''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American
epic historical drama film directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz,
Ranald MacDougall and
Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
,
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...
, and
Appian
Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.
He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...
. The film stars
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...
in the eponymous role, along with
Richard Burton,
Rex Harrison,
Roddy McDowall and
Martin Landau. It chronicles the struggles of the young queen
Cleopatra VII of Egypt to resist the imperial ambitions of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Walter Wanger had long contemplated producing a biographical film about Cleopatra. In 1958, his production company partnered with
Twentieth Century Fox to produce the film. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million.
Rouben Mamoulian was hired as director, and the script underwent numerous revisions from
Nigel Balchin,
Dale Wasserman,
Lawrence Durrell, and
Nunnally Johnson.
Principal photography began at
Pinewood Studios on September 28, 1960, but Taylor's health problems delayed further filming. Production was suspended in November after it had gone over budget with only ten minutes of usable footage.
Mamoulian resigned as director and was replaced by Mankiewicz, who had directed Taylor in ''
Suddenly, Last Summer'' (1959). Production was re-located to
Cinecittà, where filming resumed on September 25, 1961, without a finished
shooting script. During filming, a personal scandal made worldwide headlines when it was reported that co-stars Taylor and Richard Burton had an adulterous affair. Filming
wrapped on July 28, 1962, and further reshoots were made from February to March 1963. With the estimated production costs totaling $31 million (not counting the $5 million spent on the aborted British shoot), the film became the
most expensive film ever made up to that point and nearly bankrupted the studio. The cost of distribution, print and advertising expenses added a further $13 million to Fox's costs.
''Cleopatra'' premiered at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City on June 12, 1963. It received a generally favorable response from American film critics, but an unfavorable one in Europe.
It became the
highest-grossing film of 1963, earning box-office receipts of $57.7 million in the United States and Canada, and one of the highest-grossing films of the decade at a worldwide level. However, the film initially lost money because of its production and marketing costs totaling $44 million ($ in ). It received nine nominations at the
36th Academy Awards, including for
Best Picture, and won four:
Best Art Direction (Color),
Best Cinematography (Color),
Best Visual Effects and
Best Costume Design (Color).
Plot
After the
Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC,
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 ...
goes to
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, under the pretext of being named the executor of the will of the father of the young
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
Ptolemy XIII and his older sister and co-ruler,
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 ...
. Ptolemy and Cleopatra are in the midst of their own civil war, and she has been driven out of the 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 ...
. Ptolemy rules alone under the care of his three "guardians": the chief eunuch Pothinus, his tutor Theodotus and General Achillas.
Cleopatra convinces Caesar to restore her throne from Ptolemy. Caesar, in effective control of the kingdom, sentences
Pothinus to death for arranging an assassination attempt on Cleopatra, and banishes Ptolemy to the eastern desert, where he and his outnumbered army would face certain death against
Mithridates. Cleopatra is crowned queen of Egypt and begins to dream of ruling the world with Caesar, who in turn desires to become king of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. They marry, and when their son
Caesarion is born, Caesar accepts him publicly, which becomes the talk of Rome and the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
After being made
dictator for life, Caesar sends for Cleopatra. She arrives in Rome in a lavish procession and wins the adulation of the Roman people. The Senate grows increasingly discontented amid rumors that Caesar wishes to be made king. On the
Ides of March in 44 BC, a group of conspirators
assassinate Caesar and flee the city, starting a rebellion. An
alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
among
Octavian (Caesar's adopted son),
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...
(Caesar's right-hand man and general) and
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus puts down the rebellion and splits the republic. Cleopatra is angered after Caesar's will recognizes Octavian, rather than Caesarion, as his official heir and returns to Egypt.
While planning a campaign against
Parthia
Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...
in the east, Antony realizes that he needs money and supplies that only Egypt can sufficiently provide. After repeatedly refusing to leave Egypt, Cleopatra acquiesces and meets him on her royal barge in
Tarsus. The two begin a love affair. Octavian's removal of Lepidus forces Antony to return to Rome, where he marries Octavian's sister
Octavia to prevent political conflict. This enrages Cleopatra. Antony and Cleopatra reconcile and marry, with Antony divorcing Octavia. Octavian, incensed, reads Antony's will to the Roman senate, revealing that Antony wishes to be buried in Egypt. Rome turns against Antony, and Octavian's call for war against Egypt receives a rapturous response. The war is decided at the naval
Battle of Actium on September 2, 31 BC, where Octavian's fleet, under the command of
Agrippa, defeats the lead ships of the Antony-Egyptian fleet. Assuming Antony is dead, Cleopatra orders the Egyptian forces home. Antony follows her, leaving his fleet leaderless and soon defeated.
Months later, Cleopatra sends Caesarion under disguise out of Alexandria. She also convinces Antony to resume command of his troops and fight Octavian's advancing armies. However, Antony's soldiers abandon him during the night.
