Caesar and cleopatra revival, play, comedy, broadway opened in new york city dec 19, 1951 and played through apr 12, 1952. Caesar and cleopatra is a 1945 british technicolor film directed by gabriel pascal and starring. Bernard shaws caesar and cleopatra internet archive. At the time the most expensive british film ever produced complete with real imported egyptian sand, caesar and cleopatra is a lavish epic, featuring. Caesar and cleopatra is a two player card laying game where players assume the roles of these two great leaders. Nikki m james throws herself into the role of cleopatra with great enthusiasm and she is for the most part very successful. The guards let her pass by them, but they block ftatateeta from entering. Cleopatra then had to marry another brother for the sake of formality, ptolemy xiv. Caesar and cleopatra 1945 starring claude rains, vivien leigh. Cleopatra and mark antony are both connected to julius caesar.
Caesar meets the young cleopatra crouching at night between the paws of a sphinx, wherehaving been driven from. Caesar and cleopatra is a 1945 british technicolor film directed by gabriel pascal and starring vivien leigh and claude rains. Caesar and cleopatra vivien leigh and claude rains pop off the screen in vivid technicolor in gabriel pascals version of shaws 1901 play about love and politics in ancient rome and egypt. Caesar finds the prospect of romance more tempting than he expected, since cleopatra is a rare woman who is bright as well as beautiful. This witty, brilliantly designed movie features a memorable support cast including stewart granger the prisoner of zenda, flora robson wuthering heights, stanley holloway my fair lady and a very young jean. She became the sole ruler when her brother was drowned during the alexandrian war 47 b. Once they were there, cleopatra continued her affair with caesar despite the fact that he was married. Caesar was her confidante and lover and the man who helped cleopatra through her transformation. Caesar and cleopatra starts well enough and continues on firm ground through its first act in dramatizing the life of human immortals as portrayed by living legends. Cleopatras relationships with julius caesar and mark antony. After seeing part of the filming of the movie at denham studios in london, shaw remarked, what scope.
It is apparent, very early in the play, that shaws details are somewhat off the mark. Vivien leigh, claude rains, stewart granger, flora robson, cecil parker, anthony harvey, stanley holloway, leo genn. This adaptation of the george bernard shaw play chronicles the. Pascals grand scheme of filming the shavian oeuvre was effectively ended. Caesar and cleopatra 1946 the roman conqueror julius caesar claude rains takes over the egyptian city of alexandria, and in so doing inherits a pressing problem. The history chicks cleopatra and julius caesar archives. Claude rains vivien leigh stewart granger flora robson francis s. Mankiewicz, depicting cleopatra s manipulation of julius caesar and marc antony in her illfated attempt to save. The complete caesar is beyond the reach of all but the greatest actors, but. And for cleopatra, a friendly relationship with the most powerful man incontinue reading. And for cleopatra, a friendly relationship with the most powerful man in the world may pay dividends in the future. The film moves by turns through a narrow skein of classical history as the reliquarian egyptian world gives way to a streamlined roman one.
Caesar wants rome to invade egypt while cleopatra wants it to remain independent and both try to influence roman officials to support their cause. This adaptation of the george bernard shaw play chronicles the relationship between the great emperor caesar and cleopatra, renowned. She is a former wife, and he is a loyal ally and friend. Twentieth century fox film corporation, mcl films s. Caesar and cleopatra 1945 claude rains, vivien leigh, stewart. Colbert shares the first third of the film with warren william as julius caesar. Caesar and cleopatra amazing bible timeline with world. Cleopatra learns about power and politics at the feet of a master but her downfall begins when she is seduced by mark antony. The hugely influential, nobel prizewinning critic and playwright george bernard shaw was notoriously reluctant to allow his writing to be adapted for the cinema. Claudette colbert powers cleopatra in the title role by sheer force of personality. Caesar and cleopatra vivien leigh and laurence olivier. In the play caesar and cleopatra by bernard shaw, we are shown a fictional tracing of the relationship shared by caesar and cleopatra.
The picture was adapted from the play caesar and cleopatra 1901 by george bernard shaw, produced by independent producers and pascal film productions, and distributed by eaglelion distributors. September 6, 1946 usa december 11, 1945 uk behindthescenes. Cleopatra and her brother ptolemy xiii become egypts rulerssiblingsspouses. The arrival in alexandria of julius caesar gives cleopatra her first chance of a wider role in the world. It is an adaptation of the play caesar and cleopatra by george bernard shaw, who collaborated closely.
Vivien leigh as cleopatra in the film caesar and cleopatra during filming, leigh discovered she was pregnant. Christopher plummer is on majestic form as caesar, by turns authoritarian, amused and amusing. Caesar and cleopatra is a 1945 historical drama directed by gabriel pascal that is an adaptation of a classic play by famous irish playwright george bernard shaw. At the height of the roman civil war, julius caesar takes control of the. Some scenes were directed by brian desmond hurst, who remained uncredited. Some scenes were directed by brian desmond hurst who took no formal credit. Cleopatra, on the other hand, might have found a sense of stability with him since he is becoming one of the most powerful in rome. As rome invades egypt, julius caesar rains stumbles across the young and unrefined princess cleopatra leigh, sheltering in the sphinx. Caesar and cleopatra 1945 the criterion collection. Caesar and cleopatra 1945 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
They have a good laugh at this and even cleopatra approves. Claude rains, vivien leigh and stewart granger writers. Watch caesar and cleopatra online stream full movie. Caesar and cleopatra was, up until that time, the most expensive british film ever made. Based on the play by george bernard shaw who also penned the screenplay, the film was marketed as a prestige. Cleopatra decided to visit him and bring their son along to try and get him named caesars heir. Caesar and cleopatra was, up until that time, the most expensive british film. At the time the most expensive british film ever produced complete with real imported egyptian sand, caesar and cleopatra is a lavish epic, featuring standout. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing caesar and cleopatra near you. At the height of the roman civil war, a young cleopatra vivien leigh meets a middleaged julius caesar claude rains, who teaches her how to rule egypt. Find movie and film cast and crew information for caesar and cleopatra 1945 gabriel pascal on allmovie.
