Julius Caesar

John Houseman says the film was made because Laurence Olivier's 1944 production of Henry V had been a success. MGM's head of production, Dore Schary, offered the project to Houseman, who said he wanted Joseph L. Mankiewicz to direct because he thought he and William Wyler were "probably the two best dialogue directors in the business" and that Mankiewicz was "younger and more flexible." Houseman did not want to use an all-British cast. "I'd done a lot of Shakespeare in America," he said.

It received highly favorable reviews. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "a stirring and memorable film," while Variety wrote: "A triumphant achievement in film-making, it will be rated one of the great pictures of Hollywood." Harrison's Reports raved, "Excellent! Sumptuously produced, expertly directed and brilliantly acted, 'Julius Caesar' is an artistic triumph that ranks with the best of the Shakespearean plays that have been put on film."