Rufio, the last man loyal to Antony, kills himself. Antony tries to goad Octavian into single combat, but is eventually forced to flee into the city. When Antony returns to the palace,
Apollodorus, who was in love with Cleopatra himself, tells him she is in her tomb as she had instructed, and lets Antony believe she is dead. Antony falls on his own sword. Apollodorus then confesses that he lied to Antony and assists him to the tomb where Cleopatra and two servants had taken refuge. Antony dies in Cleopatra's arms.
Octavian and his army march into Alexandria with Caesarion's dead body in a wagon. He discovers the dead body of Apollodorus, who had poisoned himself. He then receives word that Antony is dead and Cleopatra is holed up in a tomb. There he offers to allow her to rule Egypt as a Roman province if she accompanies him to Rome. Cleopatra, knowing that her son is dead, agrees to Octavian's terms, including a pledge on the life of her son not to harm herself. After Octavian departs, she orders for her servants to assist with her suicide. Discovering that she was going to kill herself, Octavian and his guards burst into Cleopatra's chamber to find her dead, dressed in gold, along with her servants and the
asp that killed her.
Cast
Production
Walter Wanger had long desired to produce a biographical film about Cleopatra. As an undergraduate at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, he first read
Théophile Gautier's fantasy novel ''
One of Cleopatra's Nights and Other Fantastic Romances'' and then
Thomas North's 1579 English translation of
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
's ''
Lives'' and
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Antony and Cleopatra''. Wanger had envisioned Cleopatra as "the quintessence of youthful femininity, of womanliness and strength," but it was not until he watched
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...
in ''
A Place in the Sun'' (1951) that he found his ideal candidate for the role. Around this time, Wanger had discovered through a private detective that his wife,
Joan Bennett, was having an affair with her talent agent
Jennings Lang. On the afternoon of December 13, 1951, Wanger shot Lang twice after having spotted him with Bennett in a parking lot near
MCA. Lang survived, and Wanger, pleading insanity, served four months in prison at the
Castaic Honor Farm, north of Los Angeles.
Following his release, Wanger had achieved a career comeback, having produced ''
Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956) and ''
I Want to Live!'' (1958), in which
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrener; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Clarence Thornton, Walt ...
won the
Academy Award for Best Actress. He would soon return to his dream project of a Cleopatra biographical film.
Development
Wanger pitched the idea to various film studios, including
Monogram and
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...
. He also approached Taylor and her husband
Michael Todd about producing the project with
United Artists.
[ ] Taylor expressed interest in the project but delegated the decision to Todd. Meanwhile,
Twentieth Century Fox was in financial trouble following its severe box office losses of ''
The Barbarian and the Geisha'', ''
A Certain Smile'' and ''
The Roots of Heaven'', all released in 1958. To reverse the studio's fortunes, studio president
Spyros Skouras requested that studio executive
David Brown find a viable project that would be a "big picture." Brown suggested a remake of ''
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 ...
'' (1917), which had starred
Theda Bara.
In the fall of 1958, Wanger's production company entered into a coproduction agreement with Twentieth Century Fox. Wanger pitched four properties—''Cleopatra'', ''
Justine'', ''
The Dud Avocado'', and ''
The Fall''—for the executives to consider. They selected the first three, and ''Cleopatra'' was the first to enter into production.
On September 15, Wanger purchased the screen rights to Carlo Mario Franzero's biography ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra''. On September 30, Skouras held his first meeting with Wanger, and asked his secretary to retrieve the screenplay for the 1917 version of ''Cleopatra''. Skouras insisted, "All this needs is a little rewriting. Just give me this over again and we'll make a lot of money." Because the original screenplay had been written for a silent film, the script mostly contained instructions for camera setups.
In December 1958, Ludi Claire, a writer and former actress, was hired to write a rough draft of the script. That same month, art director
John DeCuir was hired to produce conceptual artwork to illustrate the visual scale of the project. In March 1959, English author
Nigel Balchin was hired to write another script draft. Meanwhile, Wanger had approached
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
to direct the film, having worked with him on ''
Foreign Correspondent'' (1940), but Hitchcock declined. Skouras then selected
Rouben Mamoulian, who had worked with Wanger on ''
Applause'' (1929), to direct. With Mamoulian as director, Balchin's script pleased neither him nor Taylor, who felt that the first act was forced and that Cleopatra lacked sufficient characterization. Based on his recently aired ''
I, Don Quixote'' episode in the CBS anthology series ''
DuPont Show of the Month'',
Dale Wasserman was selected to complete the final draft. Wanger instructed him to focus all attention on Cleopatra as the central role. Wasserman recounted that he had never met Taylor, so he watched her earlier films to better acquaint himself with her acting style. In the spring of 1960, English novelist
Lawrence Durrell was hired to rewrite the script.
Casting
At a meeting, in October 1958, production head
Buddy Adler favored a relatively cheap production of $2 million, with one of Fox's contract actresses, such as
Joan Collins (who tested extensively for the part),
Joanne Woodward or
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , .
