Cleopatra (1963)

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Cleopatra (1963)

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The film opens shortly after the Battle of Pharsalus where Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) has defeated Pompey. Pompey flees to Egypt, hoping to enlist the support of the young Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII (Richard O'Sullivan) and his sister Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor).

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Caesar pursues and meets the teenage Ptolemy and the boy's advisers, who seem to do most of the thinking for him. As a gesture of 'goodwill', the Egyptians present Caesar with Pompey's head, but Caesar is not pleased; it is a sorry end for a worthy foe. As Caesar settles in at the palace, Apollodorus (Cesare Danova), disguised as a rug peddler, brings a gift from Cleopatra. When a suspicious Caesar unrolls the rug, he finds Cleopatra herself concealed within and is intrigued. Days later, she warns Caesar that her brother has surrounded the palace with his soldiers and that he is vastly outnumbered. Caesar is unconcerned. He orders the Egyptian fleet burned so he can gain control of the harbor. The fire spreads to the city, burning many buildings, including the famous Library of Alexandria. Cleopatra angrily confronts Caesar, but he refuses to pull troops away from the fight with Ptolemy's forces to deal with the fire. In the middle of their spat, Caesar begins kissing her.

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Cleopatra (1963)

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The Romans hold, and the armies of Mithridates arrive on Egyptian soil. The following day, Caesar passes judgment. He sentences Ptolemy's lord chamberlain to death for arranging an assassination attempt on Cleopatra, and rules that Ptolemy and his tutor be sent to join Ptolemy's now greatly outnumbered troops, a sentence of death as the Egyptian army faces off against Mithridates. Cleopatra is crowned Queen of Egypt. She dreams of ruling the world with Caesar. When their son Caesarion is born, Caesar accepts him publicly, which becomes the talk of Rome and the Senate.
Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) confronts Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison)

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Cleopatra (1963)

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Caesar returns to Rome for his triumph, while Cleopatra remains in Egypt. Two years pass before the two see each other again. After he is 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, which is anathema to the Romans. On the Ides of March 44 B.C., the Senate is preparing to vote on whether to award Caesar additional powers. Despite warnings from his wife Calpurnia (Gwen Watford) and Cleopatra, he is confident of victory. However, he is stabbed to death by various senators.

Octavian (Roddy McDowall), Caesar's nephew, is named as his heir, not Caesarion. Realizing she has no future in Rome, Cleopatra returns home to Egypt. Two years later, Caesar's assassins, among them Cassius (John Hoyt) and Brutus (Kenneth Haigh), are killed at the Battle of Philippi. Mark Antony (Richard Burton) establishes a second triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus. They split up the empire: Lepidus receives Africa, Octavian Spain and Gaul, while Antony will take control of the eastern provinces. However, the rivalry between Octavian and Antony is becoming apparent.

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While planning a campaign against Parthia in the east, Antony realizes he needs money and supplies, and cannot get enough from anywhere but Egypt. After refusing several times to leave Egypt, Cleopatra gives in and meets him in Tarsus. Antony becomes drunk during a lavish feast. Cleopatra sneaks away, leaving a slave dressed as her, but Antony discovers the trick and confronts the queen. They soon become lovers. Octavian uses their affair in his smear campaign against Antony. When Antony returns to Rome to address the situation brewing there, Octavian traps him into a marriage of state to Octavian's sister, Octavia (Jean Marsh). Cleopatra flies into a rage when she learns the news.

A year or so later, when Antony next sees Cleopatra, he is forced to humble himself publicly. She demands a third of the empire in return for her aid. Antony acquiesces and divorces Octavia. Octavian clamors for war against Antony and his "Egyptian whore". The Senate is unmoved by his demands until Octavian reveals that Antony has left a will stating that he is to be buried in Egypt; shocked and insulted, the Senators who had previously stood by Antony abandon their hero and vote for war. Octavian murders the Egyptian ambassador, Cleopatra's tutor Sosigenes (Hume Cronyn), on the Senate steps.
Richard Burton as Mark Antony

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The war is decided at the naval Battle of Actium. Seeing Antony's ship burning, Cleopatra assumes he is dead and orders the Egyptian forces home. Antony follows, leaving his fleet leaderless and soon defeated. After a while, Cleopatra manages to convince Antony to retake command of his troops and fight Octavian's advancing army. However, Antony's soldiers have lost faith in him and abandon him during the night; Rufio (Martin Landau), the last man loyal to Antony, is killed. Antony tries to goad Octavian into single combat, but is finally forced to flee into the city.

