Trivia / Julius Caesar (1953)

• Award Category Fraud: Marlon Brando received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor despite only appearing in about two and a half scenes in the movie. (Namely, the big "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech, the scene in the Senate that ends with "Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war", a shorter scene where he's going over the proscription list with Octavian and Lepidus, and the ending.) At the time, A-list stars were almost always placed in the lead category for awards, as being placed in Supporting was considered beneath them.
• Billing Displacement: Although Marlon Brando was given top billing, it is James Mason who is more central to the plot.
• Dawson Casting: The historical Calpurnia was thirty-two at the time of Caesar's assassination. Greer Garson on the other hand, was forty-nine.
• Deleted Role: O. Z. Whitehead is listed on the Internet Movie Database as having played Cinna the Poet in the film and not receiving screen credit, but his one scene was deleted before release, and it is not included in any DVD or video releases of the film. (However, Cinna the Conspirator does appear; he is played by actor William Cottrell.) Oddly enough, the same thing happened with the 1970 film.
• Enforced Method Acting: Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz reportedly instructed the extras to ignore Marlon Brando at the start of his "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech, forcing him to go big in order to get their attention.
• Follow the Leader: Producer John Houseman says the film was made because Henry V had been a success.
• What Could Have Been: Joseph L. Mankiewicz originally considered Paul Scofield for Marc Anthony.

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