Joseph L. Mankiewicz filmed Shakespeares play as if it were a 50s boardroom thriller like Executive Suite, with conspirators James Mason and John Gielgud in gray-flannel togas attempting to oust Caesar, Louis Calhern, but ultimately undone by the rabble-rousing fervour of Marlon Brandos brilliant depiction of Caesar loyalist Marc Antony.
The fine cast including Deborah Kerr, Greer Harson, Edmond OBrien and George Macready do well by Shakespearean dialogue, and Mankiewicz directs with set text unfussiness. As was noted at the time, Brando in robes spouting verse is far more convincing than Gielgud would have been in a torn undershirt grunting realism.