Models can be divided in ...
Suzy Parker, in the title role. Wanger protested, envisioning a much more opulent epic with a voluptuous actress as Cleopatra. Wanger suggested
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrener; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Clarence Thornton, Walt ...
while
Audrey Hepburn,
Sophia Loren, and
Gina Lollobrigida were also under consideration. When Mamoulian was hired to direct, he had offered the title role to
Dorothy Dandridge, an
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, during a lunch meeting at the
Romanoff's restaurant in
Beverly Hills. Dandridge replied, "You won't have the guts to go through with this... They are going to talk you out of it."
In September 1959, Wanger contacted Taylor again on the set of ''
Suddenly, Last Summer'' (1959), and Taylor half-jokingly asked for a record-setting contract of $1 million ($ in ) plus ten percent of the box-office gross. On October 15, a contract-signing event was staged inside Adler's office where Taylor signed blank papers because the real contract would not be ready for months. Wanger had considered
Laurence Olivier and
Rex Harrison for the role of Julius Caesar, and
Richard Burton for Mark Antony. However, the studios refused to approve Harrison and Burton.
On July 28, 1960, Taylor signed a real contract. It was also stipulated that the film would be shot in Europe and in the
Todd-AO format, developed by Taylor's late husband
Mike Todd, which ensured that Taylor would receive additional royalties.
In January 1960,
Stephen Boyd was approached by Wanger about being cast as Mark Antony, but felt he was too young for the role. In August 1960, Boyd was cast as Mark Antony,
Peter Finch as Julius Caesar and
Keith Baxter as Octavian.
Mamoulian had also cast
Elisabeth Welch to portray one of Cleopatra's handmaidens.
Filming
Production under Rouben Mamoulian
With Mamoulian as director, construction on the Alexandria exteriors was already under way on the studio's backlot. London was also seen as a viable choice for hosting the production. The
Eady Levy had offered financial incentives to American film studios as long as a certain percentage of the primary cast and production crew were English. There, the production would be supervised by
Robert Goldstein, the studio's foreign head of production. A number of other countries, including Turkey and Egypt, were considered for exterior locations.
In 1960, Adler entered into a coproduction deal with Italian producer Lionello Santi, who had recently completed a
foreign-language version of ''Cleopatra'' that the studio purchased to keep away from the American market. Mamoulian traveled to Italy for location scouting and reported back the difficulties upon shooting there. Furthermore, the impending Rome
Summer Olympics threatened to complicate filming accommodations. On April 20, 1960, Santi issued a full-page ad in ''
Variety'' announcing his forthcoming production of ''Cleopatra'' without mentioning Twentieth Century Fox's involvement. Angered, Adler shifted the entire production to
Pinewood Studios (England). On July 11, Adler died from cancer, and was replaced by Goldstein. Skouras asked Wanger to assume Goldstein's former position, but months later, he was replaced by
Sid Rogell. Meanwhile, Wanger cautioned about shooting in England in a July 15 memo, stating that the weather conditions could jeopardize Taylor's health and the labor force was insufficient. However, Fox management overruled his decision.
Principal photography began at Pinewood Studios on September 28, 1960. On the same day, the British hairdressers' union threatened to leave production, as Taylor had brought
Sydney Guilaroff, an American hairstylist. A settlement was reached that Guilaroff would be allowed to style Taylor's hair, but only at her
Dorchester suite. Soon after, Taylor shot a nude scene in 40-degree weather (4−9 °C) and became sick with a sore throat, rendering her unable to work for two weeks. Mamoulian was then forced to proceed filming without Taylor, instead shooting scenes with Finch and Boyd. Taylor's cold soon progressed into a lingering fever, and for the next few weeks, she was treated by several doctors, including
Lord Evans, Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
's physician. On November 13, Taylor's fever reached and she was diagnosed with
meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...
. By November 19, Wanger indefinitely postponed shooting, giving studio employees two weeks' notice until Taylor's health recovered. Taylor remained hospitalized for a week and then flew to
Palm Springs, Florida, with husband
Eddie Fisher to recuperate. The
Lloyd's of London insurance agency paid $2 million to cover Taylor's medical expenses.
During the pause in filming,
Nunnally Johnson was hired to write a new script. Johnson wrote a 75-page draft for the first half of the film, mostly involving Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, that was similar in its tone to that of
Cecil B. DeMille's ''
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 ...
'' (1934) and ''
Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1945). Filming resumed on January 3, 1961, but Mamoulian was dissatisfied with Johnson's script. Taylor, who expressed similar displeasure, then appealed for
Paddy Chayefsky to write a new script. Chayefsky demurred, saying that a rewrite would take six months. After sixteen weeks of filming and costs of $7 million, the crew had produced just ten minutes of usable film. Skouras blamed Mamoulian for the production having exceeded its budget. On January 18, 1961, Mamoulian resigned as director.
