Keep track of the broadcast, cable, and streaming shows you love with our rundown of all this season's renewals, cancellations, and more.
Related News
Our epic interview with Ivan Reitman looks to the past and the future for 'Ghostbusters'
18 July 2016 4:45 AM, +01:00 | Hitfix
18 July 2016 4:45 AM, +01:00 | Hitfix
Ivan Reitman: Why We're Still Talking About 'Ghostbusters' 30 Years Later
6 July 2016 3:23 PM, +01:00 | Rollingstone.com
6 July 2016 3:23 PM, +01:00 | Rollingstone.com
Want to help choose the next great Amazon Original comedy series? Stream and review now during Amazon Pilot Season.
Join us on "Style Code Live" daily to connect, shop and chat live with fashion designers, beauty experts and celebrities! Discover today's best beauty hacks and the top style secrets!
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Connect with IMDb
Share this Rating
Title: Cleopatra (1963)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
User Polls
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Quo Vadis
(1951)
Certificate: Passed
Biography
|
Drama
|
History
Directors:
Mervyn LeRoy,
Anthony Mann
Stars:
Robert Taylor,
Deborah Kerr,
Leo Genn
The Ten Commandments
(1956)
Adventure
|
Biography
|
Drama
Director:
Cecil B. DeMille
Stars:
Charlton Heston,
Yul Brynner,
Anne Baxter
Giant
(1956)
Drama
|
Western
Director:
George Stevens
Stars:
Elizabeth Taylor,
Rock Hudson,
James Dean
El Cid
(1961)
Adventure
|
Biography
|
Drama
Director:
Anthony Mann
Stars:
Charlton Heston,
Sophia Loren,
Raf Vallone
The Robe
(1953)
Drama
|
History
Director:
Henry Koster
Stars:
Richard Burton,
Jean Simmons,
Victor Mature
Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung
(1967)
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Franco Zeffirelli
Stars:
Elizabeth Taylor,
Richard Burton,
Cyril Cusack
The Fall of the Roman Empire
(1964)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Anthony Mann
Stars:
Sophia Loren,
Stephen Boyd,
Alec Guinness
Spartacus
(1960)
Adventure
|
Biography
|
Drama
Director:
Stanley Kubrick
Stars:
Kirk Douglas,
Laurence Olivier,
Jean Simmons
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(1958)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Richard Brooks
Stars:
Elizabeth Taylor,
Paul Newman,
Burl Ives
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965)
Biography
|
Drama
|
History
Directors:
George Stevens,
David Lean, and 1 more credit »
Stars:
Max von Sydow,
Dorothy McGuire,
Charlton Heston
BUtterfield 8
(1960)
Drama
Director:
Daniel Mann
Stars:
Elizabeth Taylor,
Laurence Harvey,
Eddie Fisher
Julius Caesar
(1953)
Drama
|
History
Director:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars:
Louis Calhern,
Marlon Brando,
James Mason
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Elizabeth Taylor | ... | ||
| Richard Burton | ... | ||
| Rex Harrison | ... | ||
 |
Pamela Brown | ... | |
|
|
George Cole | ... | |
| Hume Cronyn | ... | ||
| Cesare Danova | ... | ||
|
|
Kenneth Haigh | ... | |
| Andrew Keir | ... | ||
| Martin Landau | ... | ||
| Roddy McDowall | ... | ||
| Robert Stephens | ... |
Germanicus
|
|
| Francesca Annis | ... |
Eiras
|
|
| Grégoire Aslan | ... |
Pothinus
(as Gregoire Aslan)
|
|
|
|
Martin Benson | ... |
Ramos
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
In 48 B.C., Caesar pursues Pompey from Pharsalia to Egypt. Ptolemy, now supreme ruler after deposing his older sister, Cleopatra, attempts to gain favor with Caesar by presenting the conquerer with the head of Pompey, borne by his governors, Pothinos and Achillas. To win Caesar's support from her brother, Cleopatra hides herself in a rug, which Apollodorus, her servant, presents to Caesar. The Roman is immediately infatuated; banishing Ptolemy, he declares Cleopatra Egypt's sole ruler and takes her as his mistress. A son, Caesarion, is born of their union. Caesar, however, must return to Italy. Although he is briefly reunited with Cleopatra during a magnificent reception for the queen in Rome, Caesar is assassinated shortly thereafter, and Cleopatra returns to Egypt. When Mark Antony, Caesar's protégé, beholds Cleopatra aboard her elaborate barge at Tarsus some years later, he is smitten and becomes both her lover and military ally. Their liaison notwithstanding, Antony, to ... Written by alfiehitchie
Taglines:
The motion picture the world has been waiting for!Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See more »
See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
24 October 1963 (West Germany) See more »Also Known As:
Kleopatra See more »Box Office
Budget:
$31,115,000 (estimated)Gross:
$57,750,000 (USA)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (TV) | (director's cut) | (roadshow) | (50th Anniversary)Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)| 4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints)| Stereo (Westrex Recording System)| DTS 70 mm (70mm re-release)Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1
Edit
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Alex North was chosen to score the film after Joseph L. Mankiewicz's son Christopher Mankiewicz told him that North had done a magnificent job in composing a score for Spartacus (1960). See more »Goofs
The scenes of Cleopatra's magnificent entry into Rome are enacted in front of (and through) a detailed and life-size replica of the Arch of Constantine, built in AD 315 - more than three and a half centuries after the event. See more »Quotes
Marc Antony: Your tongue is old, but sharp, Cicero. Be careful how you waggle it. One day it will cut off your head.See more »
Fritz Lang's Metropolis is rightly regarded as a classic, but many reviews make note of the 'illogical' story and bad character plotting. Characters come and go without rhyme or reason, and the plot makes no sense, they say. Well, yes, but that's not Fritiz's fault, nor the movie's; Metropolis makes little sense because 55 minutes of the film was hacked out and destroyed, never to be seen again, by the US distributors. Of course it's gonna be a dog's dinner with an hour missing, ya clods!!
The same is true of Cleopatra, and this is basically the only reason the film fell flat on its' 1963 release. It was originally intended to release Cleopatra as two three hour movies, the first dealing with Cleo's relationship with Caesar, the second her affairs with Marc Antony. Fox said no to this idea, and demanded a single four hour film instead. This decision is like taking Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and removing an hour from each film wherever an hours' worth can be removed...a recipe for incoherence and total disaster.
So, with two hours of footage gone, major characters are reduced to glorified walk-ons, vital plot points and motivations are lost, and the story loses what LOTR has...length with the proper pacing. People will sit and watch 4 hours of Return Of The King because it flows properly. People will not sit and watch 4 hours of stitched together rough cuts...that's what Cleopatra is, even in the DVD roadshow edition...because what we have is something that is too bitty and haphzard to sustain interest.
But there is still glory in Cleo....Roddy McDowall, Martin Landau and Rex Harrison all act their socks off, the sea battle is kick ass, and Liz Taylor looks pretty scrummy in Egyptian softcore porn clothes. And only a Gen Xer like me could love that hideously pompous overblown dialogue.
Great film! For what it is. It just should have been TWO films, that's all. Real eyepopping trippy spectacle, done in a 'damn the money, full speed ahead' way that just doesn't happen any more. Like Casino Royale, Cleo is a wonderful disaster.