Caesar and Cleopatra; historic drama, UK, 1945; D: Gabriel Pascal, S: Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, Francis L. Sullivan, Basil Sydney, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson, Raymond Lovell

Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt, 48 BC. Roman basic Julius Caesar arrives together with his military and, whereas strolling alone, incognito meets Cleopatra sitting close to the Sphinx of Giza throughout the evening. They turn into mates, and she or he is later stunned to search out out about his id. Caesar desires to intervene within the dispute of succession by proclaiming each Cleopatra and her 14-year outdated brother Ptolemy XIII as joint rulers. Achillas and his military assault the royal palace, however Caesar’s forces prevail. When Cleopatra orders the homicide of Pothinus, Ptolemy XIII’s regent, this triggers an offended mob attacking the palace. Caesar’s military once more prevails, because of reinforcements, after which leaves Egypt together with his ship, a lot to the dismay of Cleopatra.

One of many higher motion pictures concerning the Ptolemaic Queen, with a finances of 5.2 million $, Gabriel Pascal’s lavish and unique spectacle “Caesar and Cleopatra” was on the time of its premiere the costliest movie of its time, much more costly than the epic “Gone with the Wind” (whose finances was 3.9 million $), and each share the principle actress, Vivien Leigh, who’s energetic right here as Hellenistic Queen Cleopatra. By limiting the story solely to the primary yr of the encounter between Caesar and Cleopatra, and refusing to be traditionally correct (bizarrely, Caesar right here by no means falls in love with Cleopatra and even finds her boastful), the film feels skewed, meandering at instances, whereas the ponderous and theatrical dialogues really feel someway too synthetic. Nontheless, the opening sequence is sensible, albeit completely fictional—Caesar and Cleopatra meet on the “paws” of the Sphinx of Giza throughout the evening, she does not know who he’s, and thus mischiviously describes the statue because the “kitten of the Sphinx”, whereas the set design provides for aesthetic, esoteric photos. When Caesar accompanies Cleopatra to the empty palace throne and recommends she holds a “courageous” pose, wearing queen’s garments, whereas she awaits for Caesar, she is stunned when the Roman troopers enter the room and provides a salute to Caesar, realizing he was along with her your entire time. The reconstruction of the town of Alexandria, with the palace, homes and pillars, is spectacular, whereas sure dialogues have sharpness—as an example, Pothinus exhibits up and says: “I got here to warn you of a hazard, and to make you a proposal“, so Caesar replies: “By no means thoughts the hazard, make the supply!“, whereas the Roman soldier intervenes: “By no means thoughts the supply, what is the hazard?!” Apollodorus additionally says at one level: “When a silly man is doing one thing he’s ashamed of, he all the time declares it his responsibility.” Extra care ought to have been given to the chemistry between the 2 title protagonists, but the film has greater than sufficient virtues to warrant a extra typically point out among the many movie critics and movie lexicons.

Grade:++