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I Am Spartacus!
- Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist
- Narrated by: Michael Douglas
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
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I Am Spartacus!
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Publisher's Summary
From Kirk Douglas, Hollywood royalty and bestselling author of The Ragman’s Son and My Stroke of Luck, comes the candid story of the making of Spartacus, the blockbuster film that broke the blacklist
One of the world's most iconic movie stars, Kirk Douglas has distinguished himself as a producer, philanthropist, and author of ten works of fiction and memoir. Now, more than fifty years after the release of his enduring epic Spartacus, Douglas reveals the riveting drama behind the making of the legendary gladiator film. Douglas began producing the movie in the midst of the politically charged era when Hollywood’s moguls refused to hire anyone accused of Communist sympathies. In a risky move, Douglas chose Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted screenwriter, to write Spartacus. Trumbo was one of the "Unfriendly Ten," men who had gone to prison rather than testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about their political affiliations. Douglas's source material was already a hot property, as the novel Spartacus was written by Howard Fast while he was in jail for defying HUAC.
With the financial future of his young family at stake, Douglas plunged into a tumultuous production both on- and off-screen. As both producer and star of the film, he faced explosive moments with young director Stanley Kubrick, struggles with a leading lady, and negotiations with giant personalities, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and Lew Wasserman. Writing from his heart and from his own meticulously researched archives, Kirk Douglas, at ninety-five, looks back at his audacious decisions. He made the most expensive film of its era - but more importantly, his moral courage in giving public credit to Trumbo effectively ended the notorious Hollywood blacklist.
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What listeners say about I Am Spartacus!
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dave B
- 2018-06-03
I am SPARTACUS! A great behind the scenes book
I am SPARTACUS! was a really great book on not only the making of this epic but the history of the blacklist narrated by Kirks son Michael Douglas an engrossing listen
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Reg Sackmann
- 2021-07-22
As much pathos in the making of the film as in it
What a great story. Writing 50 years later, Kirk Douglas frames the story of the making of Spartacus against the backdrop of McCarthyism, where talented writers and producers were blacklisted for their Communist leanings, real or imagined. Careers and families were destroyed, great talents were forced to work for a fraction of their salaries, and most who continued to work had to do so under assumed names - their identities taken away from them. Such was the case of Dalton Trumbo, whom Douglas convinced to write the script for Spartacus. Much of the book details the struggles that Trumbo and his contemporaries had to endure for their craft.
The story benefits from Douglas' back-room tales of big egos, near misses, personal disappointments and the unfailing support and love of his wife Anne. What really appealed to me - in addition to his weaving of a wonderful account of the genesis and making of the film - is Kirk Douglas' power of introspection. He does not shrink away from examining the man he was, seen 50 years later through the eyes of someone much older and presumably wiser. One gets a sense of openness and honesty from him and it's easy to see why Kirk Douglas was one of the most-loved and respected actors and producers in Hollywood.
The audiobook also succeeds in being narrated by his son Michael, who sounds enough like his old man as to make the listener think Kirk himself is recounting the story. The story is well-balanced and Michael Douglas' narration has the right amount of emotion and empathy to make it very enjoyable.
If you've never listened to this fascinating tale from the Golden Era of Hollywood, do so now; you will not be disappointed.
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