Caesar and Cleopatra (film)

Last updated

Caesar and Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra - 1945 - poster.png
theatrical release poster
Directed by Gabriel Pascal
Written by George Bernard Shaw
(play {uncredited}, scenario and dialogue)
Produced byGabriel Pascal
Starring Vivien Leigh
Claude Rains
Cinematography F. A. Young F.R.P.S.
Robert Krasker
Jack Hildyard
Jack Cardiff
Edited by Frederick Wilson
Joan Warwick (uncredited)
Music by Georges Auric
Production
company
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Films (UK)
United Artists (US)
Release dates
11 December 1945 (London)
6 September 1946 (US)
16 September 1946 (UK)
Running time
128 minutes (UK)
123 minutes (US)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$5.2 million [1] or £1.3 million [2] [3]
Box officeUS$2,250,000 (US rentals) [4]
815,007 admissions (France) [5]
£350,000 (US$1.4 million) (UK) [3]

Caesar and Cleopatra is a 1945 British Technicolor film directed by Gabriel Pascal and starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains. [6] Some scenes were directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, who took no formal credit. 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 Eagle-Lion Distributors.

Contents

Upon release, Caesar and Cleopatra failed to earn back its colossal budget. John Bryan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction. [7]

Plot

Aging Julius Caesar takes possession of the Egyptian capital city of Alexandria and tries to resolve a feud between the young princess Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy. Caesar develops a special relationship with Cleopatra and teaches her how to use her royal power.

Cast

Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra Vivien Leigh - Cleopatra.jpg
Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra

Production

Filmed in Technicolor with lavish sets, the production was reported to be the most expensive film ever made at the time, costing £1,278,000 (or £49.8 million at 2019 value), or US$5.15 million (or US$66.7 million at inflation-adjusted value) at contemporary exchange rates. [8] Caesar and Cleopatra held that record until Duel in the Sun was produced in 1946.

Director Gabriel Pascal ordered sand from Egypt in order to achieve the proper cinematic colour. The production ran into delays because of wartime restrictions. [9] During the shoot, Vivien Leigh, who was pregnant, tripped and suffered a miscarriage. The incident triggered Leigh's manic depression, leading to her emotional breakdown, and halted production for five weeks. [1]

The film was described as a "box office stinker" at the time and almost ended Pascal's career. It was the first Shaw film made in colour, and the last film version of a Shaw play during his lifetime. After Shaw's death in 1950, Pascal produced Androcles and the Lion , another Shaw-derived film, in 1952.

Reception

Box office

According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas. [10] [11] According to Kinematograph Weekly, the top British box-office draw for 1946 was The Wicked Lady . [12]

The film earned $1,363,371 in the United States, making it one of the more popular British films ever released there, [13] but the film's receipts fell short of initial expectations. Variety estimated that Rank lost $3 million (or $34.5 million at 2022 value) on the film after marketing, distribution, prints, insurance rights, and wages were taken into account. [3] Another account says the loss was £981,678. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivien Leigh</span> British actress (1913–1967)

Vivien Leigh, styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a role she had also played on stage in London's West End in 1949. She also won a Tony Award for her work in the Broadway musical version of Tovarich (1963). Although her career had periods of inactivity, in 1999 the American Film Institute ranked Leigh as the 16th-greatest female movie star of classic Hollywood cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleopatra</span> Queen of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic-period state in the Mediterranean and of the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Her first language was Koine Greek, and she was the only known Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Simmons</span> British actress and singer (1929–2010)

Jean Merilyn Simmons was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Britain during and after the Second World War, followed mainly by Hollywood films from 1950 onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart Granger</span> British actor (1913-1993)

Stewart Granger was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.

<i>Samson and Delilah</i> (1949 film) Film by Cecil B. DeMille

Samson and Delilah is a 1949 American romantic biblical drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures. It depicts the biblical story of Samson, a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair, and his love for Delilah, the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret, and then betrays him to the Philistines. It stars Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles, George Sanders as the Saran, Angela Lansbury as Semadar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Prince Ahtur.

