Julius Caesar

Synopsis
Abbreviated version of the play. At the Capitol Julius Caesar leaves with Mark Antony while Caesar is seen plotting with another man. In the arena Antony offers Caesar the crown three times. Cassius persuades Brutus to join the conspiracy and they meet in Brutus’ garden. Calpurnia tells Caesar of her dream and tries to persuade him not to go the Capitol. A soothsayer warns Caesar to beware Brutus and stay away from Cassius and Casca but Caesar ignores it. The conspirators murder Caesar and Brutus addresses the people followed by Mark Antony. At an army camp Brutus and Cassius argue and then resolve their differences. The ghost of Caesar comes to Brutus in a dream. The conspirators lead their armies into battle. Cassius makes his servant kill him and Brutus falls on his sword. Antony has Brutus’ corpse burnt on a pyre.
Country
United States
Medium
Film
Technical information
Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release
1908
Duration
9 mins; 836 feet

Credits

Director
William V. Ranous
Producer
J. Stuart Blackton
Screenplay
Theodore A., Jr Liebler
Cast
Charles KentJulius Caesar
William V. RanousCaius Cassius
Earle WilliamsMarcus Brutus
Florence LawrenceCalphurnia
William SheaPlebeian (1)

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Historical period
Ancient Rome
Plays
Julius Caesar
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
The film was copyrighted November 8 1908.
General
Identification of the actors is difficult as many are heavily made up.

The set design in the assassination scene is strongly influenced by Jean-Léon Gérôme’s painting ‘The Death of Caesar’ (1867).
Reviews
Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp48-50, 312). Ball notes that a dog wandered onto the set during Mark Antony’s funeral oration speech and destroyed 200ft of film.

William Urrichio and Roberta E. Pearson, Reframing Culture: The Case of the Vitagraph Quality Films (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).

Production Company

Name

Vitagraph Company of America

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7436 0165
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av68520 (Accessed 03 Oct 2024)