Adaptation of george bernard shaws witty historical play about the fall of egypt and rise of cleopatra. This was a scandalous situation and the people didnt like it. Netflix et free, film gratuitement en francais, et. Yet thanks to the persistence of hungarian producer gabriel pascal, shaw finally agreed to collaborate on a series of screen versions of his witty, socially minded plays, starting with the oscarwinning pygmalion. Overview of caesar and cleopatra, 1956, with claire bloom, sir cedric hardwicke, jack hawkins, at turner classic movies. With the help of a magic potion, asterix comes to the rescue of the queen of the nile as caesar and an angry architect plot against them. Clerks premiered at the sundance film festival 26 years ago, so we asked kevin smith 26 questions about the festival. I urge you to try and watch the whole film as part of british film one of its best times and yet its 1946.
Denham studios, buckinghamshire, england premiered. Caesar and cleopatra was the basis for the lavish 1945 motion picture caesar and cleopatra, starring claude rains as caesar and vivien leigh as cleopatra and produced by gabriel pascal. The trip wasnt entirely successful understatement city. Vivien leigh in caesar and cleopatra 1945 basil sydney in caesar and. In decifering shaws historical inaccuracies, we must first examine his portrayal of cleopatra. Mahaffy several egyptian princesses of the line of the ptolemies bore the name of cleopatra, but history, romance, and tragedy are all illumined with the story of onecleopatra the daughter of ptolemy auletes. Shot in technicolor and directed by gabriel pascal, the film was so extravagant that the director even took sand to egypt to get the right cinematic colour. Cleopatra and julius caesar have made a bet, with caesar wagering the project cannot be completed in a few weeks time. Ftatateeta gets cleopatra up for her bath, which from now on will be once a day. Caesar finds the prospect of romance more tempting than he expected, since.
Caesar and cleopatra opens as caesars armies arrive in egypt to conquer the ancient divided land for rome. It was a union that was destined to produce one of. A portion of that original introduction opens part one of the three film shakespeare versus shaw comparison of the two authors treatments of caesar and cleopatra from the encyclopaedia britannica available elsewhere on a film series which stars richard kiley as caesar, a role he had just played in her first. There is a bit of embarrassment involving cleopatras remaining sister, arsinoe, as well as quite a bit of of gossip and rumors about cleopatra and caesar. Soon after the big news she suffered a miscarriage, which mightve been due to treatments for a recent case of tuberculosis in her.
Caesar even had statues created in cleopatras honor. Terms of activation by activating, you agree that you want to enable cloud technology to access your xfinity stream subscription on additional supported devices like computers and tablets, as well as the tv connected to your settop dvr via comcasts network. Caesar and cleopatra broadway play 1951 revival ibdb. Best art direction academy award nomination for the film, which reflects the atmosphere of the period decor to the finest details. Shaws caesar and cleopatra reflected a heightened awareness of and attention to historical accuracy. Caesar spends the winter of 487 bc in egypt, helping the young queen suppress. Caesar and cleopatra, fouract play by george bernard shaw, written in 1898, published in 1901, and first produced in 1906. Her cleopatra is manipulative, yet goodnatured, and all sex appeal in every frame, surely straining the newly enforced production code. With claude rains, vivien leigh, stewart granger, flora robson. She seizes it, becoming the mistress of the man who is now unmistakably after his defeat of pompey the most powerful roman. This dvd records the 2008 stratford shakespeare festival ontario production of shaws lovely but infrequently performed play. See imdb listing posters from the vivien leigh film elizabeth taylor in cleopatra 1963 in the elizabeth taylor film there is a curious mixture of accuracy and fantasy in costume design. Cleopatra hasnt been on the throne of the pharoahs of egypt very long when julius caesar pays a visit.
Caesar and cleopatra 1945 starring claude rains, vivien leigh full movie duration. At the height of the roman civil war, a young cleopatra meets a middleaged julius caesar, who teaches her how to rule egypt. Cleopatra was the willful child who became a determined monarch and guided egypts fortunes. Cleopatra is a lengthy, sprawling, spectacular love story, helmed by joseph l.
The original introduction to the play was by the god ra. Mark antony found amusement with cleopatras grandeur. The roman conqueror julius caesar claude rains takes over the egyptian city of alexandria, and in so doing inherits a pressing problem. Cleopatras conquest of caesar and antony cleopatra. This is a digitized version of an article from the timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996.
1287 906 519 982 1280 408 754 1293 642 889 680 587 1355 397 622 1521 1508 1280 1041 169 1449 702 313 57 1402 151 1519 1464 343 494 970 416 772 1590 683 1368 214 317 299 516 139 1059 1034 1247 1058 699