Submitted to the British Board of Film Censors as Spartacus the Gladiator by International Film Distributors on 7 August 1953 and passed with an "A" certificate. Shown to the London press on 20 October 1953 at the GB Large preview theatre (at 10:30 pm for press and trade only), then the general public the following month, opening at Liverpool's Scala cinema on 1 November 1953 where it ran two weeks. UK distributors New Realm bought the film in 1961, submitting a shorter version to the BBFC who passed it with a "U" certificate on 25 May 1961. Spartacus the Gladiator was still turning up at children's matinees in the 1970s, such as New Ollerton's Studio 1 on Saturday, 13 February 1971.