Cleopatra (1912)

The fabled queen of Egypt's affair with Roman general Marc Antony is ulimately disastrous for both of them.

Director:

Charles L. Gaskill

Writer:

Victorien Sardou (adapted from the play by)

Stars:

Helen Gardner, Pearl Sindelar, Miss Fielding

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Helen Gardner	...	Cleopatra - Queen of Egypt (as Miss Gardner)
Pearl Sindelar	...	Iras - An Attendant (as Miss Sindelar)
Miss Fielding	...	Charmian - An Attendant
Miss Robson	...	Octavia - Wife of Antony
Helene Costello	...	Nicola - a Child (as Miss Helene)
Charles Sindelar	...	Antony - a Triumvir and General (as Mr. Sindelar)
Mr. Howard	...	Pharon - a Greek Slave and Fisherman
James R. Waite	...	Venditius - a Roman Soldier (as Mr. Waite)
Mr. Osborne	...	Diomedes - a Rich Egyptian (as Mr. Osborn)
Harry Knowles	...	Kephren - Captain of the Guards to the Queen (as Harley Knowles)
Mr. Paul	...	Octavius - a Triumvir and General
Mr. Brady	...	Serapian - an Egyptian Priest
Mr. Corker	...	Ixias - Servant to Ventidius

Storyline

When she discovers that a slave named Pharon professes his love for her, Cleopatra makes a bargain with him: she will give him ten days of "love," at the end of which he is to commit suicide. He agrees, although the queen's handmaiden Iras, in love with the slave, isn't happy with the arrangement. Later when Cleopatra is seducing Marc Antony, her relationship with Pharon is used against her, but with little effect. She allies herself with Antony against Octavius, participates in a brief war, then meets her end rather than be subjected to Roman rule.

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Plot Keywords:

slave | queen | marc antony | cleopatra | egypt | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1912 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cleopatra: The Romance of a Woman and a Queen

Filming Locations:

Tappan, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Helen Gardner Picture Players

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 88 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Shakespeare's play was produced in London circa 1606-7; Victorien Sardou's play, "Cléopatre", opened in Paris on 23 October 1890.

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Quotes

Diomedes - a Rich Egyptian: It were better for Antony did she never come - for his army is not as powerful as her eyes!

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Crazy Credits

Helen Gardner Picture Players, Tappan-on-the-Hudson, New York.

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Connections

Featured in Cleopatra: The First Woman of Power (1999)

User Reviews

Historically interesting

Like other people, I found the sound track to be rather annoying.I think that the main problem with this and similar films is that it appears that the actors forgot that they were making a silent movie and that no one could hear what they were saying.You have much too long sequences where two people are talking to each other, generally with not even many gestures, and only occasional subtitles.Of course this was a very early film, and people were feeling their way, but lacking both sound and any interesting settings, this turns out to be pretty dull.The peculiar movement of the barge as it moves on and off scene does give it a surrealist appearance.