Others who were technicians said that Mann did the gladiator school sequence. Visually, for me there is a difference between Mann/Metty scenes and Kubrick/Metty scenes.
As for Douglas, he also likes to claim that he helped young Stan out with directing PATHS OF GLORY. But he was wonderful in the 1950's as the embodiment of the newly powerful/anxious American het male, a.k.a. joyous fellow, and did fine work for Minnelli and Kazan in this vein.
> Whether Mann was fired or not is debatable - producer
Edward Lewis claims that that Mann quit.
What producer ever tells the truth about the replacement of a director? Preminger on LAURA said Mamoulian was not making the film that was wanted, but in actuality he was following Preminger's orders which Zanuck turned out not to like when he got back from winning WWII. (Mamoulian must have the worst track record in history among auteurs for being dropped from movies).
Mann always said that he was fired and Russell Metty the cinematographer supported that version. As I watch the film, I always sense I am watching a sequence of shots where one visual sensibility (Kubrick's) conquers another (Mann's as carried forward by Metty after Mann's departure) -- an enjoyable experience that never becomes aesthetically pleasureable in a deep way.
Ultimate irony: Metty gets his only Oscar for SPARTACUS.
Brian