<i>Carry On Cleo</i> 1964 British comedy film by Gerald Thomas

Carry On Cleo is a 1964 British historical comedy film, the tenth in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, and Jim Dale are present and Connor made his last appearance until his return in Carry On Up the Jungle six years later. Joan Sims returned to the series for the first time since Carry On Regardless three years earlier. Sims would now appear in every Carry On up to Carry On Emmannuelle in 1978, making her the most prolific actress in the series. Jon Pertwee makes the first of his four appearances in the series. The title role is played by Amanda Barrie in her second and last Carry On. Along with Carry On Sergeant and Carry On Screaming!, its original posters were reproduced by the Royal Mail on stamps to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Carry On series in June 2008. The film was followed by Carry On Cowboy 1965.

<i>The Wicked Lady</i> 1945 film

The Wicked Lady is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who becomes a highwaywoman for the excitement. The film had one of the largest audiences for a film of its period, 18.4 million.

<i>London Town</i> (1946 film) 1946 British film

London Town is a 1946 Technicolor musical film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Sid Field and Petula Clark, generally regarded as one of the biggest flops in the history of British cinema.

Pothinus or Potheinos, a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius Caesar according to some sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis L. Sullivan</span> English actor

Francis Loftus Sullivan was an English film and stage actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriel Pascal</span> Hungarian film producer

Gabriel Pascal was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom.

<i>Cleopatra</i> (1963 film) 1963 film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Cleopatra is a 1963 American epic historical drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book The Life and Times of Cleopatra by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Appian. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role. Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Landau also appear in major roles. It chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra, the young queen of Egypt, to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.

<i>Cleopatra</i> (1934 film) 1934 film by Cecil B. DeMille

Cleopatra is a 1934 American epic film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures. A retelling of the story of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the screenplay was written by Waldemar Young and Vincent Lawrence and was based on Bartlett Cormack's adaptation of historical material. Claudette Colbert stars as Cleopatra, Warren William as Julius Caesar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Mark Antony.

<i>Caesar and Cleopatra</i> (play) Play by George Bernard Shaw

Caesar and Cleopatra is a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw that depicts a fictionalized account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It was first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed in a single staged reading at Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 March 1899, to secure the copyright. The play was produced in New York in 1906 and in London at the Savoy Theatre in 1907.

<i>Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra</i> 2002 French film

Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra is a 2002 French/German fantasy comedy film written and directed by Alain Chabat and adapted from the comic book series Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Based on the book Asterix and Cleopatra, which had previously been adapted into a 1968 animated film. A sequel to Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999), it is the second installment in the Asterix film series.

<i>The Deep Blue Sea</i> (1955 film) 1955 British film

The Deep Blue Sea is a 1955 British drama film directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More, and produced by London Films and released by Twentieth Century Fox. The picture was based on the 1952 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esme Percy</span> English actor

Saville Esmé Percy was an English actor who specialized in the plays of G.B. Shaw and appeared in 40 films between 1930 and 1956. He was born in London and died in Brighton.

<i>Men of Two Worlds</i> 1946 British film

Men of Two Worlds is a 1946 British Technicolor drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Robert Adams. The screenplay concerns an African music student who returns home to battle a witch doctor for control over his tribe.

<i>Worms Eye View</i> 1951 British film by Jack Raymond

Worm's Eye View is a 1951 British Technicolor comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Ronald Shiner and Diana Dors. Based on the 1945 play of the same name by R.F. Delderfield, it was produced by Henry Halsted and Byron Films.

Rufio was an officer of the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar. In 47 BC he was appointed by Caesar as commander-in-chief of the three Roman legions that were stationed in Egypt.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Steinberg, Jay S. "Caesar and Cleopatra" (article) TCM.com
  2. "The London Letter: Loan Vote Prospects" The Scotsman [Edinburgh, Scotland] 13 Dec 1945: 4.
  3. 1 2 3 Staff (30 October 1946) "'Cleo' $3,000,000 in the red", Variety , p.3
  4. Staff (8 January 1947) "60 Top Grossers of 1946" Variety p,8
  5. Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
  6. "Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)". Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  7. "946 (19th) Art Direction (Color) Caesar and Cleopatra John Bryan" [ permanent dead link ]
  8. "Noteworthy Films Made In U.K." The West Australian . Perth: National Library of Australia. 17 January 1953. p. 27. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  9. "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945) home video review, TCM.com
  10. Murphy, Robert (2003) Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 p.209
  11. Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 258.
  12. Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout: reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 232.
  13. Street, Sarah (2002) Transatlantic Crossings: British Feature Films in the USA, Continuum, p.94
  14. Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 22.

Bibliography