There seems to be a great deal of confusion regarding the various running times attributed to "Cleopatra", and which version is available on home video as of early 2012. Let me try to help those readers who have been seeking to purchase the most complete version possible.
When director and editor Joseph L. Mankiewicz first screened the rough cut for Fox executives back in 1963, the film ran approximately 5 and a half hours. Mankiewicz conceived the film being released as two separate features, the first detailing Cleopatra's relationship with Julius Caesar and the second exploring her liaison with Marc Antony. Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck adamantly refused Mankiewicz' plan: Fox had so much money invested in the film that the studio was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Zanuck wanted to rush the film into theatres quickly and recoup as much money as possible while the public was still fascinated by the real-life romantic scandal taking place between Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra) and Richard Burton (Antony). He ordered Mankiewicz to edit the film down to a cut that ran a little over four hours (248 minutes). This is the version that was shown to reviewers and early "roadshow" audiences.
However, when it came time to send the film into general release, theatre owners complained that the movie was so long, it could only be shown once per evening. Zanuck agreed and had the film cut again, down to about 222 minutes, and then a second time to a little over three hours in length (192 minutes) so that it could be shown twice per evening and thus, theoretically, bring in twice as much money, and quickly. This 192 minute theatrical version thus became the most complete edition of the film that most original audiences ever saw.
However, with the advent of the home video revolution and the consequent revival of interest in the film, Fox searched their vaults and came up with a print of the four hour "roadshow" edition, and it is this print which is currently available on DVD in both the out-of-print 3-disc "Five Star Collection" and the current 2-disc "Award Series" releases. Although various press releases advertise the DVDs as running 193 minutes (including, at present, the Amazon Item Descriptions), they are incorrect. The DVDs run approximately 248 minutes, with the feature spread out over two discs. (The third disc in the "Five Star Collection" edition contains a wealth of bonus materials, including vintage multiple trailers and newsreel clips, an extensive gallery of publicity stills and portraits, and best of all, the AMC original full-length documentary, "Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood.")
So ... if you've been avoiding a purchase because you want the most extensive cut of the film available, wait no longer! 50 years after the film was released, with the hullaballoo over the film's cost and the scandal over the Taylor-Burton affair no longer dominating viewers' minds, "Cleopatra" is definitely worth a look. The performances are not nearly as bad as the initial reviewers claimed (Taylor and Burton were both lambasted while Rex Harrison received an Oscar nomination and won the National Board of Review's Best Actor accolade), and the production values are dazzling. "Cleopatra" may have cost a mint and nearly sunk Fox financially, but for sheer visual spectacle it can't be beat. The film scooped up Oscars for Cinematography, Art Direction & Set Decoration, Costumes and Special Effects, and it deserved every one of them. It also should have garnered Roddy McDowall the Supporting Actor Oscar, but Fox mistakenly designated him as a Leading Actor, and he failed to be nominated by the Academy in that category.
As a postscript, I should mention that the search for the missing footage that would restore Mankiewicz' original vision of the film as a five-and-a-half hour blockbuster continues as of this writing. Hopefully, we will all someday see "Cleopatra" as it was intended to be seen. Until then, the 248 edition currently available is definitely recommended.
That a film as good as CLEOPATRA is was created at all under the madness and panic of it's legendary production is indeed an amazing feat. That CLEOPATRA has been given such loving care in it's restoration in this DVD of the "Road show" print and the attendant bonus materials is a wondrous gift to those who love this film.
The documentary, "Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood" is in on it's own an engrossing and informative two hour movie. For anyone who knows little of the history of CLEOPATRA, or who was not around at the time, this documentary will give them the feeling of what those last days of old Hollywood were like. And therein one can find the reasons why this intimate epic is indeed the wonder that it is. Much thanks must be given to the Mankiewicz family and the producers of the documentary.
The print and the sound of CLEOPATRA seems now to surpass what I recall it to be in its first presentation nearly forty years ago. The depth of the colors and the richness of the shadows are indeed splendid. In it's present form it is hard to believe this film is as old as it is. The commentary track is like finding the lost treasures of the long dead monarch. For there are wonderful recollections by Martin Landau, Tom and Chris Mankiewicz, and even Jack Brodsky gets to read sections from his book "The Cleopatra Papers". But I must give special mention to Landau's part. With his keen eye for the art direction of John DeCur one sees things in the background and along the edges of the scene that one never noticed before. Such lovingly detailed sets and interiors will never be seen again. The costs today are just too prohibitive. Also his insights into what was cut from the film, particularly his and Richard Burton's contributions in the second act give one the idea of what Mankiewicz was intending. Poor Richard suffered the unkindest cut of all. The presentation of the DVD menus are so clever and exotic and are to be commended in their art direction. At last we now know what is behind the massive 20th Century Fox logo!
