British Universities Film & Video Council

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Julius Caesar

Synopsis
Televised version of the play, with Robert Perceval as Caesar and Eric Porter as Brutus. According to its producer, Stuart Burge, the production strives "for a true and lively interpretation of the text, but it will be designed for the screen, and will have no regard for the long tradition of stage conventions associated with the play" (Radio Times, 5 May 1959, p. 9).
Series
BBC Television World Theatre
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Television
Transmission details
5 May 1959 at 21:30 (Channel: BBC)
Duration
105 mins

Credits

Director
Stuart Burge
Producer
Stuart Burge
Writer
William Shakespeare
Art Direction
Barry Learoyd
Cast
Robert PercevalJulius Caesar
William SylvesterMark Antony
John KiddDecius Brutus
Michael GoughCaius Cassius
Daphne SlaterPortia
Brian SpinkVolumnius
Cavane MaloneServant
Charles ReaCobbler
David GrahameCaius Ligarius
Edward WoodwardTitinius
Eric PorterMarcus Brutus
Ernest HareMessala
Graham LeamanPopillius
Jeremy BurnhamOctavius Caesar
John MoffattCasca
John RinghamTrebonius
John WentworthMetellus Cimber
Kevin StoneyLepidus
Leonard CracknellLucilius
Michael HitchmanCicero
Neville BeckerPindarus
Paul LeeCinna
Ralph BallCommoner (Plebeian)
Richard CarpenterServant
Richard GooldenCinna the Poet
Richard WarnerMarullus (Murellus)
Robert GageFlavius
Ronald Scott DoddClaudius (Claudio)
Sean LynchStrato
Valerie WhiteCalphurnia
Wilfrid BrambellSoothsayer
William Lyon BrownVarro (Varrus)

Additional Details

Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Plays
Julius Caesar
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Production costs: £8.152. Cast: 99

The Birmingham Shakespeare Library holds a script.
General
According to Melzer/Rothwell, director Stuart Burge used this television production as preparation for his later film version of the same play, starring Charlton Heston and Jason Robards Jr. (1969).
History
Inaugurates a new BBC drama series of adaptations of international plays by various writers.

The first US broadcast was 10 March 1960 WGBH, Boston (NET),
Reviews
"Julius Caesar On Television: Good Casting Of B.B.C. Production", The Times, 6.5.1959, p. 15.
Rothwell, Kenneth S. and Annabelle Henkin Melzer, Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography (London: Mansell, 1990) (entry 218, p. 119).
John Wyver, ‘Julius Caesar (BBC, 1959)', 21 May 2012 http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/julius-caesar-bbc-1959/ (accessed July 2012)

The Birmingham Shakespeare Library holds a typescript.

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

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
Name

Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division

Web
http://catalog.loc.gov/ External site opens in new window
Phone
(20) 707-8572
Fax
(20) 707-237’1
Address
Motion Picture & Television Reading Room
James Madison Building, LM 336
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C.
20540-4690
United States

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