"I told him, Big Julie, don't go!"

The Ides of March are upon us; therefore, it is time to go to your neighborhood DVD store and rent the 1953 film of "Julius Caesar," in which Louis Calhern plays the Emperor who should have stayed home that day, John Gielgud has the right lean and hungry look as Cassius, James Mason is the unfortunate Brutus, and Marlon Brando delivers another startlingly brilliant and unpredictable performance as Antony. 

The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who was pleased to share the screenwriting credits with the original author.  Mankiewicz had a long and generally successful Hollywood career, in which he was director or screenwriter, and often both, on a number of memorable films.  

His great success was "All About Eve."  The day he got caught by the Ides of March came in 1963, when he made "Cleopatra."  The Burton-Taylor epic was long remembered as an epic flop. The tab came to $60 million.  But now, $60 million is a trifle; many Cineplex popcorn bars make more on a weekend.