Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

Cleopatra Overview:

Cleopatra (1934) was a Historical - Drama Film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and produced by Cecil B. DeMille.

SYNOPSIS

Grandiose, epic as only DeMille can be, and vintage early Hollywood. Colbert stars as the captivating and powerful Queen of Egypt. When Julius Caesar, the leader of the Roman Empire, succumbs to the charms of the sultry Cleopatra, he creates a scandal big enough to shake the marble pillars of Rome. The ruler pays dearly for his romance, for the outraged Roman Senate repudiates him and the fickle Cleopatra decides to protect her interests by bestowing her affections on her former lover's rival, Marc Antony. Colbert makes an elegantly imperious Queen - particularly in the milk bath! Remake of the 1917 Theda Bara vehicle. Remade in 1963 with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Cleopatra BlogHub Articles:

Cleopatra (1934) (1)

By Angela on Nov 29, 2011 From Hollywood Revue

After being kidnapped and forced out of Egypt, left to die in the desert, Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) turns to the only person she knows can help her — Julius Caesar (Warren William).  She makes her way to see Caesar and just as he is about to officially support her brother Ptolemy over Cle... Read full article

See More Cleopatra Articles

Cleopatra Quotes:

Cleopatra: Women should be but toys for the great. It becomes them both.
Cleopatra: Together we could conquer the world.
Julius Caesar: Nice of you to include me.
Cleopatra: I admire men who don't love women.
Octavia: [about Calpurnia not knowing that Caesar and Cleopatra are involved] The wife is always the last to know.
Cleopatra: So Rome would forgive and take you back? And all they demand is for us to part. Why don't they ask the sun to fall right out of the sky?
See More Quotes from Cleopatra
Cleopatra Facts
Cecil B. DeMille considered Richard Dix, William Gargan and Charles Bickford for the role of Marc Antony. DeMille settled on the final actor when he accidentally catching a test footage screening for newcomer Henry Wilcoxon.
Warren William was cast largely on the strength of his performance in The Mouthpiece.
A number of day-to-day schedule problems and delays appear to have been costume-related, in many cases because Claudette Colbert felt they didn't fit her correctly and was sending them back to the costume shop.
Costume designer Vicky Williams left the project because she was annoyed by what she perceived as a lack of organization in the department.
When Cecil B. DeMille was in pre-production on this film, he asked to screen the original version, Cleopatra with Theda Bara. No prints could be found on in Los Angeles, so a copy of it was borrowed from the Fox office in New York. After DeMille viewed the film it was sent back to Little Ferry, New Jersey. On July 9, 1937, a fire at the storage facility destroyed almost all of Fox's known archived prints, most likely including Cleopatra. The screening for DeMille's company, on February 15, 1934, may have been the last time anyone saw the legendary film.
See More Facts about Cleopatra >>