Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) User Reviews (59)

Leigh is brilliant

[jem132 · 7/10 · 21 April 2006]

Despite all it's shortcomings, I throughly enjoyed 'Caesar and Cleopatra', the 1945 filmed version of George Bernard Shaw's play.

It's essentially a stage-bound production, with Leigh reprising her role as Cleopatra from the stage version. Leigh is brilliant in the role of the feisty girl queen. Given that Leigh was in her early 30's at the time of production, she did a great job of portraying a very young girl. Leigh's seductive innocence, squeals and fits of temper make for a very believable character who couldn't possibly be older than 15 or 16. Claude Rains is great in a leading role as Caesar. It's a calm, measured performance and he shows great command of Shaw's dialogue. The relationship between the two is depicted as a father-daughter bond, with Caesar guiding Cleopatra to becoming a 'real queen'.

Cleopatra's transformation is superbly handled by Leigh. At the start she is a frightened girl hiding in the shadows of the Sphinx, looking very young and unassuming. Caesar's arrival heralds the beginning of a new era for Egypt, and Cleopatra. From her gleeful whipping of a slave to a murderous plot, Leigh is never anything but convincing. She looks the part in suitably regal attire and dramatic make-up. She does seem a bit 'white' to be the Egyptian queen with Greek-Macedonian origins (Leigh is very pale throughout the whole film), but Leigh's cat-like smile and gleaming eyes both scream seductive ruler.

Leigh's performance is even more remarkable given the fact that at the time of shooting she was enduring great personal difficulty. She miscarried Olivier's child on set (tripping and falling heavily in the slave-whipping scene to be precise)and fell into depression afterwards. She played the 'Kill, Kill, Kill!' scene after returning to the set from the hospital, and others on set were reportedly uncomfortable with the depth of her acting and conviction in this scene. She appeared a changed woman, as Cleopatra was.

One must appreciate the attempted scale of Pascal's production. In war-time, poverty-stricken Britain in the 1940's making a film was a hard task, let along making a grand one. The Technicolour is slightly off but still effective, and it is a decent attempt a glossy epic. However, the 'cast of thousands' appear to be just milling around with nothing to do, and it never gets over it's stagy outlook.

C & C is very witty, thanks to Shaw's dialogue. Leigh shows an unurtured gift for comedy in this one, although Shaw had it that Vivien was playing it all wrong. I think she played every scene right. Have a look and judge for yourself.

7/10

Intrigues and character arcs.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 17 September 2009]

You're liable to get the impression from the first couple of scenes that this is stagy and maybe without too much point. Claude Raines as the newly arrived conqueror meets Vivien Leigh as the air-headed tittering adolescent Cleopatra in front of the Sphinx and under the Egyptian stars. It's all very cute.

Well, it remains stagy. After all, it's a play. But it's hardly pointless. Raines remains the man he first appears, rather gentle, bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders, good-natured, able to suffer some twitting, stern but fair, endearingly sensitive about being middle aged and losing his hair.

But Cleopatra -- wow! When she meets Raines, Vivien Leigh is wraith like and pale and imperiously beautiful without actually knowing it. At first, she's just a kid, jealous of her husband, who is her younger brother, who rules Egypt as Ptolemy -- or at least he did, until Raines takes the reins. But Leigh's character evolves. Her childishness, her giggling and choking on tears, is at first an aspect of her inner nature but later becomes a tactical ploy used deliberately in disarming enemies. She turns pretty clever, and not in a good way. Her whimsy turns to murder. She enchants Raines, but Raines is no fool. He treats her like a slightly reckless daughter until, after she has a rival assassinated, he dresses her down. But in the end he sails away, leaving her in the hands of his Executive Officer, and promising to send her a handsome younger man named Marc Antony.

Aside from "Pygmalion," I was never able to get WITH George Bernard Shaw, whose play this is. The two or three of his plays that I've seen seemed preachy and discursive. But if you get past the opening, this one is pretty good. Of course, Shaw being the rational moralist he was, it's about more than Caesar and Cleopatra and who's going to rule Egypt.

Cecil Parker is Caesar's worried slave and first-hand man, Brittanus, "an Islander," meaning he's from Britain and worships the Druids or something. Shaw has a good time with him, poking fun at his homeland. Well, I guess Shaw was Irish, but identified more with Britain. Parker's Brit is a mostly comic figure who can't swim. He's aghast when he is asked to leave Cleopatra with a man, unattended by a chaperon. "Shocked!", he exclaims, in a tone copyrighted by Claude Raines a few years earlier in "Casablanca." But then, later, someone asks Raines, "What, is Caesar in despair?" And Raines replies, "He who has never hoped cannot despair," which either Albert Camus ripped off from Shaw, or independently invented. Kids -- don't try to apply that maxim at home. I did, and it doesn't work.

