Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

Cleopatra Overview:

Cleopatra (1963) was a Biographical - Drama Film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian (uncredited) and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited) and produced by Walter Wanger and Peter Levathes.

SYNOPSIS

A long, sprawling, and spectacular love story depicting Cleopatra's manipulation of Caesar and Marc Antony in her ill-fated attempt to save the Egyptian Empire. Film was cut from 243 minutes to 222 at the time of its release. The most expensive film of its time, due largely to overruns caused by Taylor and Burton's tempestuous relationship on and offscreen. Launched in the tabloids. It survived multiple starts and stops, and the near-bankruptcy of Fox, to become big box office.

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

Academy Awards 1963 --- Ceremony Number 36 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyVictor MilnerWon
Best Film EditingAnne BauchensNominated
Best PictureParamountNominated
Best ActorRex HarrisonNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith, Hilyard Brown, Herman Blumenthal, Elven Webb, MauricWon
Best Costume DesignIrene Sharaff, Vittorio Nino Novarese, RenieWon
Best Film EditingDorothy SpencerNominated
Best Music - ScoringAlex NorthNominated
Best PictureWalter Wanger, ProducerNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Cleopatra BlogHub Articles:

Cleopatra (1963)

By Beatrice on Dec 21, 2017 From Flickers in Time

Cleopatra Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall, and Sidney Buchman based on ancient histories and a book “The Life and Times of Cleopatra” by Carlo Maria Franzero 1963/Switzerland/UK/USA Twentieth Century Fox/MCL Films S.A./Walwa Films S.... Read full article

César e Cleópatra (1945)

By Lê on Nov 2, 2015 From Critica Retro

César e Cleópatra (1945) Você deve saber que Elizabeth Taylor foi a primeira atriz de cinema a receber um milhão de dólares por um único filme: “Cleópatra”, em 1963. Antes dela, outras atrizes já haviam interpretado a mais famosa rainha do Egito, entre elas Theda Bara, Cla... Read full article

Celebrate Cleopatra!

By Jill Blake on Jun 13, 2013 From Sittin' on a Backyard Fence

Here at The Fence, we will be giving away 2 copies of the newly restored Cleopatra 50th Anniversary release, courtesy of Fox. To enter, please send an email to sittinonabackyardfence@gmail.com. In the subject, “Cleopatra giveaway.” Please include your name, email, and website (if applica... Read full article

Win a Copy of Cleopatra 50th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray

By Brandy Dean on May 31, 2013 From Pretty Clever Films

The iconic historical epic Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and and Richard Burton, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. In honor of this milestone, Cleopatra has been restored and released on Blu-ray for the first time in a 2-disc package that features a full-color book with rare images a... Read full article

Win a Copy of Cleopatra on Blu-ray!

on May 30, 2013 From Journeys in Classic Film

I mentioned it on Twitter a  few days ago, but the fantastic folks at Cinemark have sent me a few Cleopatra Blu-rays to offer to you lovely people.  I have THREE Blu-rays to give away and here’s what you need to enter: HOW TO ENTER: Since these are awesome, I’m going to have to enforce... Read full article

See More Cleopatra Articles

Cleopatra Quotes:

Cleopatra: How DARE you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? Play conqueror all you want, Mighty Caesar! Rape, murder, pillage thousands, even millions of human beings! But neither you nor any other barbarian has the right to destroy one human thought!
Octavian: Is that how one says it? As simply as that. "Mark Antony is dead. Lord Antony is dead." "The soup is hot; the soup is cold." "Mark Antony is living; Mark Antony is dead." Shake with terror when such words pass your lips, for fear they be untrue and Antony'd cut out your tounge for the lie! And if true, for your lifetime boast that you were honored to speak his name even in death. Dying, of such a man, must be shouted, screamed! It must dare go back from the corners of the universe. "Antony is dead! Mark Antony of Rome lives no more!"
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.
Julius Caesar: [after the execution of Pothinus] Return Apollodorus's dagger to him, but clean it first. It has Pothinus all over it.
Cleopatra: There are never enough hours in the days of a queen, and her nights have too many.
See More Quotes from Cleopatra
Cleopatra Facts
The blasting review that Judith Crist gave the film effectively kickstarted her film critic career.
While at Cinecitta studios filming the scene of Cleopatra's triumphant and spectacular entry into Rome, a scene requiring thousands of extras and the transportation of a huge barge carrying the Queen of Egypt, Joseph L. Mankiewicz had to cut the scene, roll back the barge, and begin again because one of the production's Panavision cameras had caught an enterprising film extra, in the heat of the Roman summer, hawking gelato to his fellow extras.
When Walter Wanger's first choice for director insisted that Caeser was a homosexual, 'Spyrous Skouras' told the producer not to hire him. Skouras reasoned, "To hell with history. I want a triangle with two men and one woman. Having one of the greatest men in history as a homo isn't box office!"
The first screenwriter drafted in on the film was industry veteran Nigel Balchin.
Elizabeth Taylor had met Richard Burton several years prior to their working together on the film; she had found him to be brutish and boorish. However, when Burton showed up for work on Cleopatra on his first day, it was with a hangover so severe that he had the shakes. Taylor had to help him around and administer to such basic needs as helping him drink a cup of coffee. This time, she found him to be very endearing.
See More Facts about Cleopatra >>