Cleopatra

• 
  
  June 1, 2009

  groaningbitch

  the legend of cleopatra is literily the original utterance of "femme fatale" in western civilization, the primitive concept of femme fatale is the woman whose sex appeal is powerful enough to cast doom to men. but the progressive term for femme fatale would be more like woman who...( read more) utilizes her sex appeal to infiltrate into the system of men then earn her position of power among the elites of men. so naturaly cleopatra is THE ORIGINAL FEMME FATALE. any actress prescribed with such role is surely complimentary to the ego. BUT i'm probably so far the only one who says elizabeth taylor doesn't fit the part despite she has the gears to look that part. neither is richard burton or rex harrison. generally the whole flick is a disaster, roughly made just to flaunt how much of cashes it has blown off.
  
  as my principle calls, whatever you'd like to demean something, give people reasons to do it justice. first of all, it doesn't appear right in the superficial level, clothings. no matter how much people praise over taylor's glamour in it, the costumes look odd as if taylor is showcasing a modern fashion season called "how cleopatra inspires fashion" instead of dressing as cleopatra. thay all appear like some fancy contemporary gowns rushly decorated with few very egytian-looking garments, then here there are. the designer renie is no travis banton who operated the 30s cleopatra with cecil b demile and claudett colbert. anachronism is the word for it.
  
  second of all, the script softens off every climax the story should have, such as the notable assassination of julius ceasar. where's the classic line "you, too?! brutus!" and it's backfired by its over-ambition on the political renderings of that time on lots of dreary scenes of roman congress and political feuds, or some silly scenes of ceasar teaching his son how to behave like a king, blah blah blah, and also why on earth the scriptors have to put the son of ceasar and cleopatra into the movie...besides, the historical fact would be cleopatra has one son with ceasar and a twins and son with marc anthony. i mention it not for the sake of historical accuracy since we all romanticize ancient tales. my point is why bother?...the attention is obvious: to moralize cleopatra, to maternalize her, to exert on presenting her more like the appendage to the granduer men instead of an empress as the phenomenal woman individual she is supposed to be. if you wanna produce a movie ON CLEOPATRA, why bother to take the major focus away on ceasar and anthony or octavian?
  
  third of all, and most of all, elizabeth taylor doesn't have a queenly gesture as cleopatra, the most important element of such woman egoist would be her pride, and why cleopatra hooks with ceasar and anthony is for the survival of egypt since roman is quite a menace. her main purpose is POLITICAL, amoral by any means, so it wouldn't trouble her to bed with any married man as long as her purpose is served. but taylor's elizabeth snares at anthony after he reaches her political aganda but married to octavian's sister, why she even bothers to get sour? additionally, would a confident queen like cleopatra be histerically shouting or begging over a man? there's nothing composed or icy cool about elizabeth taylor, and everything is sentimentalized and melodramticized. further, the scriptors make a even bigger mistake to turn burton's marc anthony into an envious wimp over ceasar. except his masculine looks, nothing courageous or virile about his character. the sequence of cleopatra swooning anthony into eloping to egypt with her is ridiculously blatant: the woman provokes the man's envy with unfriendly words and vaudeville mockeries, then he beds her, next day, they confide how they have a crush on each other like a bunch of loverstruck teenagers. frankly it reminds me of the love scenes in "butterfield 8", and the same formula of angering a man into your bed seems a bit too cliched and juvenile here. she presents herself more like a pouty bickering matron who likes to quarreal men into her favors meanwhile un-capable of standing on her own.
  
  the behind-camera stories tell all, if you read enough of classic hollywood biographies, no one involved in this project has a heart to finish it. taylor has spine issue during the shooting, and the director mankiewicz has to take severe dosage of pain-killers and tranquillizers (same as taylor) to get the nerve having it done. the abscence of the leads and director has deteriorated the schedule into enormous debt. but eventually it's redeemed by the publicity of the illicit affair of taylor-burton to arouse the audience's snooping curiosity to enter the theater. the sountrack is poorly composed, drab without background melodies at most of time except the few crucial sequences like cleopatra strutting over the roman squad or some burlesques to entertain marc anthony.....elizabeth taylor's glamour is always a big selling-point but she's only at her adequate best with helen rose' wardrobe("cat on a hot tin roof", "butterfield 8") or with edith head who sketches her gown in "a place in the sun".
  
  
  (ps) another note i would like to make is its brief usage of yellow-face stereotype. one scene features an oriental servent called LOTUS whose profession is to taste the queen's drink and food to prevent cleopatra from being poisoned, why on earth ancient egypt would have a chinese servent? i'm not protesting since the scene is so brief and inconsequential but i just feel extremely absurd over this. see how much thought this movie has put on?!

