Cleopatra (1963)

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz
(more)

Writers:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (screenplay) and
Ranald MacDougall (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

31 July 1963 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

The motion picture the world has been waiting for!

Plot:

Historical epic. The triumphs and tragedy of the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra.

Plot Keywords:

Cleopatra | Egypt | Epic | Roman Empire | Death

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Cleopatra
Richard Burton	...	Mark Antony
Rex Harrison	...	Julius Caesar
Pamela Brown	...	High Priestess
George Cole	...	Flavius
Hume Cronyn	...	Sosigenes
Cesare Danova	...	Apollodorus
Kenneth Haigh	...	Brutus
Andrew Keir	...	Agrippa
Martin Landau	...	Rufio
Roddy McDowall	...	Octavian - Caesar Augustus
Robert Stephens	...	Germanicus
Francesca Annis	...	Eiras
Grégoire Aslan	...	Pothinus (as Gregoire Aslan)
Martin Benson	...	Ramos
Herbert Berghof	...	Theodotos
John Cairney	...	Phoebus
Jacqui Chan	...	Lotos
Isabel Cooley	...	Charmian (as Isabelle Cooley)
John Doucette	...	Achillas
Andrew Faulds	...	Canidius
Michael Gwynn	...	Cimber
Michael Hordern	...	Cicero
John Hoyt	...	Cassius
Marne Maitland	...	Euphranor
Carroll O'Connor	...	Casca
Richard O'Sullivan	...	Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII
Gwen Watford	...	Calpurnia
Douglas Wilmer	...	Decimus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elisabeth Welch	...	Children's Nurse (scenes deleted)
John Alderson	...	Roman officer (uncredited)
John Alderton	...	1st Officer (uncredited)
Ronald Allen	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Audrey Anderson	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
María Badmajew	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Michèle Bailly	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Marina Berti	...	Queen at Tarsus (uncredited)
Salvatore Billa	...	Egyptian Slave / Centurion (uncredited)
Bruna Caruso	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Finlay Currie	...	Titus (uncredited)
Rod Dana	...	One of Caesar's Entourage (uncredited)
Marie Devereux	...	Bacchanal Reveler (uncredited)
Peter Forster	...	2nd Officer (uncredited)
John Frederick	...	Captain Palace Guard (uncredited)
María Luz Galicia	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
John Gayford	...	Guard (uncredited)
Peter Grant	...	Palace Guard (uncredited)
Rosalba Grottesi	...	Cleopatra's Servant (uncredited)
Rupert John	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
John Karlsen	...	High Priest (uncredited)
Jeremy Kemp	...	Agitator (uncredited)
Maureen Lane	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Margaret Lee	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Senator (uncredited)
Calvin Lockhart	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Loris Loddi	...	Caesarion at Age 4 (uncredited)
Barry Lowe	...	Guard (uncredited)
Jean Marsh	...	Octavia (uncredited)
Kathy Martin	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Luigi Martocci	...	Marcellus (uncredited)
Gesa Meiken	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Furio Meniconi	...	Mithridates (uncredited)
Simon Mizrahi	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Violeta Montenegro	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Boris Nacinovic	...	Gladiator (uncredited)
Laurence Naismith	...	Arachesilaus (uncredited)
Kenneth Nash	...	Caesarion at Age 12 (uncredited)
John Pepper	...	Caesarion (uncredited)
Paola Pitagora	...	Cleopatra's Servant (uncredited)
Michela Roc	...	Cleopatra's Servant (uncredited)
Del Russel	...	Caesarion at Age 7 (uncredited)
Sandra Scarnati	...	Cleopatra's Servant (uncredited)
Mike Steen	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Jack Taylor	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
John Valva	...	Valvus (uncredited)
Meri Welles	...	Cleopatra's Handmaiden (uncredited)
Ben Wright	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Rouben Mamoulian		(uncredited; fired, replaced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Darryl F. Zanuck		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Joseph L. Mankiewicz		(screenplay) and
Ranald MacDougall		(screenplay) and
Sidney Buchman		(screenplay)
Plutarch		(histories) and
Suetonius		(histories) and
Appian		(histories)
Carlo Mario Franzero		(book "The Life and Times of Cleopatra") (as C.M. Franzero)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
Walter Wanger	....	producer
Peter Levathes	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy		(director of photography)
Jack Hildyard		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer
Elmo Williams		(uncredited)

Production Design by
John DeCuir		(as John De Cuir)

Art Direction by
Herman A. Blumenthal		(as Herman Blumenthal)
Hilyard M. Brown		(as Hilyard Brown)
Boris Juraga
Maurice Pelling
Jack Martin Smith
Elven Webb

Set Decoration by
Paul S. Fox
Ray Moyer
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Vittorio Nino Novarese		(costumes: men)
Renié		(costumes: women) (as Renie)