Mankiewicz takes over
To replace Mamoulian, Taylor announced that she would approve either
George Stevens
George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''A Place in the Sun (1951 film), A Place in the Sun'' (1951) ...
, who had directed her in ''A Place in the Sun'', or
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had directed her in ''Suddenly, Last Summer'' (1959). At the time, Mankiewicz was developing a film adaptation of the novel ''Justine'', which was also a Wanger production. He initially declined the offer, but after meeting with Skouras and his agent
Charles K. Feldman at the
Colony Restaurant, he agreed to write and direct the project.
As an additional incentive, Skouras acquired Figaro, Inc., Mankiewicz's independent production company, for $3 million. In addition to his salary as writer and director, Mankiewicz received $1.5 million from the purchase, while his partner,
NBC, received the other half. Having directed ''
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 ...
'' (1953), Mankiewicz expressed his displeasure with the shooting script, stating it was "unreadable and unshootable." Mankiewicz also described Cleopatra's depiction as a "strange, frustrating mixture of an American soap-opera virgin and an hysterical Slavic vamp of the type
Nazimova used to play." Because of this, he asked to rewrite the script from scratch, and the studio allowed him two months.
By February 1961, Mankiewicz had conceived a "modern, psychiatrically rooted concept of the film," envisioning Marc Antony's self-destruction because of his "inability to match
uliusCaesar." Within one month,
Lawrence Durrell and
Sidney Buchman were recruited to collaborate with Mankiewicz on the new script. Story conferences were held with the three writers, and Durrell and Buchman then separately wrote
"story-step" outlines. Mankiewicz would expand their outlines into a new script. Mankiewicz consulted the relevant sources, adapting historical literature written by
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
and
Petronius. In late April, Mankiewicz had grown displeased with Durrell's work, while Buchman was instructed to complete an outline for the film. By then, Buchman's outline only covered the first quarter of the film. Mankiewicz had petitioned for playwrights
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...
or
Paul Osborn to help finish the script, but Wanger hired screenwriter
Ranald MacDougall.
Filming was set to resume on April 4, 1961. However, on March 4, Taylor was hospitalized again for
pneumonia, and one news agency erroneously reported that she had died. She recovered after a
tracheotomy was performed on her throat. On March 14, Twentieth Century Fox suspended production at Pinewood Studios. The sets were dismantled at the cost of $600,000 (). Skouras then decided to relocate the production to the studio's backlot in California. Meanwhile, Mankiewicz temporarily left his writing duties and scouted for suitable filming locations in Rome and Egypt. In June, Mankiewicz returned to the studio to report some Italian locations he had found, but was not eager to shoot in Egypt. On June 30, Skouras reversed his decision and agreed to allow Mankiewicz shoot the film at
Cinecittà in Rome, where the sound stages had been occupied for the
studio's television series and George Stevens's ''
The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965).
Casting and personnel changes
During the interim, Finch and Boyd had left the production for other commitments, and each was paid his remaining salary. Laurence Olivier and
Trevor Howard had turned down the role of Julius Caesar. Rex Harrison, who was the studio's fourth choice, was then cast. Mankiewicz then suggested
Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, but
Richard Burton landed the role after Taylor had seen him as
King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
in the Broadway musical ''
Camelot''. Twentieth Century Fox paid Burton $250,000 plus $50,000 to buy out his contract.
Roddy McDowall, who was also appearing in ''Camelot'', was cast as Octavian. Mankiewicz had also insisted on casting John Valva, McDowall's close friend, creating an original character named Valvus. By mid-September 1961, Canadian actor
Hume Cronyn, several American actors, including
Martin Landau and
Carroll O'Connor, and several English actors, such as
Kenneth Haigh,
Robert Stephens and
Michael Hordern, were cast in supporting roles.
Jack Hildyard had resigned as cinematographer when Mamoulian agreed to step down as director. He was replaced by
Leon Shamroy. Shamroy had been the director of photography on ''
The Robe'' (1953), the first movie shot in
CinemaScope, and had shot ''
South Pacific'' (1958) in the
Todd-AO widescreen process that was being used in ''Cleopatra''. (Shamroy would win his fourth Oscar for the film.) In January 1962,
Andrew Marton
Andrew Marton (born Endre Marton; 26 January 1904 – 7 January 1992) was a Hungarian-American film director. In his career, he directed 39 films and television programs, and worked on 16 as a second unit director, including the chariot race in ...
was brought in as second-unit director, replacing
Ray Kellogg. Marton had worked on the first initial shoot. John DeCuir was still kept as production designer.
Filming resumes in Rome

On September 25, 1961, principal photography began on the revamped production of ''Cleopatra''. Mankiewicz had expressed his intention of directing a two-part epic: "I had in mind two separate but closely linked Elizabeth Taylor films—''Caesar and Cleopatra'' and ''Antony and Cleopatra''—each to run three hours, both segments to receive simultaneous release. Moreover, I felt compelled to undertake the writing of both halves myself, a measure of my total dissatisfaction with the material that had been produced to date."
