the movie stars kirk douglas as rebellious slave spartacus and laurence olivier as his foe, the roman general and politician marcus licinius crassus. co-starring are peter ustinov (who won an academy award for best supporting actor for his role as slave trader lentulus batiatus), john gavin (as julius caesar), jean simmons, charles laughton, john ireland, herbert lom, woody strode, tony curtis, john dall and charles mcgraw. the movie won four oscars in all.