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• 
  
  May 2, 2007

  stopitgoaway

  That a film as good as CLEOPATRA is was created at all under the madness and panic of it's legendary production is indeed an amazing feat. That CLEOPATRA has been given such loving care in its restoration in this DVD of the "Road Show" print and the attendant bonus materials is a...( read more) wondrous gift to those who love this film. The documentary, "Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood" is in on it's own an engrossing and informative two hour movie. For anyone who knows little of the history of CLEOPATRA, or who was not around at the time, this documentary will give them the feeling of what those last days of old Hollywood was like. And therein one can find the reasons why this intimate epic is indeed the wonder that it is. Many thanks should go to the Mankiewicz family and the producers of the documentary. The print and the sound of CLEOPATRA seems now to surpass what I recall it to be in its first presentation nearly forty years ago. The depth of the colors and the richness of the shadows are indeed splendid. In this restoration, it is hard to believe this film is as old as it is. The commentary track is in and of itself like finding the lost treasures of the long dead monarch. For there are wonderful recollections by Martin Landau, Tom and Chris Mankiewicz, and even the one of the films publicists Jack Brodsky gets to read sections from his book "The Cleopatra Papers" which gave a blow by blow description of everyday events on the set. But I must give special mention to Landau's part. With his keen eye for the art direction of John DeCuir one sees things in the background and along the edges of the scene that one never noticed before. Such lovingly detailed sets and interiors will never be seen again. The costs today are just too prohibitive. Also his insights into what was cut from the film, particularly his and Richard Burton's contributions in the second act give one the idea of what Mankiewicz was intending. Poor Richard suffered the unkindest cut of all. The presentation of the DVD menus is so clever and exotic. The creators of this DVD are to be commended in their art direction. At last we now know what is behind the massive 20th Century Fox logo!
  
  The film itself remains what it has always been. It is a good film that might have been a great one if only Zanuck had trusted Joe Mankiewicz' original vision. It is said that they are still looking for the missing film; one can only hope that they succeed in this task. The performances range from good to excellent. Particular praise must go to Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Martin Landau, Robert Stephens, Andrew Keir, and Roddy McDowall. Lastly in this department there remains Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Cleopatra. At the films release the brickbats were reserved for her and for reasons that had nothing to do with her performance. Many reviewed her behavior as seen through the narrow focus of the tabloids and emerging paparazzi. Even today it is sometimes hard to separate the history of the lady from her film roles. But here is the moment in time, in this film where she became the ELIZABETH TAYLOR she has remained in the mind of the world ever since. In this fact alone she is perfect in the role. But she is more than that. As Cleopatra she is at once regal and commanding, strong and tender, soft and hard. These are all the contradictions that have always been at the heart of Cleopatra herself. She and the Queen are masters of a public enigma wrapped within a mystery. In her performance as written by Mankiewicz Elizabeth Taylor is probably not too far off from the historical Cleopatra. Finally, ever since Judith Crist gave CLEOPATRA the needle in 1963 and in the act made her name, the public, for the most part, has viewed this film a failure. But today, stripped of the scandal, hype and hysteria of its release in June of 1963 it is now possible to view CLEOPARTA as the film it is. A near great film that is the signpost of when Hollywood passed from one age into another. Historically this is an important DVD and I recommend it highly. CLEOPATRA remains as seductive, beautiful, and intelligent as it was in Walter Wanger's original conception. "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety."
  I'd very much vote for a full restoration.
  
  In terms of performances, Taylor is quite good (people forget how competent she can be, poetically crass goddess though she is), and Rex Harrison is great. Oddly, Richard Burton is the weak link here-- rambling thru his lines furiously. And, for my money, Roddy McDowall and Martin Landau should be playing each others' roles...
  
  Yes, it IS worth a look as a curio... maybe more if they could piece it back together. The production design eye-popping, and the script is clever and literate, but then Mankiewicz was always a much more inspired writer than a director, as many of the shots and scenes (or what's left of them) are bit static and stagey, the actors seeming to be mostly directing themselves.
  
  BTW: if you adjust for inflation (which one must, if these lists are to mean anything) the $44 million budget would translate to nearly half-a-billion dollars today... still the most expensive movie ever made, by far.

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• 
  
  February 26, 2009

  Nutterjr

  An epic containing all the right ingredients.

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• 
  
  April 12, 2009

  graveling861

  Worth seeing for Elizabeth Taylor alone. She is stunning.

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• 
  
  March 17, 2009

  constanzaboutter

  Magnificent production from the golden age of Hollywood, greats scenarios, excelent acting of Elizabeth Taylor , Richard Burton and Rex Harrison.