At that time, he had completed 132 pages of the shooting script, with another 195 pages that remained to be written, so Mankiewicz shot the film in sequence, leaving several actors waiting indefinitely until their scenes were ready to be shot. For the first few months of filming, he filmed scenes during the daytime and wrote the script at night, resorting to
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from Alpha and beta carbon, alpha-methylphenethylamine, methylphenethylamine) is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, an ...
injections and wearing protective gloves because he contracted
dermatitis
Dermatitis is a term used for different types of skin inflammation, typically characterized by itchiness, redness and a rash. In cases of short duration, there may be small blisters, while in long-term cases the skin may become thickened ...
in both hands. Overwhelmed, in February 1962, Mankiewicz rehired MacDougall to script several battle scenes (particularly those of Moongate and
Actium) and the final 50 remaining pages of the second half.
On January 22, 1962, Taylor and Burton filmed their first scene together. Wanger observed in his journal: "There comes a time during the making of a movie when the actors become the characters they play... It was quiet, and you could almost feel the electricity between Liz and Burton." In February 1962, rumors of the extramarital affair were spreading, so much that Mankiewicz told Wanger in his hotel room: "I have been sitting on a volcano all alone for too long, and I want to give you some facts you ought to know. Liz and Burton are not just ''playing'' Antony and Cleopatra." At the time, Taylor was married to her fourth husband
Eddie Fisher—a relationship that also began with an affair as he was married to
Debbie Reynolds at the time—and Burton was married to his first wife,
Sybil Williams. By the spring, the extramarital affair became worldwide news, with the couple branded as "Liz and Dick". The
Vatican City
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
newspaper ''
L'Osservatore Romano
''L'Osservatore Romano'' is the daily newspaper of Vatican City which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not an official publication, a role ...
'' published an "open letter" that condemned Taylor and Burton for their "erotic vagrancy." Meanwhile, Leon Shamroy, the cinematographer, had collapsed from exhaustion and Forrest "Johnny" Johnston, the production manager, fell gravely ill and exited the production. He died in Los Angeles the following May.
By late May, most of the palace scenes were finished, but the remaining sequences, including those of the
Battle of Pharsalus and Actium, the arrival of Cleopatra in Tarsus, and Antony's confrontation with Octavian's legions, were not yet filmed. Some of these sequences were to be shot in Egypt. Back in California, Fox had posted an annual loss for fiscal year 1961, with blame directed at the looming production costs of ''Cleopatra''. As a result, Skouras assured shareholders that he was preparing to take "drastic measures" to reduce expenditures, which was followed by the cancellation of the
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...
film ''
Something's Got to Give''.
From June 1–5, Fox executives
Peter Levathes, Otto Koegel and Joseph Moskowitz, whom Wanger jokingly named as the "Three Wise Men," arrived on set to cancel the scheduled shoot of the Battle of Pharsalus. The committee informally fired Wanger by discontinuing his salary and expense account, demanded that Taylor's salary be terminated on June 9, and that all filming be halted by June 30. Mankiewicz refused to commit to the new terms, and sent a memo to then-studio chairman
Samuel Rosenman requesting for Taylor's availability to be extended. In response, Rosenman permitted Taylor to work until June 23. On June 12, Wanger's "firing" was first reported by columnist
Earl Wilson. Mankiewicz had read Wilson's column, and asked Lewis "Doc" Merman, the studio's production manager, to assume Wanger's position and thereby reinstate the filming of several sequences that were cut. Taylor and Burton, angered over Wanger's dismissal, had planned to protest unless Wanger was reinstated. Back in Los Angeles, Merman consulted with Levathes, in which they both agreed that Wanger would remain as producer.
In haste, the filming unit re-located to
Ischia, off the coast of Italy where the battle of Actium was shot. The scene of Cleopatra's arrival aboard her barge in Tarsus was completed on June 23, which was Taylor's last day on set. On June 26, 1962, Skouras announced his resignation as studio president, effective on September 30. On July 25,
Darryl F. Zanuck was elected as the new president of Fox, while Skouras became the new chairman of the board. Zanuck then fired Levathes, replacing him with his son
Richard D. Zanuck. Principal photography ended on July 28, with the final location scenes in Egypt.
