which proves the rule. The
product of Trumbo's own growing uncertainty about the ultimate fate of
the revolution, this scene's overall hopeless tone meshed too nicely
with the studio's own hidden agenda to allow it to become a target for
elimination, despite its unwelcome historical candor.
Spartacus: No. But no matter how many times we beat them, they
always
seem to have another army to send against us. And another.
Varinia, its as if we've started something that has no
ending.[31]
The Overt Negation of the Film's Message
Antoninus: "Could we have won, Spartacus? Could we ever have
won?"
But in the retake Spartacus replies in the negative, providing an
explicit statement of the hopeless message which the film still delivers
today:
Spartacus: "Just by fighting them we won something. When even one
man says 'No. I won't' Rome begins to fear. And we were
tens of thousands who said it."[35]
Antoninus: "Could we have won, Spartacus? Could we ever have won?"
As Robert Lawrence, told the author, "this scene was redone because
some people wanted the film to express this idea whereas other people
wanted to express the original idea." (emphasis added)
Spartacus: "No.(!) That was the wrong fight. We were doomed from
the
beginning. But it was a beautiful thing"[36]
"Here [in the Nubian gold mines] under whip and chain and sun
[Spartacus] lived out his youth and early manhood and dreamed the death
of human servitude. The historians of ancient Rome have recorded the
death of his dream, and the utter destruction of his life and all his
hopes. Yet his name still lives. And the last vestiges of slavery
disappear before our eyes. And the defeat of Spartacus has become the
victory of man "[38]
Fortunately, this crushing repudiation of the filmmakers' entire
historical conception of Spartacus ultimately failed to find a
permanent
place in the film; but only because, shortly before the Premiere,
objections from the Catholic Church's National Legion of Decency forced
the studio to restore the original version with a new upbeat opening
placing the story "in the last century before the birth of the new faith
called Christianity which was destined to overthrow the pagan tyranny of
Rome."[39]
Conclusion: For An Uncensored "Director's Cut" of Spartacus
This essay is dedicated to the memory of Eric Orbom, 1960 Academy Award
Winner for Best Art Direction, who lost his life in the effort to make
the matte work in Spartacus state of the art. The struggle
continues.
References:
Copyright©1996 Duncan L. Cooper, All Rights Reserved