Cleopatra (1963)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz
(more)

Writers:

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

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:

Spear | Corpse | Ptolemaic Dynasty | Sword And Sandal | Father Son Relationship

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
Herbert Berghof	...	Theodotos
John Cairney	...	Phoebus
Jacqui Chan	...	Lotos, royal taster
Isabel Cooley	...	Charmian (as Isabelle Cooley)
John Doucette	...	Achillas
Andrew Faulds	...	Canidius
Michael Gwynn	...	Cimber
Michael Hordern	...	Cicero
John Hoyt	...	Cassius
Marne Maitland	...	Euphranor
Carroll O'Connor	...	Casca
Richard O'Sullivan	...	Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII
Gwen Watford	...	Calpurnia
Douglas Wilmer	...	Decimus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elisabeth Welch	...	Children's nurse (scenes deleted)
John Alderton	...	1st Officer (uncredited)
Ronald Allen	...	(uncredited)
John Alvar	...	Valvus (uncredited)
Audrey Anderson	...	(uncredited)
María Badmajew	...	(uncredited)
Michèle Bailly	...	(uncredited)
Marina Berti	...	Queen at Tarsus (uncredited)
Salvatore Billa	...	Egyptian Slave / Centurion (uncredited)
Bruna Caruso	...	(uncredited)
Finlay Currie	...	Titus (uncredited)
Rod Dana	...	One of Caesar's entourage (uncredited)
Marie Devereux	...	Bacchanal reveler (uncredited)
Peter Forster	...	2nd Officer (uncredited)
John Frederick	...	Captain Palace Guard (uncredited)
María Luz Galicia	...	(uncredited)
John Gayford	...	Guard (uncredited)
Peter Grant	...	Palace guard (uncredited)
Rosalba Grottesi	...	Cleopatra's servant (uncredited)
Rupert John	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
John Karlsen	...	High Priest (uncredited)
Jeremy Kemp	...	Agitator (uncredited)
Maureen Lane	...	(uncredited)
Margaret Lee	...	(uncredited)
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Senator (uncredited)
Calvin Lockhart	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Loris Loddi	...	Caesarion at Age 4 (uncredited)
Jean Marsh	...	Octavia (uncredited)
Kathy Martin	...	(uncredited)
Luigi Martocci	...	Marcellus (uncredited)
Gesa Meiken	...	(uncredited)
Furio Meniconi	...	Mithridates (uncredited)
Simon Mizrahi	...	(uncredited)
Violeta Montenegro	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Boris Nacinovic	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Laurence Naismith	...	Arachesilaus (uncredited)
Kenneth Nash	...	Caesarion at Age 12 (uncredited)
John Pepper	...	Caesarion (uncredited)
Paola Pitagora	...	Cleopatra's servant (uncredited)
Michela Roc	...	Cleopatra's servant (uncredited)
Del Russel	...	Caesarion at Age 7 (uncredited)
Sandra Scarnati	...	Cleopatra's servant (uncredited)
Mike Steen	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Jack Taylor	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Meri Welles	...	Cleopatra's Handmaiden (uncredited)
Ben Wright	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Rouben Mamoulian		(uncredited; fired, replaced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Darryl F. Zanuck		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Joseph L. Mankiewicz		(screenplay) and
Ranald MacDougall		(screenplay) and
Sidney Buchman		(screenplay)
Plutarch		(histories) and
Suetonius		(histories) and
Appian		(histories)
Carlo Mario Franzero		(book "The Life and Times of Cleopatra") (as C.M. Franzero)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
Walter Wanger	....	producer
Peter Levathes	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy		(director of photography)
Jack Hildyard		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer
Elmo Williams		(uncredited)

Production Design by
John DeCuir		(as John De Cuir)

Art Direction by
Herman A. Blumenthal		(as Herman Blumenthal)
Hilyard M. Brown		(as Hilyard Brown)
Boris Juraga
Maurice Pelling
Jack Martin Smith
Elven Webb

Set Decoration by
Paul S. Fox
Ray Moyer
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Vittorio Nino Novarese		(costumes: men)
Renié		(costumes: women) (as Renie)

Makeup Department
Alberto De Rossi	....	makeup artist (as Alberto de Rossi)
Vivienne Walker	....	hair stylist: Miss Taylor (as Vivienne Zavitz)
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
C.O. Erickson	....	production manager
Forrest E. Johnston	....	production manager
Saul Wurtzel	....	production manager: second unit
Francisco Ariza	....	production manager (uncredited)
Edward Joseph	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Kellogg	....	second unit director
Andrew Marton	....	second unit director
Fred R. Simpson	....	assistant director

