Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist
    I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist
    I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist
    Audiobook5 hours

    I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist

    Written by Kirk Douglas and George Clooney

    Narrated by Michael Douglas

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    From Kirk Douglas, Hollywood royalty and bestselling author of The Ragman’s Son and My Stroke of Luck, comes the candid story of the making of Spartacus, the blockbuster film that broke the blacklist

    One of the world’s most iconic movie stars, Kirk Douglas has distinguished himself as a producer, philanthropist, and author of ten works of fiction and memoir. Now, more than fifty years after the release of his enduring epic Spartacus, 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’s moguls refused to hire anyone accused of Communist sympathies. In a risky move, Douglas chose Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted screenwriter, to write Spartacus. Trumbo was one of the “Unfriendly Ten,” men who had gone to prison rather than testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about their political affiliations. Douglas’s source material was already a hot property, as the novel Spartacus was written by Howard Fast while he was in jail for defying HUAC.

    With the financial future of his young family at stake, Douglas plunged into a tumultuous production both on- 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 Sir Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and Lew Wasserman. 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—but more importantly, his moral courage in giving public credit to Trumbo effectively ended the notorious Hollywood blacklist.

    Editor's Note

    Intimate memoir…

    Iconic actor Kirk Douglas was also a prolific author. In his intimate memoir “I Am Spartacus!” (narrated by his son Michael Douglas), Kirk details his experience as star and producer of the epic film, as well as his risky decision to publicly credit blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Douglas died February 5, 2020, at age 103.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJun 12, 2012
    ISBN9781469227252
    Author

    Kirk Douglas

    Kirk Douglas has been a Hollywood legend for more than half a century. His eighty-three films include The Bad and the Beautiful and Lust for Life. In addition, his company, Bryna, has produced such classics as Spartacus, Douglas has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award given by the President, as well as numerous other awards and honors. Currently he serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for the State Department and the Legion de Honneur in France. The father of four sons, and grandfather of five, he lives with his wife, Anne, in Beverly Hills.

    More audiobooks from Kirk Douglas

    Related to I Am Spartacus!

    Related audiobooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Guitar Heroes

      Aug 17, 2023

      Guitar Heroes
      2 min read

    • Article

      'BlacKkKlansman' Holds A Mirror To America's Deepest Problem. Will We Look?

      Aug 9, 2018

      The credits were rolling, Spike Lee's latest offering to cinema, the Cannes Film Festival sensation "BlacKkKlansman," was concluding in a Midwestern premiere. A man seated next to him leaned over to Lee's co-writer Kevin Willmott with a confession, f

      3 min read

    • Article

      'Watchmen's' Provocative Portrait Of Race In America Has Its Own Creator Worried

      Oct 21, 2019

      More than three decades since it first exploded onto the comic book scene, the mere mention of "Watchmen" still sparks excitement from diehard fans - and plenty of others enthralled by its revolutionary approach to conventional superhero storytelling

      6 min read

    • Article

      #MeToo Pervades Toronto Film Fest

      Sep 13, 2018

      The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which wraps up its 10-day run Sept. 16, showcases 342 films, including features and shorts. I saw a goodly 20 of them, sometimes four per day. I’m not boasting. Some of my more intrepid colleagues saw f

      5 min read

    • Article

      Hollywood And Tyrants: How Filmmakers Take On The Powerful

      Apr 28, 2022

      A look at how Hollywood has depicted authoritarians, from Duck Soup to The Last King of Scotland.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Michael Hiltzik: Yes, Elia Kazan Named Names, Then Made 'On The Waterfront' To Justify His Treachery

      Jan 17, 2020

      Actress Zoe Kazan created a stir at a television industry publicity event by candidly responding to a question about her grandfather, the distinguished director Elia Kazan, and his decision in testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committ

      6 min read

    • Article

      The President Is Unraveling

      May 5, 2020

      The President Is Unraveling
      5 min read

    • Article

      Donald Trump Got What He Deserved

      Oct 30, 2019

      They let Donald Trump out of his bubble Sunday. It did not go well. Granted, every president lives in a bubble, due to security concerns. But Trump lives in a bubble within a bubble, one that has less to do with protecting him from assassins than wit

      2 min read

    • Article

      Culture | Interview

      Jan 18, 2021

      Culture | Interview
      6 min read

    • Article

      Must See, Must Read

      Nov 21, 2023

      Though ex-publicity agent Stuart Lake interviewed ex-lawman Wyatt Earp on several occasions, this ostensible biography is laced with fabrications. One shouldn’t blame Earp. Lake was out to create a folk hero and sell books, and in that he succeeded a

      10 min read

    • Article

      Facing History in the Age of Trump

      Aug 24, 2017

      Tempting as it is to isolate Donald Trump as the worst president in history (and "worst" is putting it mildly . . . more like the most narcissistically infantile, the most Nazi-friendly), doing so achieves nothing beyond a fleeting sense of satisfact

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for I Am Spartacus!

    4.5/5

    42 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      loved it as i loved the movie. was my fathers favorite movie of all time ! Brought back so many memories and i really enjoyed hearing it through michael douglas’s voice. was a real treat all around !
    • 5/5
      Just Brilliant. Loved it. Michael Douglas's narration was really exceptional
    • 5/5
      Amazingly detailed and full of firsthand accounts on the McCarthy era and many Hollywood stars, this is a fascinating book. And now I am off to re-watch Kirk Douglas in Spartacus!
    • 5/5
      A must listen for anyone who loves the history of Hollywood, the blacklist, making of tales, Dalton Trumbo, Stanley Kubrick and Kirk Douglas. Definitely in my Top 5 film books.

      A superb narration by Michael Douglas
    • 5/5
      An amazing story told, not read, but acted by the legendary son of the legend. Now I have to rush and see Spartacus again.
    • 5/5
      Until a few years ago I knew nothing about the "Blacklist" or the "Hollywood 10". The House Un-American Activities Committee had something to do with McCarthy and the "Red Scare", but what exactly I didn't have a clue. Then I saw the movie , Trumbo with Bryan Cranston and my eyes were opened. Trumbo's career resurrection by Kirk Douglas is a big part of the final act of the movie, and the righting of a great wrong. I've read with great interest everything I can find about that whole dark chapter of our history as I sense that we've entered a very similar time. Loved this book , and I love the heroism demonstrated by Kirk Douglas, Dalton Trumbo, etc. We need to live by their fine example whenever the First Amendment is endangered!
    • 4/5
      Kirk Douglas gives us a fascinating memoir on the making of an epic movie during the shameful era of Hollywood blacklists. Spartacus had some of the biggest stars of the day Kirk, Lawrence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis and Jeanne Simmons. Listening to the interplay among this outsized egos was fascinating. But more importantly, the book reminds us of the damage the blacklists had on the careers of those who stood up for their rights in the face of the House on Unamerican Activities and Kirk Douglas's courage in helping to break the blacklist. Recommended!
    • 3/5
      I'm doing my own personal Kirk Douglas film festival and I thought it would be interesting to read this book before watching the movie again. Spartacus is a movie that's on my personal top ten list. The first time I saw Spartacus, it was on a bad TV in crummy hotel room, because my family was trapped by a snow storm in Vega Texas. However even under those circumstances, Spartacus still enthralled me. Finding out about how the film was made and the problems the blacklist caused for people like Dalton Trumbo was a real eyeopener. Sitting here today it's hard to believe it could have happen, we are currently so protective of our freedom of speech, but it is a lesson. I enjoyed the book, it was Kirk Douglas regaling me with stories of making Spartacus, just what I wanted.