Movies That You Should Have Seen...But Probably Didn't - Cleopatra

The Legend of Liz Part 1

Before Brangelina, there was Liz and Dick—Hollywood’s greatest royal couple, who managed to spontaneously entertain and enlighten the public even as their films and tabloid-spiced marriage fell apart. One of the great travesties of the past Academy Awards is it gave the passing of Liz mere seconds rather than the full commercial segment it deserved—for who was a more iconic Hollywood star? Single handedly rescuing studios, proving that star quality will forever trump mere acting ability, surviving a shocking number of physical ailments that would have knocked over your average horse, and even showing future rebels with causes how to stare down the Pope.

Taylor’s storied marriage to Burton proved initially to be both beneficial creatively and tremendous in terms of box office. Taylor and Burton rewrote the rules as to throwing out traditional norms and surviving. While Ingrid Bergman was condemned by congress for dumping her hubby and running off with Rosselini, Taylor single handed changed American morality and prepared it for the summer of love by not once but TWICE snitching a married man and improving box office for it. Pneumonia allowed the public a get-out-of-jail-free card for swiping Eddie Fisher from Debbie Reynolds (and even handing Taylor an Oscar for surviving the disease more than for Butterfield 8), but who could forgive her for stealing Burton? Everyone, it turns out.

Their legacy of films is better than Brangelina’s, but still not as distinguished as it could be. However, in the name of preserving a cultural legacy, let’s take a look at the movie that started it all, Cleopatra (1963). Cleopatra is a movie that is wrongly criticized for being a massive failure (well, admittedly it DID lose money, but in today’s adjusted dollars, it made over half a BILLION—not too shabby—it’s real sin was COSTING almost $800MM). It is the last of the great biblical epics. Yet, its critical reputation has remained controversial owing, primarily to one scene: Cleopatra’s entrance. Admittedly, this needed to be a great scene as it would let audiences know what $800 million wrought. And it is not that. It is klunky and awkward, with Liz rolling out of the carpet like a too-fat cat leaping from its perch atop an old school TV. But after that, the movie sails right along on its (admittedly overlong) path. Taylor shows her moxie by even making an extremely boring and overproduced entrance into Rome bearable by winking after all the pomp and circumstance—single handedly undermining it. Rex Harrison was reportedly apopleptic at Taylor’s lack of preparation. He should have been. She completely wipes him off the screen in all of their scenes together (except for the aforementioned roll out of the carpet). He had every reason to be upset at her ability to overcome his years of training by just Being. And remember, Sexy Rexy was no slouch in the scandal department himself, causing no less than two women to commit suicide (Carol Landis and, later, Rachel Roberts).

Taylor’s romance with Burton’s Antony is sublime. Some real life couples have a difficult time conveying their real life passion on screen (Newman and Woodward are an example—their passion is something we often have to take on trust). No so here! We can certainly see why Eddie Fisher had to hightail it back to the states and Sybill Burton realized quickly this was one on-set romance that would not cool. The public, however, was not ready to have a noir-type narrative of a domineering woman completely castrating a man--in an historic epic. Burton superbly conveys the frustration of an accomplished man who realized he is but the plaything of a more powerful woman—and knowing he can do nothing about it but give in. Taylor here demonstrates what real feminine power is, long before Gloria Steinem stepped in. There is no movie quite like Cleopatra in its deft blend of overproduction, overliteracy, and overcamp. The crowds are real; the wit, genuine; and the costumes and sets just what a West Hollywood habituee would want them to be. Today, removed from the hubbub, we can enjoy Cleopatra for the fun that it is—and all done without a whiff of CGI.

The new region-free Blu-Ray, which for some inexplicable reason is not available in the US at this time (but is from England and Japan) is a stunner. It looks almost 3D—probably from being transferred directly from the 70mm negative. Unlike the over DNR’d then re-grained controversial Fox transfers of the past couple of years (Patton, Longest Day), this one looks natural and what Blu Ray should be about.