A Few Words About A few words about…™ Spartacus - in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

And then, there’s Great Expectations and Narcissus.

 

[PaulRossen]

I adored Jean. A wonderfully, kind, slightly bawdy lady.

I did find a reference to the nude scene in original neg, but no can in inventory. It was foreign version.

Was that really Jean Simmons in that picture or a body double?

 

[Robert Harris]

Was that really Jean Simmons in that picture or a body double?

I believe a couple are a body double. She told me she was wearing a moleskin in the bathing scene.

 

[Mike Boone]

I adored Jean. A wonderfully, kind, slightly bawdy lady.

I did find a reference to the nude scene in original neg, but no can in inventory. It was foreign version.

RAH, I very much appreciate your description of Jean Simmons having been a wonderfully kind and slightly bawdy lady. Since your comment supports what I'd hoped that the late actress was actually like off screen. Anyway, regarding her onscreen work, I've always been a big fan of the way Miss Simmons spoke so clearly, with her slight, and lovely, English accent. And for my money, Jean Simmons, along with another actress who carried the same sounding first name, Gene Tierney, were the 2 stars who were the most beautiful women in film when they were in their 20s and 30s.
To me, though she was certainly beautiful, Liz Taylor being called Hollywood's most beautiful star, was really stretching things, while the oft heard claim that Liz was the world's most beautiful woman was just silly, particularly since NO one's ever been able to take a look at all the women on earth! And of course what I've said about Jean Simmons & Gene Tierney can just be taken with a grain of salt, since beauty really IS in the eye of the beholder. But if I can just contradict that statement for a minute, let me say that when a Roman Centurion, played by Richard Burton, first encounters Jean Simmons, very early in the 1953 epic "The Robe" (corny movie, IMO), Miss Simmons is shining so brightly, with a face so lovely, that it wouldn't surprise me if the late Mr Burton had thoughts of Miss Simmons as his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor was starting over a decade after Burton worked with Jean Simmons. Since in my NOT (REGRETTABLY) always humble opinion, the vision of beauty that Jean Simmons displays in "The Robe", certainly exceeded the beauty that Elizabeth Taylor showed in any of the roles that she played as an adult, including her famed appearance as Cleopatra. And naturally, Miss Simmons was also very beautiful in "Spartacus"! And concerning Gene Tierney, IMO, most people who would see how lovely and beautiful that Miss Tierney appears throughout 1945's "Leave Her To Heaven", would agree that such beauty goes beyond the most striking appearance that Miss Taylor ever showed on film, with even VERY few actresses of the last decade, matching or exceeding Gene Tierney's quite striking looks.
But anyhow, before my opinion about the relative beauty of famous actresses becomes any more tiresome, I'm just coming back down to earth, by reminding myself that opinions are like careless tongues, since every person is capable of having one.

 

[bujaki]

I adored Jean. A wonderfully, kind, slightly bawdy lady.

I did find a reference to the nude scene in original neg, but no can in inventory. It was foreign version.

Ah, the joys of growing up in a foreign market! I did get to see the nude scene. Roadshow version, impressionable 10-year old boy, lovely woman. One does not forget.

 

[AlexNH]

Ah, the joys of growing up in a foreign market! I did get to see the nude scene. Roadshow version, impressionable 10-year old boy, lovely woman. One does not forget.

Do you remember the scenes in the fourth ward with Gracchus and Caesar ?

 

[bujaki]

Do you remember the scenes in the fourth ward with Gracchus and Caesar ?

Was anyone nude?

 

[AlexNH]

Please let me know when this thread returns to the topic of

Was anyone nude?

You tell me. You said you remember the roadshow version

 

[john a hunter]

I saw the roadshow version many times over the years in the UK.
There was a scene where Jean S is seen in a pool but it is very chaste.
Hardly what you would call a nude scene.

 

[Robert Harris]

The discussion may be conflating the Roadshow with the Foreign Version. Not counting the FV, there were five different cuts of the film.

 

[bujaki]

Please let me know when this thread returns to the topic of

You tell me. You said you remember the roadshow version

You really expect a 10-year old to remember every scene and frame of a film that I saw 63 years ago? And yes, I did see the roadshow version of the international release in English with Spanish subtitles.

 

[AlexNH]

You really expect a 10-year old to remember every scene and frame of a film that I saw 63 years ago? And yes, I did see the roadshow version of the international release in English with Spanish subtitles.

Right. You only remember the nude stuff. Got it.

 

[uncledougie]

Showed this to the eldest nephew tonight finally, my latest previous viewing having been the fabulous print at the Seattle Cinerama 70mm festival prior to the Covid shutdown. Obviously nothing at home can compare to that indelible experience, but this 4K disc is certainly near perfection. It’s hard to discern how the home theater experience could be improved upon given the right display and player. Nephew was mightily impressed, to be sure, and I was reminded again what a fine, literate and dramatically involving film it is. Will check later this week the supplements available, and then bring out my very vintage Criterion DVD to see what those supplements have to offer. Great stuff.

 

[trajan007]

Showed this to the eldest nephew tonight finally, my latest previous viewing having been the fabulous print at the Seattle Cinerama 70mm festival prior to the Covid shutdown. Obviously nothing at home can compare to that indelible experience, but this 4K disc is certainly near perfection. It’s hard to discern how the home theater experience could be improved upon given the right display and player. Nephew was mightily impressed, to be sure, and I was reminded again what a fine, literate and dramatically involving film it is. Will check later this week the supplements available, and then bring out my very vintage Criterion DVD to see what those supplements have to offer. Great stuff.

It should of won an Oscar for Best Picture of the Year

 

[Robert Crawford]

It should of won an Oscar for Best Picture of the Year

Too bad it wasn't even nominated.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Too bad it wasn't even nominated.

Well, as I was recently told (elsewhere around these parts... though not by you of course), the Academy was usually right afterall...

_Man_

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well, as I was recently told (elsewhere around these parts... though not by you of course), the Academy was usually right afterall...

_Man_

Not by me!

 

[trajan007]

Too bad it wasn't even nominated.

Great point

 

[Lord Dalek]

It should of won an Oscar for Best Picture of the Year

Sorry pal, The Apartment is better.

 

[uncledougie]

Sorry pal, The Apartment is better.

I would agree with that, except to say that Spartacus is equal to or better than any of: The Alamo, Elmer Gantry, Sons and Lovers or The Sundowners.