The film itself remains what it has always been, a good film that might have been great if only Zanuck had but trusted Joe Mankiewicz' original vision. In the documentary it is stated that Fox is looking for the missing film, one can only hope that they succeed.
The performances range from excellent to good. Particular praise must go to Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Martin Landau, Robert Stephens, Andrew Keir, and Roddy McDowall. Lastly in this department there remains Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Cleopatra. At the films release she got the brickbats and for reasons that had nothing to do with her performance. It is always hard to separate the history of the lady from her film roles. But here in this film is where she became the ELIZABETH TAYLOR she has remained in the mind of the world to this day. In this fact alone she is perfect in the role. She is at once regal and commanding, strong and tender, soft and hard. The contradictions that have always been at the heart of Cleopatra herself, the public enigma wrapped within a mystery. In her performance as written by Mankiewicz she is probably not too far off from the historical Cleopatra.
Ever since Judith Crist gave CLEOPATRA the needle in 1963 and in the act made her name, the public, for the most part, has viewed this film a failure. But today, stripped of the scandal, hype and hysteria of its release in June of '63 it is now possible to view CLEOPARTA as the wonderful film that it is. Historically this is an important DVD and I recommend it highly. CLEOPATRA remains as seductive, beautiful, and intelligent as it was in Walter Wanger's original conception.
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BLU-RAY UPDATE (June 12, 2012) The blu-ray is magnificent. The film has never looked or sounded better. The film is vibrantly rich and a feast for the eyes and ears. A wonderful update on the extras in included with two new short documentaries. One called; "Cleopatra Throught The Ages" and the other "Cleopatra's Missing Footage". Both are icing on the cake. Bravo to Fox for a job well done on the preservation of this important piece of Hollywood history.
Buy Cleopatra (1963) Now
When I first saw "Cleopatra" (1963) at the theater it was a big let down. I think the public was awaiting something completely "out of the mold" after being bombed by an aggressive publicity campaign. It's my feeling that this was the cause of "Cleopatra" being initially a big flop.
More than thirty years after its release I saw this movie again and was amazed: such a great epoch reconstruction, such historical accurateness, such great performances from the three main characters!
The story is well known. A young and beautiful Egyptian princess seduces and gets protection and support from the mighty Roman general Julius Caesar. A love affair emerges and a boy is born. Cleopatra seeks Caesar to be King of Rome and his son to be his heir. Unfortunately March Ides arrive and Caesar is murdered by his entourage.
Cleopatra flies to Egypt; there she awaits the development of political events. Finally Marc Antony arrives and starts a new love affair. There is a final confrontation among the Roman rivals and fate is again blind to Cleopatra's hopes.
Decoration and Costume both won, deservedly, Oscar Award. A full scale reproduction of Alexandria's port and marketplace is shown. The Egyptian palaces' reconstruction is amazing. The same may be said of Roman buildings and halls.
Cleopatra's costumes are gorgeous, she wore 65 different! The wardrobe of all the cast is impeccable!
Special mentions must be addressed to: Rex Harrison's performance as Julius Caesar, sober and realistic, no overacting or histrionics; Elisabeth Taylor at the apex of her career is just adorable; Richard Burton gives the audience a passionate and ruthless personification of Marc Antony.
A film to be admired and treasured!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Read Best Reviews of Cleopatra (1963) Here
Despite the legendary excesses and scandals that went on during the making of this unjustly maligned movie, it has three of the most critical foundation stones any work of this scope needs to succeed:
1). A unified vision or point of view, extending from the development of plot and characters to the physical look of the production itself.
2). A literate and compelling script that could play irrespective of the opulence of its surroundings.
3). Four leading actors who instinctively understand how to work their material, making the seams between performer and character invisbile to the spectator.
#s 1 & 2 were supplied by director / screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz, #3 by Taylor, Burton, Harrison, and McDowell.
This is a film that easily bears repeated viewings, and, again, thanks to Mankiewicz and his actors, functions simultaneously on a variety of levels. For example, there are the love stories:
Caesar & Cleopatra / Antony & Cleopatra.
The tender scenes are written and played almost poetically, but there are also political manouverings going on as each uses the other to attain or augment their power. This is made even more fascinating in that these are obviously intelligent, witty, charming, beautiful, ruthless, and influential people whose calculations shape nations and Empires.