When Antony returns to the palace, Apollodorus, not believing that Antony is worthy of his queen, convinces him that she is dead, whereupon Antony falls on his own sword. Apollodorus then takes Antony to Cleopatra, and he dies in her arms. Octavian captures the city without a battle and Cleopatra is brought before him. He wants to return to Rome in triumph, with her as his prisoner. However, realizing that her son is also dead, she arranges to be bitten by a poisonous

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Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Landau. The music score was by Alex North. It was photographed in 70 mm Todd-AO by Leon Shamroy and an uncredited Jack Hildyard.

Cleopatra chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra VII, the young Queen of Egypt, to resist the imperialist ambitions of Rome.
Despite being a critical failure, it won four Academy Awards. It was the highest grossing film of 1963, earning US $26 million ($57.7 million total), yet made a loss due to its cost of $44 million, the only film ever to be the highest grossing film of the year yet to run at a loss.

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.: Italian :.

Il film si apre sulla disfatta di Pompeo nella Battaglia di Farsalo. Giulio Cesare perdona gli ufficiali avversari catturati mentre i morti vengono cremati.

Pompeo ha lasciato il campo di battaglia ed ha fatto vela verso l'Egitto, dove spera di ottenere l'appoggio del giovane faraone Tolomeo XIII e di sua sorella Cleopatra. Pompeo crede che essi gli daranno aiuto, visto che era in buoni rapporti con il loro defunto padre, Tolomeo XII Aulete, ma la speranza si rivelerà falsa.
Rex Harrison è Cesare

Cesare segue Pompeo in Egitto ed entra in Alessandria all'inizio dell'ottobre del 48 a.C. I cortigiani di Tolomeo credono che i romani si faranno largo violentemente tra la folla per raggiungere il palazzo, irritando così la popolazione egiziana, ma Cesare ordina al suo seguito di mettere via le spade e di fare compere al pari della folla presente nel mercato antistante il palazzo reale. Cesare, raggiunta la scalinata del palazzo, incontra il giovane faraone insieme ai suoi cortigiani, con Potino, il grande Eunuco del re, in testa. Costoro sembrano essere più dei manovratori e sobillatori del re che non suoi fedeli servitori.

Potino si "guadagna" immediatamente la diffidenza e l'antipatia di Cesare quando, come "gesto di amicizia e di buona volontà" gli fa presentare la testa mozza di Pompeo, che ha ottenuto dal faraone di far decapitare dicendogli che Cesare ne sarebbe stato contento.

Non appena Cesare si è insediato nel palazzo, Apollodoro (servo fedele di Cleopatra) entra nel palazzo travestito come un venditore ambulante di tappeti, portando un tappeto arrotolato che lui dice essere un regalo di Cleopatra. Cesare, dopo avere congedato i suoi ufficiali, srotola il tappeto e ne fa uscire Cleopatra. Dopo un colloquio breve, ostile ma arguto e tagliente, Cleopatra raggiunge le sue stanze con una scorta di soldati romani. Più tardi, scortata da Apollodoro, raggiungerà un passaggio segreto situato dietro una delle pareti della stanza di Cesare ed aprirà il coperchio di un foro praticato nella testa di una sfinge, il cui volto di vetro è rivolto verso l'interno della stanza. Potrà così vedere ed ascoltare tutto quanto viene fatto e detto da Cesare e dai suoi generali.

Scoprirà così che Cesare, all'insaputa dei suoi uomini (li ha appena congedati e si è svestito delle insegne del comando) soffre di epilessia.

Alcuni giorni dopo, nella sua stanza da bagno, Cleopatra concede una tempestosa udienza a Cesare, nella quale domanda libero accesso alla sala del trono e mette in guardia il condottiero contro Tolomeo che ha circondato il palazzo con i suoi soldati, largamente superiori in numero rispetto a quelli romani. Cesare le assicura di aver già preso in considerazione la situazione e di poter tranquillamente contenere un attacco egiziano, senza però darle ulteriori spiegazioni.

Awards and Nominations

The film won four Academy Awards and was nominated for five more:

1963 Academy Awards

Best Cinematography (Leon Shamroy)
Best Art Direction (John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith, Hilyard M. Brown, Herman A. Blumenthal, Elven Webb, Maurice Pelling, Boris Juraga, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox, Ray Moyer)
Best Costume Design
Best Visual Effects
Best Picture (nominated)
Best Actor (Rex Harrison) (nominated)
Best Film Editing (nominated)
Best Original Score (nominated)
Best Sound Mixing (James Corcoran and Fred Hynes) (nominated)

1963 Golden Globes

Nominated, Best Motion Picture - Drama
Nominated, Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama
Nominated, Best Motion Picture Director
Nominated, Best Supporting Actor

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Cleopatra (1963)

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