One of the most intelligent and exciting historical epics to have come out of Hollywood, Spartacus, inspired by the true story of the slave rebellion and the third servile war in ancient Rome, features Kirk Douglas in one of his most iconic parts. Well cast, Douglas brings his customary muscular physicality and emotional intensity to the titular role.
Spartacus (1960): Kubrick’s Historical Epic, Starring Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Olivier, Tony Curtis
April 29, 2021 by
Big Country, The (1958): William Wyler’s Sprawling Western Starring Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons, and Burl Ives in Oscar Winning Role
April 6, 2012 by
In the sprawling saga “The Big Country,” one of the few Westerns the versatile and prolific Oscar-winning director William Wyler has made, Gregory Peck plays James McKay, a seafaring man heading West to marry Pat Terrill (Carroll Baker), the daughter of rancher Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford).
Black Narcissus (1947): Powell and Pressburger’s Stunningly Gorgeous Erotic Drama, Starring Deborah Kerr and Jean Simmons
August 14, 2009 by
One of the most beautiful color films ever made, “Black Narcissus,” a highlight of the British cinema of the 1940s, was directed by the gifted team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film deservedly won two Oscars for color cinematography and art direction.
Until They Sail (1957): Robert Wise’s Middling War Melodrama, Starring Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman
July 29, 2009 by
Paul Newman was reunited with director Robert Wise, who had catapulted him to stardom in “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” for his third MGM loan-out from Warner in the WWII melodrama “Until They Sail.”
