Sins of Rome

{{Infobox film | name = Sins of Rome | image = Spartaco-movie-poster-md.jpg | native_name =  | director = Riccardo Freda | producer = Carlo Caiano{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=311}} | screenplay = {{plainlist| * Jean Ferrey * Maria Bory * Gino Visentini{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}}}} | story = Maria Bory{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}} | based_on =  | starring = {{plainlist| * Massimo Girotti * Ludmilla Tchérina * Gianna Maria Canale * Yves Vincent}} | music = Renzo Rossellini{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}} | cinematography = {{plainlist| * Gábor Pogány * Mario Bava{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}}}} | editing = Mario Serandrei{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}} | production_companies = {{plainlist| * A.P.I. Film * Consorzio Spartacus Film * Es Establissments Sinag * Rialto Film{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=311}}}} | distributor = A.P.I. (Italy) | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1953|1|28|Italy|ref1=}} | runtime = 105 minutes{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}} | country = {{plainlist| * Italy * France{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}}}} | language = Italian | gross = 450 million lire }}

'''''Sins of Rome''''' ({{langx|it|Spartaco}}) is a 1953 historical drama film directed by Riccardo Freda and loosely based on the life story of Spartacus.<ref name="45-59">{{cite book|author1=Roberto Chiti |author2=Roberto Poppi |author3=Enrico Lancia |title=Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film|date=1991 |publisher=Gremese, 1991|isbn=8876055487}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Maria Wyke|title=Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History|year=1997|url=https://archive.org/details/projectingpastan0000wyke|url-access=registration|publisher=Routledge, 2013|isbn=1317796071}}</ref> The rights of film's negatives and copies were bought by the producers of Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film ''Spartacus'', as to prevent eventual new releases of the film that could have damaged the commercial outcome of Kubrick’s film; this resulted in ''Sins of Rome'''s withdrawal from market for about thirty years.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Silke Knippschild, Marta Garcia Morcillo|title=Seduction and Power: Antiquity in the Visual and Performing Arts|date=15 August 2013|publisher=A&C Black, 2013|isbn=978-1441190659}}</ref>

==Plot summary== In 74 B.C., Spartacus, a Roman soldier of Thracian origins, is enslaved by Crassus after coming to the rescue of the beautiful slave Amytis. Enlisted into Lentulus's gladiators, he attempts repeatedly to escape. When the gladiators begin a revolt, Spartacus becomes their leader and leaves Rome with them. Wounded by Rufus's soldiers during a patrol, he takes refuge with Crassus's young daughter Sabina, who has fallen in love with him. After recovering, Spartacus returns to his men and leads them in a victorious assault on Rufus's fortified camp. The unexpected defeat alarms the senate; Crassus summons Spartacus and promises freedom for him and his followers. Meanwhile, the rebels, unsettled in the absence of their leader, decide to attack the Roman troops. Spartacus joins them and dies in battle, which turns into carnage for the slaves.

== Cast == * Massimo Girotti as Spartacus * Ludmilla Tchérina as Amitys * Gianna Maria Canale as Sabina * Yves Vincent as Ocnomas * Carlo Ninchi as Marcus Licinius Crassus * Carlo Giustini as Artorige * Teresa Franchini as Spartacus's mother * Vittorio Sanipoli as Marcus Virilius Rufus * Umberto Silvestri as Lentulus * Renato Baldini as Gladiator * Nerio Bernardi * Cesare Bettarini

==Release== ''Sins of Rome'' was distributed in Italy as ''Spartaco'' by A.P.I. on January 28, 1953.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=310}}{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=311}} The film grossed a total of 450 million Italian lire in Italy.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=311}} The film was released in the United States as ''Sins of Rome'' and in the United Kingdom as ''Spartacus the Gladiator''.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=311}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Curti |first=Roberto |title=Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker |date=2017 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |url={{GBurl|CqdtDgAAQBAJ}} }}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0045183}} * {{TCMDb title|id=489371}}

Category:1953 films Category:1950s historical drama films Category:Films directed by Riccardo Freda Category:Films about gladiatorial combat Category:Films about rebels Category:Films set in the 1st century BC Category:Films set in ancient Rome Category:Films set in Capua Category:Films set in Rome Category:Third Servile War films Category:Cultural depictions of Spartacus Category:1950s sword-and-sandal films Category:Films scored by Renzo Rossellini Category:French black-and-white films Category:Italian black-and-white films Category:Italian historical drama films Category:French historical drama films Category:1953 Italian films Category:1953 French films Category:Cultural depictions of Marcus Licinius Crassus