''Caesar and Cleopatra'' is a 1945 British

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

film directed by

Gabriel Pascal Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom. Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...

and starring

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...

and

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British and American actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Supp ...

. Some scenes were directed by

Brian Desmond Hurst Brian Desmond Hurst (12 February 1895 – 26 September 1986) was an Irish people, Irish film director. With over thirty films in his filmography, Hurst was hailed as Northern Ireland's best film director by BBC film critic Mike Catto.Scree ...

, who took no formal credit. The picture was adapted from the play '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1901) by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

, produced by Independent Producers and Pascal Film Productions and distributed by Eagle-Lion Distributors. Upon release, ''Caesar and Cleopatra'' failed to earn back its colossal budget. John Bryan was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Art Direction.

Plot

Aging

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

takes possession of the Egyptian capital city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and tries to resolve a feud between the young princess

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

and her younger brother

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

. Caesar develops a special relationship with Cleopatra and teaches her how to use her royal power.

Cast

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

* Flora Robson as Ftatateeta * Francis L. Sullivan as Pothinus *

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance (Sheldon play), Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he c ...

as Rufio *

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...

as Britannus *

Raymond Lovell Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University, but g ...

as Lucius Septimus *

Anthony Eustrel Anthony Eustrel (12 October 1902 – 2 July 1979) was an English actor. Biography Eustrel made guest appearances on television programs such as '' Perry Mason'', '' Maverick'', ''Peter Gunn'', '' 77 Sunset Strip'', ''My Favorite Martian'', ...

as Achillas * Ernest Thesiger as Theodotus * Anthony Harvey as

* Robert Adams as Nubian Slave * Gerald Case as a Roman Tax Officer * Olga Edwardes as Cleopatra's Lady Attendant * Harda Swanhilde as Cleopatra's Lady Attendant * Michael Rennie as 1st Centurion * James McKechnie as 2nd Centurion * Esme Percy as Major Domo *

Stanley Holloway Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...

as Belzanor *

Leo Genn Leopold John Genn ( ; 9 August 1905 – 26 January 1978) was an English actor and barrister. Distinguished by his relaxed charm and smooth, "black velvet" voice, he had a lengthy career in theatre, film, television and radio, often playing a ...

as Bel Affris * Alan Wheatley as Persian * Anthony Holles as Boatman * Charles Victor as 1st Porter * Ronald Shiner as 2nd Porter * John Bryning as Sentinel *

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in scores of feature films with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, generally p ...

as 1st Auxiliary Sentinel * Charles Rolfe as 2nd Auxiliary Sentinel *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early life ...

as 1st Nobleman * Ivor Barnard as 2nd Nobleman * Valentine Dyall as 1st Guardsman * Charles Deane as 2nd Guardsman

Production

Filmed in Technicolor with lavish sets, the production was reported to be the most expensive film ever made at the time, costing £1,278,000 (or £ at value), or US$ million (or US$ at inflation-adjusted value) at contemporary exchange rates. ''Caesar and Cleopatra'' held that record until '' Duel in the Sun'' was produced in 1946. Director Gabriel Pascal ordered sand from Egypt in order to achieve the proper cinematic colour. The production ran into delays because of wartime restrictions. Several members of the British aristocracy who were known to frequent the

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

nightclub scene were recruited for crowd scenes, apparently because taking extra work had become something of a fad; this practice was protested by professional film extras associated with The Film Artists' Association. During the shoot,

, who was pregnant, tripped and suffered a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

. The incident triggered Leigh's manic depression, leading to her emotional breakdown, and halted production for five weeks. The film was described as a "box office stinker" at the time and almost ended Pascal's career. It was the first Shaw film made in colour, and the last film version of a Shaw play during his lifetime. After Shaw's death in 1950, Pascal produced '' Androcles and the Lion'', another Shaw-derived film, in 1952.

Reception

Box office

According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'', the top British box-office draw for 1946 was ''

The Wicked Lady ''The Wicked Lady'' is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring James Mason and Margaret Lockwood. Lockwood plays a nobleman's wife who becomes a Highwayman, highwaywoman for the excitement. It had one of the l ...

''. The film earned $1,363,371 in the United States, making it one of the more popular British films ever released there,Street, Sarah (2002) ''Transatlantic Crossings: British Feature Films in the USA'', Continuum, p.94 but the film's receipts fell short of initial expectations. ''Variety'' estimated that

Rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

lost $3 million (or $ at value) on the film after marketing, distribution, prints, insurance rights, and wages were taken into account. Another account says the loss was £981,678.Chapman, J. (2022). ''The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985''. Edinburgh University Press p 22.

References

Notes Bibliography * Vermilye, Jerry. (1978) ''The Great British Films'', Citadel Press, pp. 97–101.

External links

''Caesar and Cleopatra''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* * *
Review of film
at Variety * (newsreel)

Pascal with Jean Simmons at premiere 13 December 1945
{{Gabriel Pascal, state=expanded 1945 films 1945 romantic comedy films British epic films British romantic comedy films 1940s English-language films Depictions of Julius Caesar on film Depictions of Cleopatra on film Films based on works by George Bernard Shaw British films based on plays Films set in ancient Rome Films set in Egypt United Artists films Films directed by Gabriel Pascal Films produced by Gabriel Pascal Films scored by Georges Auric 1940s British films Films scored by Arthur Bliss English-language romantic comedy films