Famous/infamous for being the most expensive movie of all-time when you adjust for inflation—apparently at or nearing 60m in budget in 1963—the other thing it’d be famous/infamous for is for the Liz Taylor and Richard Burton romance and tabloids— it’s a solid film, not Mankiewicz’s best—and clearly not Lawrence of Arabia or Ben-Hur
Opulence and large scope
Gorgeous fresco titles that freeze graphic-match, with voice-over narration, into the action- really well done
Alex North score (Spartacus, Streetcar Named Desire, Virginia Woolf)
4 Academy Awards- Cinematography (color), Art direction (color) costume and effects
You have to marvel at the extras and massive set pieces
It’s 20 minutes before Liz Taylor shows up
Shot in 65mm
Liz Taylor in the height of her powers as a star- 3 years coming off her Oscar— noms in 57, 59, and 60—perfect vehicle for her- and clearly the camera and costume make a focus of her hourglass figure
Rex Harrison and Burton are fantastic behind her as well— Harrison is intelligence and arrogance—Burton is rugged masculinity and can match her fever
Burton shows up 66 minutes in—it’s a tale of two films with Harrison in the first half and him in the second
Cleopatra’s arrival in Rome is like the Macy’s parade on steroids—there’s nothing like it—almost like The 10 Commandments meets Fitzcarraldo as a feat—awesome- truly make it an impossible film not to archive
Burton made his start in the sword and sandal post-TV epic genre with The Robe
Inspired by Shakespeare—this is content covered previously by Mankiewicz with Julius Caesar in 1953 a decade before—that is clearly superior to this—in fact Mankiewicz skips the steps of the senate Marc Anthony speech (famously made by Brando in the previous film) with the audio fading on Burton—like him saying “we already covered this” which is nice for Burton not to have to compare with Brando
Bathed in Gold and colors— lots of bathing of Taylor and cleavage
Taylor’s second collaboration with Mankiewicz after 1959’s Suddenly, Last Summer
I can’t call it a “meditation” but it’s an interesting take on the nature of celebrity
The entire sea battle sequences are interesting- a gold ship, I mean they are recreating so much here in large set pieces
Great scene of Taylor demanding Burton kneel before her- can’t think of a better actress to do this scene
Set pieces- Mankiewicz is a good voice for the cynical nature of the relationships and dog-eat-dog world—but he’s not David Lean with some of the scale and visuals
The shots of Taylor arriving in Rome with a sea of extras—ditto with the shot from behind Burton in the desert with hundreds of romans approaching him- great Gone with the Wind-like scale
Great reverse tracking shot out of her coffin to end on the frozen match fresco
[…] Cleopatra – Mankiewicz […]