What a cast! Almost everybody who was anybody is in this thing in parts small or large. Stewart Granger is present as the tall, dark, handsome, Sicilian Apollodorus. He's the only person in the film with an evident sun tan and wardrobe has him decked out in embarrassingly brief garments. Stanley Holloway goes almost unnoticed as a Roman soldier with, I think, one line. (He was a sublime grave digger two years later in Olivier's "Hamlet.") Too many other familiar names to list, though I should mention that I think I glimpsed a chubby teen-aged Jean Simmons as a harp player who had no lines at all. If her movie career had stopped at this point, mine would have been better than hers. I had a dozen parts with no lines at all.

All of those performances, by the way, are quite good, even if they seem a little hammy at times, as if this were a filmed play and the actors were trying for the balcony. The sets are both stylized and stylish.

And it's both amusing and dramatic without being in the least preachy.

Box Office Stinker

[JamesHitchcock · 5/10 · 9 November 2016]

When this film was recently shown on British television I recorded it on the rather naïve assumption that it would be a grand epic of Classical antiquity, something along the lines of the famously expensive Elizabeth Taylor "Cleopatra", still often cited as the costliest film ever made when values are adjusted for inflation. Of course, "Caesar and Cleopatra" is nothing of the sort; the British cinema never really had the budget to copy Hollywood in this respect although some European film-makers, especially in Italy, certainly tried to.

The film was certainly expensive by the standards of 1945; indeed, it was reported to be the most expensive film ever made in Britain at that date, costing well over a million pounds. It is not, however, a Hollywood-style epic but a cinematic adaptation of the play by George Bernard Shaw. While in the Egyptian capital city of Alexandria, Julius Caesar becomes involved in a power-struggle between Queen Cleopatra and the backers of her younger brother (and husband) Ptolemy. In real life Caesar and Cleopatra were lovers, but here their relationship is portrayed not as a romantic or a sexual one. The middle-aged Caesar is shown more as a father-figure to the youthful Cleopatra, a mentor who tutors her in the arts of politics and government. (And, given the intrigue-ridden nature of the Egyptian court, these are certainly areas where she could do with a little tuition).

Towards the end of his long life- this film was made five years before his death- Shaw was a revered figure of English literature, regarded as the nearest thing the twentieth century had produced to a Shakespeare. In more recent years this reputation has faded somewhat, partly because his plays are not always very dramatic. He can be stronger on philosophy and political theory than on action or dramatic tension, and even though his contributions to political and philosophical debates are often expressed in witty and vivid dialogue, the reader (and to an even greater extent the theatre-goer) is sometimes left with the impression that Shaw's linguistic gifts might have been better employed in penning political tracts than in writing for the stage.

Nevertheless, some of Shaw's plays have been turned into very good films, notably the 1938 "Pygmalion" with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller, or the 1941 "Major Barbara", also with Hiller and Robert Morley. (One could also include "My Fair Lady" in this list, but that is really second-hand Shaw, a musical based upon "Pygmalion" which owes much of its success to its songs). There have, unfortunately, also been a number of failures, such as "The Millionairess", which relied too heavily on Sophia Loren's glamour and the comic talents of Peter Sellers (which were not too much in evidence) and, although supposedly a comedy, ended up about as funny as a two-hour speech at a TUC conference.

"Caesar and Cleopatra" must also rank among the less successful Shaw adaptations. A lot of its million-pound-plus budget seems to have been spent on its lavish sets- economic and political considerations in 1945 precluded location shooting in Egypt itself- but from a modern perspective they seem like part of the problem, giving the whole production a very artificial, stagey look. It is said that the director Gabriel Pascal ordered sand from Egypt to get the colour right, but when everything else looks so artificial a gesture like that seems like an unnecessary luxury. The stagey impression is strengthened by the dialogue, both in the unnatural way it is spoken and, at times, in the way it is written. (Shaw could sometimes succumb to the delusion that if he was the twentieth-century Shakespeare it was incumbent on him to write in the style of his august predecessor, particularly when dealing with historical subjects).

The best acting performance comes from Claude Rains as Caesar. (I normally think of Rains as a supporting actor in roles like his French police chief in "Casablanca", so it was nice to see him in a leading role for once). This is not the Caesar of history, who was doubtless a lot more ruthless than he is portrayed here, but it is Caesar as Shaw wrote him, an essentially decent man whose undoubted sense of Realpolitik is tempered by his instincts towards humanity and clemency.