Makeup Department
Alberto De Rossi	....	makeup artist (as Alberto de Rossi)
Vivienne Walker	....	hair stylist: Miss Taylor (as Vivienne Zavitz)
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
C.O. Erickson	....	production manager
Forrest E. Johnston	....	production manager
Saul Wurtzel	....	production manager: second unit
Francisco Ariza	....	production manager (uncredited)
Edward Joseph	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Kellogg	....	second unit director
Andrew Marton	....	second unit director
Fred R. Simpson	....	assistant director
Richard Lang	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Gerry O'Hara	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
José Algueró	....	assistant set decorator: Spain (uncredited)
Ferdinand Bellan	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Bill Dennison	....	chief draughtsman: exteriors (uncredited)
Umberto Dessena	....	construction carpenter (uncredited)
Don B. Greenwood	....	second unit props (uncredited)
Harold Michelson	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
Giovanni Natalucci	....	set designer (uncredited)
Don Picton	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Italo Tomassi	....	scene painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
James Corcoran	....	sound recording supervisor
Bernard Freericks	....	sound recordist
Fred Hynes	....	sound recording supervisor
Murray Spivack	....	sound recordist
John L. Mack	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Johnny Borgese	....	special effects (uncredited)
William F. Mittlestedt	....	mechanical effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Emil Kosa Jr.	....	special photographic effects
Herbert Cheek	....	miniatures supervisor (uncredited)
Ralph Hammeras	....	matte artist (uncredited)
Joseph Nathanson	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alberto Dell'Acqua	....	stunts (uncredited)
Miguel Pedregosa	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Sullivan	....	stunt double: Richard Burton (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Piero Portalupi	....	photographer: second unit (as Pietro Portalupi)
Claude Renoir	....	photographer: second unit
Bernie Abramson	....	publicity photographer (uncredited)
Franco Di Giacomo	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Gerry Fisher	....	camera operator: UK (uncredited)
Sherman Kunkel	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Stuart Lyons	....	casting consultant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene Sharaff	....	costumes: Elizabeth Taylor
Wah Chang	....	special headresses (uncredited)
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)
Ed Wynigear	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Music Department
Lionel Newman	....	associate conductor
Alex North	....	conductor
Henry Brant	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Uan Rasey	....	musician: trumpet soloist (uncredited)
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
David Tamkin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Frank Khoury	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
Hermes Pan	....	choreographer
Bill Batchelor	....	publicist (uncredited)
Patricia Beattie	....	stand-in: Elizabeth Taylor (uncredited)
Marie Devereux	....	photo double: Elizabeth Taylor (uncredited)
Geoff Freeman	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Ralph M. Leo	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Lucie Lichtig	....	continuity (uncredited)
Elaine Schreyeck	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (as Producers Pictures Corporation)
• MCL Films S.A.
• Walwa Films S.A.

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1963) (France) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1963) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• P.P. Film Polski (1970) (Poland) (theatrical) (Polish subtitles)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• CBS/Fox Video (1985) (Belgium) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (2001) (USA) (VHS) (pan-and-scan)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Abril Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Fox Video (????) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Gativideo (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Magnetic Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• American Optical Company  development of Todd-AO
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Magna Corporation  development of Todd-AO

Also Known As:

Runtime:

192 min | Germany:233 min (TV version) | Sweden:232 min | USA:320 min (director's cut) | 248 min (roadshow version) | Argentina:233 min

Country:

UK | USA | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

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)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | USA:G (1971 re-release) | West Germany:12 | USA:Unrated (video rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | USA:Approved (certificate #19756) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | Brazil:Livre | UK:A (original rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

79 sets were constructed for the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cleopatra is rolled out of the rug in her first appearance, she is wearing flat sandals. in the next shot she walks to the table and is in high heels.

Quotes:

Cleopatra:I am the Nile. I will have sons. Isis has told me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Lucy Show: Lucy Plays Cleopatra (#2.1)" (1963)

Too much negativity, not enough praise!

Regarded as the biggest flop (at least until "Ishtar") in motion picture history, "Cleopatra" has been given the short end of the stick since it first premiered in 1963 but it still is a great film. True, it did plague 20th Century Fox to the point of near bankruptcy (until "The Sound of Music" saved it in 1965) and Elizabeth Taylor's health overshadowed the film schedule but there are more good things about the film than there are bad, the backlashing of the film has just blown itself all out of proportion. Richard Burton and Elizabeth's much-publicized offscreen love affair grew to such a feverishly fiery degree that it made their onscreen relationship as Antony and Cleopatra all the more genuine. Rex Harrison as Caesar is first-rate as well and yet he was the only one out of the entire cast that received an Oscar nomination (Richard Burton was one who should have been in the running as well... his performance is equal to his earlier work in "The Robe" and later in "Becket" and "Anne of the Thousand Days"). Miss Taylor is very commanding in the role of her career and as a result few remember Claudette Colbert's earlier turn as Egypt's most memorable ruler in Cecil B. De Mille's 1934 version. The one point I want to make is that the film should have gotten more praise than it did... like "The Wizard of Oz", "Fantasia" and "It's a Wonderful Life" it seems to get more appreciation by it's second generation than it did it's first.