If it hadn't been the tabloid headlines screaming about the love affair between ELIZABETH TAYLOR and RICHARD BURTON on the set of CLEOPATRA in Rome, it's unlikely Fox would have released this epic without trimming even more than they did. It still doesn't work. The trims were not enough and the film is a boring mess by the time it reaches the end of its first forty-five minutes.
Let's face it, Elizabeth Taylor sounds like a shrill fish wife whenever her emotions show any temperament--in other words, her vocal abilities are not good enough to carry the role of a woman who commanded all of Egypt with her willpower and determination and cunning. She's much better in other contemporary roles, but ill suited to play the Queen of Egypt. REX HARRISON gives the only full-bodied performance in the film and unfortunately he's killed midway and is missing from the rest of this gargantuan bore.
Technical brilliance in costumes and sets cannot atone for a bad script and some lifeless performances from a large cast. Only RODDY McDOWALL emerges triumphant as Octavius (probably one of his best adult roles), but RICHARD BURTON is another casualty as a supposedly impassioned Marc Antony.
Cleopatra's eye-filling entrance makes a stunning cinematic treat, but Taylor in later years confessed that she was sick upon seeing the film at a premiere and has since confided that she hates it. I can understand why, even if legions of her fans still think it's one of the best things she ever did. Sorry, I just can't see it that way, much as I love Liz in her best work.
Let's face it, Elizabeth Taylor sounds like a shrill fish wife whenever her emotions show any temperament--in other words, her vocal abilities are not good enough to carry the role of a woman who commanded all of Egypt with her willpower and determination and cunning. She's much better in other contemporary roles, but ill suited to play the Queen of Egypt. REX HARRISON gives the only full-bodied performance in the film and unfortunately he's killed midway and is missing from the rest of this gargantuan bore.
Technical brilliance in costumes and sets cannot atone for a bad script and some lifeless performances from a large cast. Only RODDY McDOWALL emerges triumphant as Octavius (probably one of his best adult roles), but RICHARD BURTON is another casualty as a supposedly impassioned Marc Antony.
Cleopatra's eye-filling entrance makes a stunning cinematic treat, but Taylor in later years confessed that she was sick upon seeing the film at a premiere and has since confided that she hates it. I can understand why, even if legions of her fans still think it's one of the best things she ever did. Sorry, I just can't see it that way, much as I love Liz in her best work.