Vivien Leigh, however, is well below her best here. She may have been one of Britain's leading actresses of the period, but seems quite wrong for the part. She was 32 at the time, and never seems convincing as Cleopatra, whom Shaw envisaged as a kittenish teenager. A thirty-something Cleopatra would not, I am sure, have required any lessons from Caesar in statecraft.

Of the supporting cast, the best is Francis L. Sullivan as Ptolemy's wily and ambitious tutor Pothinus. The young Stewart Granger seems to have wandered in from another film, possibly one of the swashbuckling historical adventures which were later to become his stock-in-trade. Flora Robson has a thankless task as Cleopatra's nurse Ftatateeta, a character seemingly invented for the sole purpose of raising a laugh every time one of the other characters mispronounces her absurd name. Cecil Parker specialised in playing upper-middle-class English gentlemen and here he plays Caesar's slave Britannus as an upper-middle-class English gentleman transported back in time to Ancient Egypt, something which is never remotely convincing.

The film was described at the time as a "box office stinker"; evidently British audiences in the last year of the Second World War wanted something a bit more entertaining and uplifting than this wordy, overlong disquisition on the nature of political power. Some films which were "stinkers" when they first came out have gone on to become classics, but "Caesar and Cleopatra" seems to have gone in the opposite direction; today it is a little-known, rarely-seen curiosity. 5/10

Ranks with Pygmalian as a Shaw film classic

[audioeng · 19 October 2000]

Shaw was a wonderful historian with a deadly eye for irony. Claude Rains brings off Caesar with withering poise and breezy wit, standing tall above the flashing eye of an Egyptian hurricane named Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh). Caesar's aide-de-camp is an affable bear of a man named Rufio (Basil Sydney), who mainly just keeps his eye on Caesar. Cleopatra is likewise sheltered by her scheming counselor Ftatateeta (Flora Robson), a name that not even Caesar can pronounce. Character actor Cecil Parker as Britannus adds quaintness and serendipity to an already splendid alchemy of spotty characters. The film moves by turns through a narrow skein of classical history as the reliquarian Egyptian world gives way to a streamlined Roman one. Along the way, we witness the contending parties encompassed and entangled in a delightful pantheon of wit, irony, satire, morals, manners, and adventure. Overall, a tremendously facile projection of one of England's sharpest satirical voices, G.B. Shaw.

It's All in the Script

[rajah524-3 · 7/10 · 18 December 2008]

Shaw's hardly a speck on the windshield of American cultural consciousness anymore. Too bad. "The Devil's Disciple," "Major Barbara," "Arms and the Man," "Candida," "You Never Can Tell." Witty, clever, insightful, intriguing... a century and more later.

For those who haven't discovered him yet, this colorful, fast-paced rendition of "C&C" makes a nifty portal. The film -looks- like "Quo Vadis" or "Samson and Delilah" (of more or less the same vintage). It even looks like the Taylor-Burton-Harrison marathon done almost two decades later.

But it doesn't -feel- like -any- of those. Shaw always had a great story to tell -- and a something worthwhile to -say- -- and he (or his characters) almost invariably told and said it well. One could hardly call the 1934 or 1963 films "insightful romps." This, however...

I've been a sucker for Vivien Leigh since I watched her whip the boys into shape in "GWTW," but as interesting as she was there, she's miles beyond Scarlet O'Hara here. Shaw gave -his- Cleo a far more complex character than Young or Mankiewicz gave their Cleo's; this alabaster Leigh is both adolescent and guileful. But to Rains's conflicted but self-suspect Caesar, she's about as transparent as that look-alike, late-night, hottie-cum-biblical-scholar who inherited Gene Scott's TV ministry.

The relationships here are no different from those in the Mankiewicz mess, but they move along in far more sophisticated -- and entertaining -- fashion here. We already know the resolution, it's the unfolding of the drama that matters.

Rains ("Casablanca," "The Invisible Man") and Leigh bring the wise, amused, self-effacing old man and the desperate, manipulative, narcissistic young woman in Shaw's play far more credibly to life than was the case in the DeMille or Manciewicz films. And supporters like Robson, Granger and the rest add plenty. But as in any Shaw play, it's the playwright's sophisticated revelations that matter.

The "big success" narcissist who thinks a "trophy wife" is a good idea might learn plenty from a trip to Blockbuster and a two-dollar investment.

A filmed stage performance that feels like one

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 1 August 2020]

British Technicolor adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's historical play, from Eagle-Lion and director Gabriel Pascal. Roman conqueror Julius Caesar (Claude Rains) arrives in Alexandria, Egypt to supervise the occupation of the newly-acquired territory. He meets young queen Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh), a submissive girl without the skill or training to wield power. Caesar decides to personally tutor her in the ways of ruling others, while also fending off various uprisings.

