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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2021 5:52:48 GMT
I’m thinking I’ll finally get around to watching this one soon. I guess I’ve put it off because it doesn’t exactly get rave reviews. But I just can’t say no to a golden age sword and sandal epic shot in 70mm.
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Post by OldAussie on Jun 1, 2021 8:32:58 GMT
I've seen the 4 hour and a bit version quite a few times so obviously I'm a fan. A 3 hour version played on television back in the 70s and 80s but hopefully that's gone forever.
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Post by marshamae on Jun 1, 2021 11:26:50 GMT
I broke down and watched it a few years ago. I thought the big draw was going to be Burton and Taylor. Actually there were several very good performances.Taylor was spectacular, especially in the scene where an oracle is predicting Caesar’s murder. Roddy Macdowell and Rex Harrison were very good. The script called for Octavian to be a snake. Not sure how historically accurate that is. It’s possible to admire the great Marc Antony without his rivals being slime balls. But it’s the only script weakness.
And then there is the spectacle, an amazing display worthy of Ancient Egypt and Rome. Be sure to let us hear what you think.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 1, 2021 13:37:48 GMT
The money is certainly onscreen. The sets and costumes look spectacular. I found the dynamics between Taylor and Burton and Rex Harrison to be on the melodramatic side, but perhaps that's what everyone was kind of hoping for. Given the first two's much publicized relationship.
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Post by phantomparticle on Jun 2, 2021 2:04:41 GMT
I saw it in a theatre in '63 and the only thing that kept me awake was the girl I was with.
I haven't seen it since, but in all fairness I should give it a second go around now that I have a large screen tv.
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Seto
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Post by Seto on Jun 3, 2021 11:01:40 GMT
I saw it in a theatre in '63 and the only thing that kept me awake was the girl I was with. I haven't seen it since, but in all fairness I should give it a second go around now that I have a large screen tv. Did you see Psycho is the theatre upon its initial release?
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Post by marshamae on Jun 3, 2021 11:17:22 GMT
I saw it in a theatre in '63 and the only thing that kept me awake was the girl I was with. I haven't seen it since, but in all fairness I should give it a second go around now that I have a large screen tv. Did you see Psycho is the theatre upon its initial release? Lol my sister saw psycho first run. She was so frightened she bit her dates hand.
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Post by mattgarth on Jun 3, 2021 13:12:03 GMT
Two vivid memories of the day I saw PSYCHO: __________________________________________ 1) I was standing on a long line outside the theater for the very first area showing of the film. A car drove by and a wiseguy passenger leaned out of the window and shouted out to the crowd: "Anthony Perkins is the killer!" 2) Arriving home late that night after viewing (and being terrified by) the film, I climbed up the stairs to the porch -- only to be greeted in the darkness by my elderly grandmother turning the soil of the porch plants -- using a huge butcher's knife from the kitchen!
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lune7000
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 3, 2021 19:45:03 GMT
Cleopatra is considered one of the biggest bombs in movie history- it is the only film that nearly bankrupted an entire studio (WB)
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 3, 2021 21:27:46 GMT
I didn't care for it at all as peplums go. I don't think Taylor is impressive as a lead in this sort of thing. Not a fan at all. I remember Harrison and McDowall more fondly.
SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON starring Yvonne Furneaux is a more enjoyable version of the same idea. It seems to have been the trend of the time--Joan Collins did a peplum-Esther and the Queen-I haven't seen it but been meaning to. There's also Cleopatra's Daughter with Debra Paget and Nefertiri-Queen of the Nile with Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price, and those were a couple of years earlier.
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Post by claudius on Jun 4, 2021 9:23:55 GMT
I've always been fond of it, regardless of what the critics say. I will say I prefer the first Act, with Rex Harrison's Caesar commanding the scenes, dropping witticisms and matching them with Taylor. Aside from the trinity, there is Roddy MacDowall, Andrew Keir, Martin Landau, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Pamela Brown, and early parts for Francesca Annis and Jean Marsh (Pre-ALL IN THE FAMILY Carrol O' Connor has a part as Casca). I like the spectacle: the battle scene at the Moon Gate with the Turtle formation, Cleopatra's triumphant entry into Rome, and the Battle of Actium. Top Alex North musical score.
