‘Spartacus’: The Battles, the In-Fighting

It took a long time to make.

It took a long time to restore.

It takes a long time to watch.

It takes an even longer time to watch it on a Criterion/Voyager Co. laser disc with hours of supplemental material revealing the intricacies of its creation and restoration.

But the Criterion release of the 1960 epic “Spartacus” ($125) is a fascinating journey, start to late-in-the-night finish.

If you want to see just the film in all its restored glory, including censored scenes and the overture and entre-act music, look for MCA Universal Home Video’s recently released two-disc CLV (extended play) letterboxed laser set ($45).

It’s all there, all 196 minutes of epic storytelling on a grand scale in restored Super Technirama and stereo digital sound. The all-star cast includes Kirk Douglas in the title role with Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov as patricians in deadly battle against the slave who threatened to bring the Roman Empire down. Woody Strode, Jean Simmons and Tony Curtis round out the cast of thousands.

But if you want a rough idea of how Hollywood worked, or tried to, more than three decades ago when the blacklist was still a reality, then tune in to the three-disc Criterion set--CLV for the film itself, CAV (standard play) on two sides of supplemental material. It’s readily apparent that a good deal of care went into the production of the laser disc itself, from the conducting of interviews to their careful editing into a “Rashomon”-like under-story.

The package boasts two analog supplementary tracks: analog track 1 has a commentary on the Dalton Trumbo screenplay; analog track 2 has audio commentaries from most of the principals involved.

While there are no interviews with director Stanley Kubrick, who was brought into the film to replace Anthony Mann after production had started, reminiscences from star and executive producer Douglas, producer Edward Lewis, actor Ustinov, designer Saul Bass and restorer Robert A. Harris, and pronouncements from novelist Howard Fast, create an intriguing scenario of fighting, sparring and warring that may prove more fascinating to some than the film itself.

Fast makes no secret of his dislike for Kirk Douglas, who was responsible for not only bringing the novel to the screen but also for driving a wedge into the blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplay and giving him full screen credit.

“I still find it difficult to connect Kirk with my initial vision of Spartacus,” Fast spits out, calling the actor’s portrayal a “stunt-man reaction,” an “exhibitionist” interpretation of the role.

Hardly anyone seemed completely happy making the film.

“Kubrick was never a big fan of this movie, which I resented,” Douglas says. “He never accepted it with any enthusiasm. He was someone used to always having his own way, but this wasn’t something initiated by Kubrick . . . the ship was sailing.”

The ship sailed with friction also between Olivier and Laughton, a situation that Ustinov remembers with gusto. It is Ustinov (the only actor to get an Oscar for the film--for best supporting actor), who peppers the commentary with wit and good humor.

He points out, in fact, that he went from the time-consuming “Spartacus” (which his young daughter thought was his full occupation) to Jules Dassin’s “Topkapi,” for which he won yet another Oscar. That classic 1964 caper, with Melina Mercouri and Maximilian Schell, has just been released on wide-screen laser by MGM/UA ($35) in a fine transfer that nicely showcases the film’s Manos Hadjidakis score and its sly sexuality.

Interwoven with all these recollections are Harris’ rather pretentious remembrances of reconstructing and restoring the film from negatives that were fading in the vaults.

The Criterion “Spartacus,” with its two three-hour-plus supplementary analog tracks, is another step into a home-video future in which the living history of the making of a film often overshadows the film itself.

New Movies Just Out: “Boomerang” (Paramount, $35); “Sister Act” (Touchstone, $30); “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (FoxVideo, $40).

Coming Soon: MGM/UA’s “Diggstown,” starring James Woods and Lou Gossett Jr., will be released the end of January at $30. MGM/UA will package two James Cagney movies, “Each Dawn I Die” (1939) and “City for Conquest” (1940), for mid-February release at $45. Due in March: Director Stanley Kubrick double bill from MGM/UA: “Killer’s Kiss” (1955) and “The Killing” (1956), $40; “Dodge City” (MGM/UA, 1939) starring Errol Flynn, $35; along with “Pinocchio” on March 26, Image is releasing two other Disney classics: “Mary Poppins” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Older Titles Just Released: “Hollywood Canteen” (MGM/UA, 1944, $40), all-star antics in a club for WWII soldiers; “Nighthawks” (MCA/Universal, 1981, $35), two New York cops (Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams) track a terrorist (Rutger Hauer).