Cleopatra (1963)

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (screenplay) and
Ranald MacDougall (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 July 1963 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

The motion picture the world has been waiting for!

Plot:

Historical epic. The triumphs and tragedy of the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Father Son Relationship | Divorce | Statue | Ptolemaic Dynasty

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Cleopatra
Richard Burton	...	Antony
Rex Harrison	...	Caesar
Pamela Brown	...	High Priestess
George Cole	...	Flavius
Hume Cronyn	...	Sosigenes
Cesare Danova	...	Apollodorus
Kenneth Haigh	...	Brutus
Andrew Keir	...	Agrippa
Martin Landau	...	Rufio
Roddy McDowall	...	Octavian - Caesar Augustus
Robert Stephens	...	Germanicus
Francesca Annis	...	Eiras, Cleopatra's handmaiden
Grégoire Aslan	...	Pothinus (as Gregoire Aslan)
Martin Benson	...	Ramos

Runtime:

192 min | 243 min (roadshow version) | Argentina:233 min | Germany:233 min (TV version) | Sweden:232 min | USA:320 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK | USA | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Westrex Recording System) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:Unrated (video rating) | Peru:PT | Brazil:Livre | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (certificate #19756) (original rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:G (1971 re-release) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

During Cleopatra's entry into Rome, the shots of Cleopatra's barge and the parade that precedes it were filmed several months apart, so that the light would be hitting Cleopatra directly.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cleopatra's boat approaches the shore, the white translucent curtains are pulled open, yet in a view from the shore, they are still closed.

Quotes:

Julius Caesar: You all look so impressive. Any one of you could be king.
Pothinus: His Majesty King Ptolemy, kindred of Horus and Ra, beloved of Thoth...
Julius Caesar: Et cetera, et cetera; you welcome me. And I, Gaius Julius Caesar, Consul of the Roman Senate, Pontifex Maximus, et cetera, et cetera, thank you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Too much negativity, not enough praise!

Regarded as the biggest flop (at least until "Ishtar") in motion picture history, "Cleopatra" has been given the short end of the stick since it first premiered in 1963 but it still is a great film. True, it did plague 20th Century Fox to the point of near bankruptcy (until "The Sound of Music" saved it in 1965) and Elizabeth Taylor's health overshadowed the film schedule but there are more good things about the film than there are bad, the backlashing of the film has just blown itself all out of proportion. Richard Burton and Elizabeth's much-publicized offscreen love affair grew to such a feverishly fiery degree that it made their onscreen relationship as Antony and Cleopatra all the more genuine. Rex Harrison as Caesar is first-rate as well and yet he was the only one out of the entire cast that received an Oscar nomination (Richard Burton was one who should have been in the running as well... his performance is equal to his earlier work in "The Robe" and later in "Becket" and "Anne of the Thousand Days"). Miss Taylor is very commanding in the role of her career and as a result few remember Claudette Colbert's earlier turn as Egypt's most memorable ruler in Cecil B. De Mille's 1934 version. The one point I want to make is that the film should have gotten more praise than it did... like "The Wizard of Oz", "Fantasia" and "It's a Wonderful Life" it seems to get more appreciation by it's second generation than it did it's first.