Post-production and Alternate Cuts
Several versions of ''Cleopatra'' are believed to have existed:
# 8 hour assembly workprint, in black-and-white
# 5 hour color workprint, showed to Zanuck
[
# 4.5 hour ] rough cut for Zanuck.
# 4 hour New York City premiere cut [
# <4 hour post-release cut ][
# 3 hour "neighborhood theater" cut - what "many people" saw ][
Post-production work on ''Cleopatra'' had left the film's editorial team with of exposed footage. In Los Angeles, Mankiewicz and his editor ]Dorothy Spencer
Dorothy Spencer (February 3, 1909 – May 23, 2002), known as Dot Spencer, was an American film editor with 75 feature film credits from a career that spanned more than 50 years. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing on four o ...
prepared a rough cut that ran five hours and 20 minutes. On August 31, 1962, Zanuck wrote to Mankiewicz stating he wanted to see a completed first cut and a progress report no later than the first week of October. On October 13, Mankiewicz arranged a private screening of the film's four-and-a-half hour rough cut for Zanuck in Paris. According to Zanuck's account, he was shocked after having seen the first cut, and asked "to see the sequences that had been cut and decided some of them should be restored, but I found to my astonishment that no loops had been made for certain eliminated episodes." Another account states Zanuck felt the rough cut was "beautifully written, beautifully directed, and beautifully staged", but was dissatisfied with the battle sequences. They finished the screening on Sunday morning, October 14. After the screening was over, Zanuck rejected Mankiewicz's plea to distribute ''Cleopatra'' in two separate installments, believing audiences interested in the Taylor–Burton affair would not attend the first installment. He was further displeased with Cleopatra's dominance over Mark Antony, remarking: "If any woman behaved towards me like Cleopatra treated Antony, I would cut her balls off."
Alternately, DeCuir, who was present after the screening, stated Zanuck asked for the film to be "cut to three hours and fifteen minutes." Zanuck canceled the scheduled meeting for the next day, at which it was planned to discuss the film more in detail and departed from Paris. Meanwhile, Mankiewicz continued the dubbing sessions with Taylor and Burton. For several days, Zanuck ignored Mankiewicz's calls for another meeting, to which Mankiewicz later learned that Zanuck had hired editor and director Elmo Williams to supervise the completion and final editing of the film. Working to insert the deleted sequences, Williams had spent three consecutive 16-hour days, removing a total of 33 minutes from the original four-hour cut. Williams explained: "When he ankiewiczfirst saw my version, he began ranting and raving and carrying on. He had finally given up the idea of releasing the picture as two separate films, but he hadn't counted on the released version being reduced in length." According to Zanuck, Mankiewicz had grown angry and demanded the sole responsibility of editing the film. Mankiewicz, however, denied there was any direct confrontation, stating their disagreements were exchanged through letters.
On October 20, Mankiewicz sent a letter to Zanuck requesting an "honest and unequivocal statement of where I stand in relation to ''Cleopatra''." A day later, Zanuck issued a nine-page response, blaming him for the film's excessive production costs. He further concluded: "On completion of the dubbing, your official services will be terminated ... If you are available and willing, I will call upon you to screen the re-edited version of the film." A few days later, Zanuck issued a press release stating, "In exchange for top compensation and a considerable expense account, Mr. Joseph Mankiewicz has for two years spent his time, talent, and $35,000,000 of 20th Century-Fox's shareholders' money to direct and complete the first cut of the film ''Cleopatra''. He has earned a well-deserved rest."
Mankiewicz's dismissal from the project was harshly criticized by Taylor and Burton. Taylor responded, "What has happened to Mr. Mankiewicz is disgraceful, degrading, particularly humiliating. I am terribly upset." Burton separately telephoned, "I think Mr. Mankiewicz might have made the first really good epic film. Now ''Cleopatra'' may be in trouble."
On October 30, Mankiewicz flew back to his East Side townhouse where he held a press conference, insisting he had "never demanded control" nor disputed the studio's right to the final word on the finished cut. Instead, he stated he had "wanted to present the film to Fox and/or Zanuck as I saw it and be permitted to discuss with him my ideas for the picture."
On December 7, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that Mankiewicz would likely rejoin the production after having an "extremely constructive" conference with Zanuck. Both had agreed that new scenes with Harrison and Burton were needed for the film. Zanuck explained that he would "bend over backwards, artistically so that I wouldn't have to exercise y rights as presidentunless it became absolutely essential. Joe accepted that, took the scenes that I had blocked out crudely and roughly, went to work with them and wrote them." The new sequences included those meant to strengthen Antony's character so he would stand up to Cleopatra. With Mankiewicz reinstated as director, he partially restored several deleted sequences, including scenes of Sosigenes tutoring Cleopatra. In February 1963, several members of the cast, along with 1,500 extras, were called back to reshoot the Battle of Pharsalus in Almería, Spain. Mankiewicz then returned to London for eight consecutive days to reshoot new scenes with Burton at Pinewood Studios. The retakes primarily concerned Antony's scenes with his fourth wife Octavia and his companion, Rufio. On March 5, 1963, filming was finally completed.
