Cleopatra (1963)
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.
4 connections found
View:
4 films that influenced Cleopatra
What critics say influenced Cleopatra
The story of Cleopatra, the most famous queen in the history of the world, has been irresistible to filmmakers throughout history, for all the obvious reasons; indeed, it was Fox's second film of that title, following a long-lost 1917 film starring Theda Bara in the title role (an intervening film also titled just Cleopatra was made at Paramount in 1934, with Claudette Colbert; many other films primarily or incidentally about the Ptolemaic queen came out in several different countries along the way).
Cleopatra’s royal entertainments for Marc Antony are her version of the Goldwyn Follies, with showgirls in revealing costumes prancing through absurd set pieces.
Mankiewicz was a great director of close-ups and domestic interiors: Bette Davis having her "infants behave the way I do" epiphany in All About Eve , the titular characters trapped with their memories in A Letter to Three Wives .
Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who took over for Rouben Mamoulian, is a wordsmith first (see All About Eve), and it was something of a shock to discover that Cleopatra runs on a steady stream of sharp dialogue and smart repartee.
Poor guy—after creating such great movies as All About Eve, The Barefoot Contessa, and Suddenly Last Summer, Mankiewicz would never again have the stomach to tackle another major film project.
Mankiewicz was a great director of close-ups and domestic interiors: Bette Davis having her "infants behave the way I do" epiphany in All About Eve , the titular characters trapped with their memories in A Letter to Three Wives .
But Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“All About Eve,” “Cleopatra,” “Guys and Dolls”) stays close to the book and plays it as straight drama, using it as a framework to tell the story of three less-than-perfect relationships.
Mankiewicz—who directed the 1953 “Julius Caesar”—here offers a brilliantly ironic revision of Shakespeare, showing Burton, as Antony, only mouthing the famous funeral oration, drowned out by a crowd that won’t lend him their ears.