Art Department
José Algueró	....	assistant set decorator: Spain (uncredited)
Ferdinand Bellan	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Bill Dennison	....	chief draughtsman: exteriors (uncredited)
Harold Michelson	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
Giovanni Natalucci	....	set designer (uncredited)
Don Picton	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Italo Tomassi	....	scene painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
James Corcoran	....	sound recording supervisor
Bernard Freericks	....	sound recordist
Fred Hynes	....	sound recording supervisor
Murray Spivack	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Emil Kosa Jr.	....	special photographic effects
Herbert Cheek	....	miniatures supervisor (uncredited)
William F. Mittlestedt	....	mechanical effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alberto Dell'Acqua	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Sullivan	....	stunt double: Richard Burton (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Piero Portalupi	....	photographer: second unit (as Pietro Portalupi)
Claude Renoir	....	photographer: second unit
Bernie Abramson	....	publicity photographer (uncredited)
Sherman Kunkel	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Stuart Lyons	....	casting consultant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene Sharaff	....	costumes: Elizabeth Taylor

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Music Department
Lionel Newman	....	associate conductor
Alex North	....	conductor
Henry Brant	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
David Tamkin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Hermes Pan	....	choreographer
Bill Batchelor	....	publicist (uncredited)
Marie Devereux	....	stand-in: Elizabeth Taylor (uncredited)
Geoff Freeman	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Ralph M. Leo	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Lucie Lichtig	....	continuity (uncredited)
Elaine Schreyeck	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (as Producers Pictures Corporation)
• MCL Films S.A.
• Walwa Films S.A.

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• P.P. Film Polski (1970) (Poland) (theatrical) (Polish subtitles)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• CBS/Fox Video (1985) (Belgium) (video)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2004) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2001) (USA) (VHS) (pan-and-scan)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Abril Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Fox Video (19??) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Gativideo (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• American Optical Company  development of Todd-AO
• Magna Corporation  development of Todd-AO

Runtime:

192 min | Argentina:233 min | 243 min (roadshow version) | 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:

USA:Unrated (video rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | USA:Approved (certificate #19756) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | Brazil:Livre | 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:

Rex Harrison had a clause in his contract stipulating that whenever a picture of Richard Burton appeared in an ad, so would his. A large sign was put up on Broadway showing only Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. After Harrison's lawyers complained, the studio fulfilled the contract by placing a picture of Harrison on one corner of the billboard.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A jet crosses the sky in the background.

Quotes:

Julius Caesar: Germanicus! A guard to escort Queen Cleopatra to her apartments.
Germanicus: Guard!
Cleopatra: The corridors are dark gentlemen, but you mustn't be afraid. I am with you.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Apat dapat, dapat apat: Friends 4 lyf and death (2007)

Mutilated potential classic

Fritz Lang's Metropolis is rightly regarded as a classic, but many reviews make note of the 'illogical' story and bad character plotting. Characters come and go without rhyme or reason, and the plot makes no sense, they say. Well, yes, but that's not Fritiz's fault, nor the movie's; Metropolis makes little sense because 55 minutes of the film was hacked out and destroyed, never to be seen again, by the US distributors. Of course it's gonna be a dog's dinner with an hour missing, ya clods!!

The same is true of Cleopatra, and this is basically the only reason the film fell flat on its' 1963 release. It was originally intended to release Cleopatra as two three hour movies, the first dealing with Cleo's relationship with Caesar, the second her affairs with Marc Antony. Fox said no to this idea, and demanded a single four hour film instead. This decision is like taking Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and removing an hour from each film wherever an hours' worth can be removed...a recipe for incoherence and total disaster.

So, with two hours of footage gone, major characters are reduced to glorified walk-ons, vital plot points and motivations are lost, and the story loses what LOTR has...length with the proper pacing. People will sit and watch 4 hours of Return Of The King because it flows properly. People will not sit and watch 4 hours of stitched together rough cuts...that's what Cleopatra is, even in the DVD roadshow edition...because what we have is something that is too bitty and haphzard to sustain interest.

But there is still glory in Cleo....Roddy McDowall, Martin Landau and Rex Harrison all act their socks off, the sea battle is kick ass, and Liz Taylor looks pretty scrummy in Egyptian softcore porn clothes. And only a Gen Xer like me could love that hideously pompous overblown dialogue.

Great film! For what it is. It just should have been TWO films, that's all. Real eyepopping trippy spectacle, done in a 'damn the money, full speed ahead' way that just doesn't happen any more. Like Casino Royale, Cleo is a wonderful disaster.