Film: Julius Caesar (in 35mm)

Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s decision to cast Marlon Brando as Mark Antony in his film of the Shakespeare classic was widely criticized at the time, due to the popular cliché that the Actors Studio–trained star was a “mumbler,” but his stirring performance silenced the detractors and Brando proved the equal of his A-list co-stars, including James Mason, John Gielgud, Deborah Kerr, and Louis Calhern. The film won an Academy Award for its black-and-white art direction (Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt), and was nominated for Best Picture, Brando’s lead performance, Joseph Ruttenberg’s black-and-white cinematography, and Miklos Rozsa’s score.

DIRECTED BY: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. WRITTEN BY: William Shakespeare. WITH: Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Greer Garson. 1953. 122 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.