I Am Spartacus!

Availability:
Ebook in PDF format. Available for immediate download after we receive your order

DRM:
Watermark

Publication Year:
2012

ISBN-13: 9781453255674

<DIV><B>A &ldquo;lively&rdquo; memoir by the Hollywood legend about the making of <I>Spartacus</I>, with a foreword by George Clooney (<I>Los Angeles Times</I>).</B><BR /> &#160;<DIV>One of the world&rsquo;s most iconic movie stars, Kirk Douglas has distinguished himself as a producer, philanthropist, and author of ten works of fiction and memoir.&#160;Now,&#160;more than fifty years after the release of his enduring epic <I>Spartacus</I>,&#160;Douglas reveals the riveting drama behind the making of the legendary gladiator film. Douglas began producing the movie in the midst of the politically charged era when Hollywood&rsquo;s moguls refused to hire anyone accused of Communist sympathies.&#160;In a risky move,&#160;Douglas chose&#160;Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted screenwriter, to write <I>Spartacus<B>. </B></I>Trumbo was&#160;one of the &ldquo;Unfriendly Ten,&rdquo; men who had gone to prison rather than testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about their political affiliations. Douglas&rsquo;s source material was already a hot property, as the novel <I>Spartacus </I>was written by Howard Fast while he was in jail for defying HUAC.</DIV><DIV><I>&#160;</I></DIV><DIV>With the financial future of his young family at stake, Douglas plunged into a tumultuous production both on-&#160;and off-screen. As both producer and star of the film, he faced explosive moments with young director Stanley Kubrick, struggles with a leading lady, and negotiations with giant personalities, including&#160;Sir&#160;Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and Lew Wasserman.&#160;Writing from his heart and from his own meticulously researched archives, Kirk Douglas, at ninety-five, looks back at his audacious decisions. He made the most expensive film of its era&mdash;but more importantly, his moral courage in giving public credit to Trumbo effectively ended the notorious Hollywood blacklist.</DIV><DIV>&#160;</DIV><DIV>A master storyteller,&#160;Douglas paints a vivid and often humorous portrait in <I>I Am Spartacus! </I>The book is enhanced by newly discovered period photography of the stars and filmmakers both on and off the set.</DIV></DIV>