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Spartacus in Spain
At a time when Hollywood studios and independent producers were looking to shoot overseas to save costs and highlight exotic locations, Spartacus was supposed to show that an epic film could be made without leaving California. But Director Stanley Kubrick insisted on shooting the battle scenes in Spain. Kubrick envisioned a vast, open landscape, with legions of trained soldiers marching in formation. Spain had the landscapes, it was relatively cheap, and previous Hollywood productions had paved the way for working there. However, none of the stars traveled to Spain. As I previously wrote about, this split production required creative editing […]
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Spartacus: Between Spain and Hollywood
Spartacus was supposed to be filmed entirely in California. By 1960 there was growing alarm about the impact of “runaway” productions, which sought to cut costs by filming overseas, on Hollywood. Edward Muhl, longtime production director for Universal Studios, which was financing Spartacus, sought to demonstrate that an epic film could be made entirely in the US. Kirk Douglas, both producer and star, brought on a young Stanley Kubrick to direct (after firing Anthony Mann from the job). Kubrick, however, wanted to film in Europe. In the end, while the interiors and much of the first half of the film […]
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