Reviews

A legend of Hollywood, the 1963 production of Cleopatra has so much curiosity surrounding it I hardly know where to start. It was budgeted at $2 million and eventually cost (up to) $44 million to produce -- close to $300 million in today's dollars. Liz Taylor almost died during the filming and was given a tracheotomy to keep her alive. The production was forced to move from Rome to London and back to Rome again. Two of its stars fell in love (Taylor and Burton) on the set, ruining both of their marriages. 20th Century Fox essentially went bankrupt, leading to the ousting of its chief. The first director was fired after burning $7 million with nothing to show for it. The second director (Mankiewicz) was fired during editing, only to be rehired when no one else could finish the picture. Taylor threw up the first time she saw the finished product. Producer Walter Wanger never worked in Hollywood again. And the original six-hour epic was cut to a little over three.

By Christopher Null, from Filmcritic.com

Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra is a woman of force and dignity, fired by a fierce ambition to conquer and rule the world -- at least, the world of the Mediterranean basin -- through the union of Egypt and Rome. In her is impressively compacted the arrogance and pride of an ancient queen.

By Bosley Crowther, from The New York Times

Probably no other present-day actress could equal the regal beauty and fiery dramatic talents of Elizabeth Taylor, who portrays Cleopatra, first as a vain tempestuous ruler, then a tender, devoted woman loyal to Caesar, later passionately in love with Antony and, finally, the lonely, embittered queen who dies by her own hand.

From Boxoffice Magazine