Given all of the above, the movie also looks like the enormous sum it cost, has a brilliant score by Alex North, an accomplished supporting cast (in particular, Martin Landau, Pamela Brown, Hume Cronan, Cesare Danova), and spectacular "set pieces" that though fully integrated into the plot, almost play as "movies within the movie" Cleopatra's Entry into Rome, Cleopatra's Barge & Banquet, the Battle of Actium.
In sum, Mankiewicz and cast succeed in bringing off the big "world stage" themes critical to this genre of historical film. Their greatest achievement however lies in making an audience understand that these ancient archetypes were human beings trying to bear the weight of both history and their emotions.
Want Cleopatra (1963) Discount?
I think Cleopatra is the best movie ever made, it is also the most expensive movie ever made costing twice more than Titanic in today's money, but it just didn't make it to the screen. Intended to be two movies, Caesar and Cleopatra & Antony and Cleopatra, three hours each. But partly because of the attention of the famous Taylor-Burton affair, Darryl F. Zanuck shamelessly ruined Cleopatra from its 6-hour two movies into ONE 3 hour 14 minute movie, which is the TV version, which is Horrible! But luckily, the 4-hour version, this DVD version, survived the brutal cutting of the film. This movie is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. The sets, clothes, props, and music... they are just FLAWLESS! As many people know, Rex Harrison as Caesar and Richard Burton as Antony both got nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, but because the movie was cut to one, they were nominated against each other in the same movie, and more importantly, their best scenes were cut because of the length, so none of them won (but they deserve to), and Roddy McDowell got nominated in the wrong section and his votes were canceled. Martin Landau was going to be nominated as Best Supporting Actor, but after the film was ruined, the Academy Awards dropped him. Elizabeth Taylor's best scenes were cut off that she was so angry she puked at the Premiere.
The Music of the film is the BEST. Till this Day, I don't know why the Oscars didn't give Cleopatra the award. Of course, Oscars didn't give Gone with the Wind, Gladiator, and lots of other film's beautiful scores the Oscar, it's weird.
How do I know about all about Cleopatra? I have ALL the books, interviews, and even the full movie shooting script of this movie, I am the biggest fan! If you have seen the movie, you'll realize that Cleopatra was usually unhappy and tense. But there is a happy side of her, for example, there was a scene where Cleopatra, Antony and her son with Caesar were in the garden, Cleopatra watching them play swords. Then Caesarian, the son, stubbed Antony with his wooden sword and Antony cried out in "pain", and Caesarian suddenly went crying, saying "don't die, don't die!" Antony suddenly comes back to life and tickles Caesarian, then drags Cleopatra into them and they were all laughing and rolling on the floor... it was so happy, and that's one of the many sides of Cleopatra that's been cut off.
In the four-hour version, we first see Cleopatra dumped out of a carpet. That was NEVER intended to be the first scene we see Cleopatra. From the script I learned that there was a whole story of Cleopatra outside Alexandria, and she and the others planned to meet Caesar and how to sneak her in. Just after they got to the Palace, some soldiers almost caught them and the maid had to lure the guards away... it was thrilling to read the pages of the script! There are sooo much to saying about what Cleopatra should have been, but sadly, no one expect FOX has the missing footage, and they are the best scenes of the movie (some scenes were so humorous that I laughed out loud!).
In the late 70's, 20th Century FOX called a recording session to record the lines of the movie so they can restore it, since the sound elements were missing. But it was called off at the last minute. But the three-and-half hours of missing film footage was NEVER lost! With today's technology, they can totally restore the film back, including the sound. They also have the missing part of the unused scores, but why doesn't FOX, after making a two hour documentary about the film, restore it? No one knows! Movies like "A Star is Born", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Sparticus", and many other classic movies has been successfully restored and loved by many. Why not Cleopatra? I am writing just to let you know the truth about the movie, and hopefully, if more people know maybe FOX will restore the film to the intended way. In a Late interview with four-time Oscar winner Joseph L Mankiewicz, the director and screenwriter of the movie, when the subject Cleopatra went up, he literately cried (on TV!). He said he wanted the film to be perfect that he bit his nails until they were bleeding that he had to wear gloves when he was writing the script... He called Cleopatra his "butchered masterpiece". But however, it's still one of the best movies out there! Totally worth buying!!
FOX: PLEASE RESTORE CLEOPATRA BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, BEFORE THE FILM ROTS OR A STUDIO FIRE AND BURNS THEM TO DUST, LIKE FOX'S 1917 VERSION OF CLEOPATRA!
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