Restoration Attempts
The presenter for the ''Cleopatra's Missing Footage'' featurette states the following: According to Fox files, the earliest attempt to restore missing footage to the film was when Mankiewicz appeared on the Dick Cavett Show in the late 1970s. He stated he wanted ''Cleopatra'' to be two movies, setting off the first recovery attempt. Similar attempts would be made every decade.[
In the late 1970s, Fox destroyed "trims and outs" from its movies made before 1979. This was a cost-saving measure. When film historian Brad Geagley discovered this decades later, he concluded "Cleopatra's elements reforever missing."][
In the mid-1990s, before learning of the destruction, researchers consulted film laboratories in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Rome; along with Fox's own archives. "Lots of B-roll" from ''Cleopatra'' was found in a salt mine in Kansas, but none of the rumored missing scenes were discovered. Spencer, the editor, was "adamant[]" that all cut elements made it to Hollywood, stored by Deluxe Media, Deluxe. One man recalled room after room of ''Cleopatra'' film elements, none of which have been found.][
Unnamed "collectors" are rumored by Geagley have the 8.5 hour assembly cut in black-and-white. They apparently showed portions from the reels, though it is not clear if Geagley has seen any missing footage himself. Fox was interested in restoring the footage, but "the path went cold."][
Some lost footage has been found:
* Cleopatra walking through the camp outside Alexandria among dozens of extras. Intended as Cleopatra's debut.]
* Snake dance from the procession into Rome. Women dance in skimpy snake-like costumes. A segment from this is in the original trailer.
Music
The music of ''Cleopatra'' was scored by Alex North. It was released several times, first as an original album, and later versions were extended. The most popular of these was the Deluxe Edition or 2001 Varèse Sarabande album.
Release
''Cleopatra'' premiered at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City on June 12, 1963, with an estimated audience of 10,000 spectators congregated outside. Among those present at the premiere were Rex Harrison, Walter Wanger, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Darryl F. Zanuck, Jacob Javits, Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...
, Joan Fontaine, Louis Nizer and Beatrice Miller. Burton and Taylor were not in attendance; Taylor was in London and Burton was filming '' Becket'' (1964). Top ticket prices at the Rivoli were a record $5.50. Soon after the film's premiere, its running time was truncated from 244 to 221 minutes. Two weeks after opening in New York, the film's release was expanded into 37 cities. For its general release in the United States, the film's running time was 184 minutes.
Home media
''Cleopatra'' has been released on home video on several occasions. The film was released on videocassette by 20th Century-Fox Video in 1982. A three-disc DVD edition was released in 2001. The release included numerous supplemental features, including the two-hour documentary ''Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood''.
Schawn Belston, senior vice president of library and technical services at Fox, led a two-year process that restored a four-hour, eight-minute version in 2013. The original 65-mm camera negative was located and used as a source. Fading and damage to the negative were corrected digitally but with care to preserve detail and authenticity. Belston's team also possessed the original magnetic print masters, from which they removed clicks and hisses and created a 5.1 surround sound track.[
On May 21, 2013, the restored film was shown at a special screening at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary. It was later released as a 50th-anniversary version available on DVD and ]Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
. Since Fox had long ago destroyed the negatives of the outtakes and portions of scenes that were cut during editing of the film, traditional outtakes could not be included. The home-media packages did include commentary tracks and two short films: ''The Cleopatra Papers'' and a 1963 film about the elaborate sets, ''The Fourth Star of Cleopatra''.[
]
Reception
Critical response
Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called ''Cleopatra'' "one of the great epic films of our day," crediting Mankiewicz for "his fabrication of characters of colorfulness and depth, who stand forth as thinking, throbbing people against a background of splendid spectacle, that gives vitality to this picture and is the key to its success." Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...
, reviewing for '' Variety'', wrote that ''Cleopatra'' is "not only a supercolossal eye-filler (the unprecedented budget shows in the physical opulence throughout), but it is also a remarkably literate cinematic recreation of an historic epoch." For the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', Philip K. Scheuer felt ''Cleopatra'' was "a surpassingly beautiful film and a drama that need not hide its literate, intelligent face because it happens to have been written, not by Shakespeare or Shaw, but by three fellows named Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also directed it, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman. These are, at any rate, the names on the screen credits, and they have done their job with integrity."
''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine harshly wrote: "As drama and as cinema, ''Cleopatra'' is riddled with flaws. It lacks style both in image and in action. Never for an instant does it whirl along on wings of epic elan; generally it just bumps from scene to ponderous scene on the square wheels of exposition." James Powers of ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote "''Cleopatra'' is not a great movie. But it is primarily a vast, popular entertainment that sidesteps total greatness for broader appeal. This is not an adverse criticism, but a notation of achievement." Claudia Cassidy of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' summarized ''Cleopatra'' as a "huge and disappointing film." Of the cast, she lauded "Rex Harrison's brilliantly quizzical Caesar, the best written role in Joseph Mankiewicz's erratic script, and haunted by Richard Burton's tragic Marc Antony, an actor's triumph over a writer's mediocrity. And with a prodigal gesture of futility, all of it is focused on Elizabeth Taylor, hopelessly out of her depth as a fishwife Cleopatra."
