Julius Caesar (1953) review

Mankiewicz's very faithful adaptation of the Bard's famous tragedy, with a plot everyone should at least be somewhat familiar with (if not, get thyself an eBook): Roman politician Brutus (James Mason) and senator Cassius (John Gielgud) become increasingly concerned with statesman Caesar (Louis Calhern) becoming a dictator and assassinate him, and then have to contend with Caesar's loyal friend Mark Antony (Marlon Brando).  With a cast this stacked and a work (clearly) this solid it would have been very difficult to botch, and it's fun listening to Shakespeare's dialogue roll out of the mouths of Gielgud and Mason ... and watching Brando turn Antony into a rock star.  I would've loved to have seen the John Houseman/Orson Welles version of this at the Mercury Theatre back in 1937: Welles played Brutus, Joseph Cotton was Publius and Norman Lloyd had a part as Cinna the Poet!