To be sure, the film suffers from a lot of cutting, due to Zanuck refusing Mankiewicz's original plan to release the film as two movies released a year apart (he felt the present "Liz and Dick" popularity would be a big boost for the film's success). As a result, there are several deletions that could confuse the viewer: -Who is Titus the corpse? The Deleted scenes had him as an influential moneylender and Cleopatra's minion for her plans. With Egyptian Gold, she had Titus the moneylender make many loans with the Roman Senate (including Antony), bribing them into welcoming her to Rome. She was to use him to help make Caesar king, but the Romans made threats on Titus. Portrayed by Finlay Currie, he goes to Cleoptra and asks her leave. -When Antony meets Cleopatra at the Barge, he looks angry. There was a cut scene of Antony and Cleopatra playing a game of wits on who will be the last to appear at the Banquet. Both waited quite a while for the other to make the first step, leading to the guests getting bored and restless. Eventually, Siogenies causes a false announcement of his Queen's entrance. Antony gets the message and arrives at the barge, only to find out he had been had. -Antony fighting Octavian on water instead of his own suited environment on land. A deleted scene had Octavian explaining to Agrippa that Cleopatra is manipulating Antony. She wants to make this her show. If Antony fights on land and wins, it will be his Victory. By fighting on water, it will be Cleopatra's. -Cleopatra takes her fall with acceptance. The first Act showed her reliance on Oracle and the Gods promoting her destiny (her first scene- cut from the film- showed her Oracle predicting Caesar's coming). A deleted scene on the eve of Actium, Cleopatra tries to contact the Gods. All she hears is laughter, causing her to cover her ears and panic. But the message is clear: the Gods have abandoned her. -After all that emphasis about locking herself in the Tomb, when the Romans arrive, they are now inside it. A deleted scene had Roman soldiers climb it and capture Cleopatra and her maidens.
Some context on Cleopatra's "My Son!" viewing the oracle-vision of Caesar's Assassination. Brutus was rumored to be Caesar's illegitimate son (the film comments about this). According to Plutarch, Caesar's dying words to Brutus was "You too, Brutus my son?" Cleo is just repeating his (audio off) words.
Although one act of Octavian's cruelty was exaggerated, the historical accounts do have him poison Rome against Antony, steal Antony's will from the Vestal Temple (a big NoNo in Roman culture), have Caesarion killed, and plan a degrading procession for the defeated Cleopatra. There is a bit of contrast between the ruthless power-climbing Octavian and the noble Augustus. And Mankiewicz wasn't clean on Antony either. The Tarsus scene where Rufio tells a disinterested Antony about their present situation was to begin with a scene of Antony dumping a married princess he seduced the night before.
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Post by mikef6 on Jun 4, 2021 15:25:44 GMT
Two vivid memories of the day I saw PSYCHO: __________________________________________ 1) I was standing on a long line outside the theater for the very first area showing of the film. A car drove by and a wiseguy passenger leaned out of the window and shouted out to the crowd: "Anthony Perkins is the killer!" 2) Arriving home late that night after viewing (and being terrified by) the film, I climbed up the stairs to the porch -- only to be greeted in the darkness by my elderly grandmother turning the soil of the porch plants -- using a huge butcher's knife from the kitchen! I have heard of movies given people nightmares. That only happened to me once and that was the night after I had seen "Psycho" for the first time. BUT...I didn't dream that I was in the movie and Norma Bates was after me. Just watching the movie had shaken me so badly that I dreamed I was in the theater watching the fruit cellar scene for the first time and almost having a nervous breakdown from it.
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Post by bravomailer on Jun 4, 2021 16:34:16 GMT
If I had seen Psycho in a theater when I was but a lad I'd have been traumatized for a decade.
I've tried to watch Cleopatra but never got through more than fifteen minutes. I call it Ice Station Egypt.
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Post by teleadm on Jun 4, 2021 19:10:08 GMT
Tried to re-watch in many time, and it's a great movie until they kill Julius Caesar, then it dies
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Post by phantomparticle on Jun 5, 2021 1:18:53 GMT
I saw Psycho at my local theatre in 1960. Went in late. Took my seat and looked up to see Janet Leigh getting butchered in a shower. Somebody should have warned me. Stayed after the finish to watch the first half that I missed. Didn't have nightmares. But, man, what a way to begin watching a movie!
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Post by Isapop on Jun 5, 2021 1:34:32 GMT
I saw Psycho at my local theatre in 1960. Went in late. Took my seat and looked up to see Janet Leigh getting butchered in a shower. Somebody should have warned me. Stayed after the finish to watch the first half that I missed. Didn't have nightmares. But, man, what a way to begin watching a movie! Your local theater must have been lax in enforcing Hitchcock's "No Admittance After The Movie Begins" policy. www.openculture.com/2012/07/alfred_hitchcocks_rules_for_watching_ipsychoi.html
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Post by bravomailer on Jun 5, 2021 1:40:33 GMT
I saw Psycho at my local theatre in 1960. Went in late. Took my seat and looked up to see Janet Leigh getting butchered in a shower. Somebody should have warned me. Stayed after the finish to watch the first half that I missed. Didn't have nightmares. But, man, what a way to begin watching a movie! I entered a theater rather early to see Von Ryan's Express and immediately saw this:
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Post by phantomparticle on Jun 5, 2021 2:09:19 GMT
The management wasn't going to turn down my money just because rolly polly Alfred in his million dollar Hollywood mansion decreed otherwise.
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Post by mattgarth on Jun 5, 2021 4:31:53 GMT
At the 1963 Academy Awards ceremony, James Stewart was the presenter for the Cinematography category.
As he read out the names of the Nominees --
"Leon Shamley for THE CARDINAL, Leon Shamley for CLEOPATRA ..."
He added: "Gosh, there's two years out of a man's life right there!"
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Post by petrolino on Jun 5, 2021 4:54:14 GMT
Elizabeth Taylor rolled out from a rug.
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