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• 
  
  November 17, 2009

  VagosS

  Elizabeth Taylor was born for this...

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• 
  
  November 16, 2009

  Phonex

  Historic deformation.

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• 
  
  November 13, 2009

  Yelverton

  The was a LOT of money wasted on this film.

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• 
  
  November 10, 2009

  MGMboy

  Please not that this is my original review that I posted on Amazon entitled. AN AMAZING FEAT, April 7, 2001. I found that a member here by the name of stopitgoaway has posted my review as her own.
  Michael C. Smith November 10, 2009
  
  That a film as good as CLEOPATRA is was cre...( read more)ated at all under the madness and panic of it's legendary production is indeed an amazing feat. That CLEOPATRA has been given such loving care in it's restoration in this DVD of the "Road show" print and the attendant bonus materials is a wondrous gift to those who love this film.
  The documentary, "Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood" is in on it's own an engrossing and informative two hour movie. For anyone who knows little of the history of CLEOPATRA, or who was not around at the time, this documentary will give them the feeling of what those last days of old Hollywood were like. And therein one can find the reasons why this intimate epic is indeed the wonder that it is. Much thanks must be given to the Mankiewicz family and the producers of the documentary.
  The print and the sound of CLEOPATRA seems now to surpass what I recall it to be in its first presentation nearly forty years ago. The depth of the colors and the richness of the shadows are indeed splendid. In it's present form it is hard to believe this film is as old as it is. The commentary track is like finding the lost treasures of the long dead monarch. For there are wonderful recollections by Martin Landau, Tom and Chris Mankiewicz, and even Jack Brodsky gets to read sections from his book "The Cleopatra Papers". But I must give special mention to Landau's part. With his keen eye for the art direction of John DeCur one sees things in the background and along the edges of the scene that one never noticed before. Such lovingly detailed sets and interiors will never be seen again. The costs today are just too prohibitive. Also his insights into what was cut from the film, particularly his and Richard Burton's contributions in the second act give one the idea of what Mankiewicz was intending. Poor Richard suffered the unkindest cut of all. The presentation of the DVD menus are so clever and exotic and are to be commended in their art direction. At last we now know what is behind the massive 20th Century Fox logo!
  The film itself remains what it has always been, a good film that might have been great if only Zanuck had but trusted Joe Mankiewicz' original vision. In the documentary it is stated that Fox is looking for the missing film, one can only hope that they succeed.
  The performances range from excellent to good. Particular praise must go to Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Martin Landau, Robert Stephens, Andrew Keir, and Roddy McDowall. Lastly in this department there remains Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Cleopatra. At the films release she got the brickbats and for reasons that had nothing to do with her performance. It is always hard to separate the history of the lady from her film roles. But here in this film is where she became the ELIZABETH TAYLOR she has remained in the mind of the world to this day. In this fact alone she is perfect in the role. She is at once regal and commanding, strong and tender, soft and hard. The contradictions that have always been at the heart of Cleopatra herself, the public enigma wrapped within a mystery. In her performance as written by Mankiewicz she is probably not too far off from the historical Cleopatra.
  Ever since Judith Crist gave CLEOPATRA the needle in 1963 and in the act made her name, the public, for the most part, has viewed this film a failure. But today, stripped of the scandal, hype and hysteria of its release in June of '63 it is now possible to view CLEOPARTA as the wonderful film that it is. Historically this is an important DVD and I recommend it highly. CLEOPATRA remains as seductive, beautiful, and intelligent as it was in Walter Wanger's original conception.

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• 
  
  November 7, 2009

  Jordan770

  I just had to write a midterm on her, she was turly the best pharoah Egypt ever had.

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• 
  June 1, 2009

  groaningbitch

  (ps) the best "cleopatra" so far is still cecil b demile's version in the 30s with claudett colbert whose cleopatra has poise, discretion and the aloof IT. the script is concise but with punctual pearly lines as "be careful when you seek love, if you cannot find love, don't give a thing...if you're rich as cleopatra, give everything!" despite its male leads look heavily cosmetic like silent cinema but the seduction is subtly tactful as the queen's heart is her own, harbored with resourceful preservation until the moment she uncovers the fearless man of men worthy of her affection....what a seductress.
• 
  July 16, 2007

  QueenOfSparta

  i love this movie;)....definately one of my favorite.

• Andrew Keir
• Carroll O'Connor
• Cesare Danova
• Elizabeth Taylor
• George Cole
• Grégoire Aslan
• Herbert Berghof
• Hume Cronyn
• Kenneth Haigh

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