“Snails and Oysters“ - Laurence Olivier & Tony Curtis in ’Spartacus’ - Bath Tub Scene

When ’Spartacus’ was first released in 1960, it included a bath scene featuring the Roman patrician dictator Crassus (Laurence Olivier) and his body-servant Antoninus (Tony Curtis). In this scene, Crassus made veiled references to Snails and Oysters, implying that he was bisexual. Certain religious groups in America objected to this episode, so it was cut out. However, it was reinstated in the 1991 ’restoration,’ though the soundtrack for that single-take bath scene had been lost. Olivier had meanwhile died, so Anthony Hopkins was brought in to dub his lines, though Curtis was able to re-voice his own words. In the scene immediately following that bathroom conversation, Crassus tells Antoninus that there’s only one way to deal with Rome: “You must serve her, you must abase yourself before her, you must grovel at her feet, you must love her.“ Curiously, the religious groups didn’t realize that Crassus was in fact talking about himself and not Rome at all! Olivier knew of course, as can be seen by the expression on his face. No wonder Antoninus made a rapid exit! ... Incidentally, Alex North’s background music exactly captures the mood of the scene. Here is another scene from later in the film which features the three great actors who made this movie so memorable - Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov and Laurence Olivier ...