Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
The aging Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen. Adapted by George Bernard Shaw from his own play.
- Gabriel Pascal
- George Bernard Shaw
Rating: 6.1/10 by 55 users
Alternative Title:
Country:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Runtime: 02 hour 18 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: egypt, roman empire, based on play or musical, cleopatra, historical figure, julius caesar
A gloriously spectacular but rather soulless adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's telling of the relationship between Julius Caesar - an engagingly mischievous effort from Claude Rains and the young and ostensibly inexperienced Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh). The story depicts the games he plays with her, and then she - more successfully - with him as their unlikely romance blossoms and an intricate power play takes shape. Cecil Parker and and on-form Flora Robson bring some vitality to the project, but otherwise this features a really rather stilted screenplay and whilst Stewart Granger does his best to inject some action into this verbose theatrical enterprise, it never really exceeds the sum of it's parts. Great to look at though. The costumes and sets are first class but it's not quite got the vigour to carry it all off.