Notorious epic which isn't as bad as you think, but not as good as it could have been - but much better than at one stage it looked it was going to be. It gets off to a terrific start, with Caesar visting Ptolomey (Richard O’Sullivan from Man About the House, excellent here as the little tyrannical brat), being presented with Pompey’s head, meeting Cleopatra.
Indeed, the first quarter of the film races along because the goals are clear – Cleopatra wants Caesar’s help, he becomes bewitched, he’s stuck in Egypt. The second quarter, which revolves around Caesar going to war, is less good, though still entertaining.
The second half slows down because the character’s goals are less compelling – Cleopatra wants world domination, but Anthony just sort of goes with the flow, like a pussy-whipped weakling. As it goes on it gets slower and slower – the Battle of Actium takes far too long, as does the fall out from the Battle: endless scenes of Antony sulking, and spatting with Cleopatra. When they need to wrap it up it’s dragged out, so when they leading duo kill themselves you’re relieved.
Joseph Mankiewicz's handling isn’t overly dynamic but there are some striking visuals: Cleopatra’s entrance into Rome (ending with her wink), the remnants of the Battle of Philippi, the beautiful ships, Roddy McDowall killing Hume Cronyn with a spear, the shock of seeing Caesarion’s corpse, Richard Burton charging his enemies single-handed (even though this whole sequence probably should have been cut). A lot of the budget is up there on screen - the spectacle is terrific.
Elizabeth Taylor is beautiful but to be honest looks a little heavy for her poor servant to carry her around in a carpet. Her performance is a bit amateur-hour, too – she sounds like a spoilt child, which I guess Cleopatra was, but surely she had a better speaking voice than Taylor. In fact, Joan Collins seems more effective in her screen tests (which I saw in the making-of doco, discussed in another entry.) However, they exploit her greatest asset, her beauty, very well: she is very sexy, frequently appearing wearing not much (low cut dresses, nude on the massage table and bath, etc). Very racy, even for the early 60s.
Richard Burton is alright as the weakling Anthony – his terrific voice shows up Taylor’s. Rex Harrison is the best of the lead three as Caesar – not really believable as a soldier, but obviously smart as a whip, and also just the sort of guy who would be infatuated by Cleopatra.
The support cast is outstanding: Roddy McDowall’s Octavian has rarely been bettered (cold, chilling, ruthless – but a much better leader than Anthony; the film’s a little unfair showing him to be sick around battle time – I guess they needed to show Anthony was better at him than something); Martin Landau and Andrew Keir are excellent soldier types; Hume Cronyn and Michael Hordern play officials, Egyptian and Roman respectively; Pamela Brown is there too - as pointed out by David Shipman, she would have made a terrific Cleopatra.
But at the end of the day, it's all about story.
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