Spartacus

Spartacus (1960) is Stanley Kubrick's historical epic, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A Thracian slave is sold to a gladiator school near Capua and drilled to kill for Roman amusement. They train him a little too well.

Kirk Douglas plays Spartacus, the fighter who turns on his masters and leads the others into the hills. Runaway slaves pour in from across Italy until a handful of rebels becomes an army marching on Rome itself. Standing against them is Crassus, the cold, ambitious senator played by Laurence Olivier. Around the conflict move the scheming dealer Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), the slave Varinia whom Spartacus loves (Jean Simmons), and the old senator Gracchus (Charles Laughton), playing his own quiet game.

The script came from Dalton Trumbo, blacklisted for a decade and finally credited under his own name on this very film. Spartacus won four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov, and Douglas produced it himself, pushing it through against the studio's doubts. Stream Spartacus (1960) online on iFILM.