Peter Ustinov stars as Socrates, that cantankerous barefoot "gadfly of Athens," who goes about corrupting the youth of the city, being impious, and being primarily responsible for Athens' loss to the Spartans! Small charges, these, but Socrates (brilliant as he is) feels he's up to it in Maxwell Anderson's "Barefoot in Athens," a tersely written and presented account of this great philosopher's final days in the Cradle of Western Civilization. Funny at times (Socrates knows how to make monkeys of his adversaries!), the film, of course, has its tragic--and sad--overtones; after all, the greatest city in the ancient world is about to execute one of their prime citizens! Ustinov is right at home--from the looks down to the ascerbic wit. Geraldine Page as his wife is a good counterpart. A (very) young Christopher Walken plays their older son. Anthony Quayle deserves mention as the "stupid"
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(his word) Spartan general.
The review of this Movie prepared by Bill Hobbs