Penelope Houston, reviewing for '' Sight & Sound'', acknowledged that Mankiewicz tried "to make this a film about people and their emotions rather than a series of sideshows. But for this ambition to hold up, over the film's great footage, he needed a visual style which would be more than merely illustrative, dialogue really worth speaking, and actors altogether more persuasive. As the sets seem to grow bigger and bigger, so progressively the actors dwindle." Judith Crist, in her review for the '' New York Herald Tribune'', concurred: "So grand and grandiose are the sets that the characters are dwarfed, and so wide is his screen that this concentration on character results in a strangely static epic in which the overblown close-ups are interrupted at best by a pageant or dance, more often by unexciting bits and pieces of exits, entrances, marches or battles." Even Elizabeth Taylor found it wanting, saying, "They had cut out the heart, the essence, the motivations, the very core, and tacked on all those battle scenes. It should have been about three large people, but it lacked reality and passion. I found it vulgar."
At the time of the film's release, ''The New York Times'' estimated that 80 percent of film reviews in the United States were favorable but only 20 percent in Europe were positive. Among contemporary reviews, American film critic Emanuel Levy wrote retrospectively: "Much maligned for various reasons, ..''Cleopatra'' may be the most expensive movie ever made, but certainly not the worst, just a verbose, muddled affair that is not even entertaining as a star vehicle for Taylor and Burton." Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' wrote the film is "a stately but sometimes mindboggling spectacle. This restored big-screen version shouldn't be missed: it's a colossus of the analogue-epic era, and the high point of Elizabeth Taylor's global celebrity, when her prestige was hardly less towering than that of the actual queen of the Nile." Billy Mowbray of British television channel Film4 remarked that the film is " giant of a movie that is sometimes lumbering, but ever watchable thanks to its uninhibited ambition, size and glamour."
Box office
Three weeks into its theatrical release, ''Cleopatra'' became the number-one box office film in the United States, grossing $725,000 in 17 key cities. It held the top position for the next twelve weeks before being dethroned by '' The V.I.P.s'', which also starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It recaptured the number-one spot three weeks later, and proved to be the highest-grossing film of 1963. By January 1964, the film had earned $15.7 million in distributor rentals from 55 theaters in the United States and Canada. It finished its box-office run with $26 million in rentals in the United States and Canada. The film was also a major hit in Italy, where it sold 10.9 million tickets. It sold a further 5.4 million tickets in France and Germany, and 32.9million tickets in the Soviet Union when it was released there in 1978.
By March 1966, ''Cleopatra'' had earned worldwide rentals of $38.04 million, leaving it $3 million short of breaking even. Fox eventually recouped its investment that same year when it sold the television broadcast rights to ABC for $5 million, a then-record amount paid for a single film. The film ultimately earned $40.3 million in worldwide rentals from its theatrical run.
Awards and nominations
The film won four Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
from nine nominations. It also earned Elizabeth Taylor a '' Guinness World Record'' for the most costume changes in a film (65). This record was eclipsed in 1968 by Julie Andrews with 125 costume changes in the film '' Star!''.
20th Century-Fox mistakenly submitted Roddy McDowall to the Motion Picture Academy for consideration as Best Actor, rather than as Best Supporting Actor, for the Academy Awards. The Academy deemed his role ineligible for a leading actor category and told the studio it was too late to submit him in the correct category because the nomination ballots had already been sent to the printers. 20th Century-Fox then published an open apology to McDowall in trade papers, stating, "We feel it is important that the industry realize that your electric performance as Octavian in ''Cleopatra'', which was unanimously singled out by the critics as one of the best supporting performances by an actor this year, is not eligible for a nomination in that category... due to a regrettable error on the part of 20th Century Fox."
See also
* List of American films of 1963
* List of cultural depictions of Cleopatra
* Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
* Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
* Ptolemaic dynasty
* Sword-and-sandal
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italy, Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...
* Lists of historical films
* List of films set in ancient Rome
* '' Asterix and Cleopatra''
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
1963 films
1960s biographical drama films
1960s historical drama films
1960s historical romance films
1963 romantic drama films
20th Century Fox films
American biographical drama films
American epic films
American historical drama films
American historical romance films
American romantic drama films
Depictions of Augustus on film
Depictions of Cleopatra on film
Depictions of Julius Caesar on film
Depictions of Mark Antony on film
Cultural depictions of Germanicus
Romantic drama films based on actual events
1960s English-language films
Films based on multiple works
Films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Films produced by Walter Wanger
Films scored by Alex North
Films set in ancient Alexandria
Films set in ancient Rome
Films set in the 1st century BC
Films set in the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Films shot at Cinecittà Studios
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Films shot in Almería
Films shot in Egypt
Films shot in Los Angeles County, California
Films shot in Naples
Films shot in Rome
Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award
Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award
Films with screenplays by Sidney Buchman
Films with screenplays by Ranald MacDougall
Films with screenplays by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award
Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award
Final War of the Roman Republic films
Historical epic films
Liberators' civil war films
Romance films based on actual events
Romantic epic films
War romance films
1960s American films
English-language historical drama films
English-language biographical drama films
English-language romantic drama films
English-language historical romance films
Ancient Egypt in popular culture