This was the most expensive British film ever made at the time, and it looks it, with large, impressive sets, dozens of extras, colorful costumes, and elaborate set-pieces. The film was scripted by Shaw, and it retains the "Shakespeare-lite" quality to the dialogue. It may take modern ears a bit to get used to, but it's more accessible than the Bard's densest prose. I thought Rains was very good as older, wiser and often bemused Caesar. Stewart Granger is youthful and heroic, and Flora Robson is a scene-stealer as a powerhouse of a nurse to Cleopatra. The weakest link is Vivien Leigh, who I never bought into here. I read after watching that she suffered a miscarriage and a mental breakdown while filming, so that explains a lot of the uneven nature of her screen work. Director Pascal does a poor job of opening up the play, despite his big budget. There are a scattered few cinematic shots, but most of it feels liked a filmed stage performance. The movie earned an Oscar nomination for Best Color Art Direction.

This Film Surprised Me

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 15 February 2008]

Enjoyed seeing this great film classic from the Year 1945 with a fantastic cast of great veteran actors and stars who were just starting their careers. Claude Rains played the role as Julius Caesar who in this film was a wise old fox who is very forgiving for many reasons and stumbles upon Cleopatra, (Viven Leigh) in the desert and she does not know that he is Julius Caesar. Caesar charms Cleopatra and they become good friends, and Caesar teaches her how to rule her country of Egypt and tries to solve her problems with her servants and mostly her brother who wants to be king and ruler. There is plenty of comedy in this film which surprised me, because I had no idea it is really a film loaded with funny scenes and excellent acting by the entire cast. Stewart Granger gave a great supporting role along with Michael Rennie. If you look close you will see Jean Simmons playing as a harpist who later on in real life married Stewart Granger. Lots of fun to view this film from the past. Enjoy

This is the sort of film that can make kids truly HATE history!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 13 August 2013]

Historically speaking, "Caesar and Cleopatra" is not especially good. In particular, it shows Cleopatra VII (the famous one) as a very, very weak woman who needs good 'ol Julius Caesar to come along and teach her how to be an autocrat. In the meantime, she is a wishy-washy woman who even lets her servants mistreat her. In reality, Cleopatra was a pragmatic woman--and a scary one at that. Her brother stood in her way, so she had him killed--not exactly the behavior you'd expect from the cute version of Cleo you see in this film, that's for sure! If it wasn't for this, the film also suffered in several other ways. The dialog was pretty awful--stilted, silly and utterly ridiculous. And, the acting, at times, was pretty bad. Julius Caesar was played more like Santa Claus than a world dictator! And, why have a 30-something year-old woman play a lady who should have been about 14.

The bottom line is that the history teacher in me disliked the film, but even if this was not a problem, the characters and dialog were pretty bad. It looked nice...but was pretty bad.

Rains a Perfect Caesar in this Magnificent Shavian Spectacle

[jacksflicks · 10/10 · 24 March 2001]

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar carry on an arch flirtation, while spouting epigrams courtesy of George Bernard Shaw, in this literate, exuberant and thoroughly enjoyable movie. "Caesar and Cleopatra" stands out against the typical British production, which tends to be drab and morose. (Other notable exceptions are the works of Pressberger & Powell, the Korda brothers and Olivier.)

Claude Rains is perfectly cast as the cynical, world-weary and "ready for the knife" Julius Caesar. I'm not sure if it's makeup, or perhaps lighting, but Rains's face looks like it was taken from one of those memorial portraits in the Roman catacombs. In any case, while it may be Caesar's countenance we see, it's Shaw's voice we hear. I love Claude Rains in everything, but there's an intimacy with Rains here that makes "Caesar and Cleopatra" one of my Rains favorites.

And Vivian Leigh. What can I say? Her Cleopatra is Scarlett O'Hara, except that while Scarlett's flirtations were matters of the heart, Cleopatra's were purely matters of state. In the beginning Cleopatra is a sheltered, naive...well, princess. By the end, she has learned well at Caesar's knee and possesses the ruthlessness and guile of statecraft - she is a queen.

Another delight is Stewart Granger's swashbuckling Apollodorus, and Flora Robson has a delicious part as Cleopatra's nursemaid Ftatateeta. Robson is well qualified as a tutor of royalty, having herself played Queen Elizabeth in "Fire over England".

Like another classic British spectacle, "The Four Feathers," "Caesar and Cleopatra" is one of the treasures in my film archive which I view repeatedly alone.

Colorful retelling based on George Bernard Shaw play with imposing sets , lavish gowns , and great stars by the handful

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 24 September 2020]

This is a passable historical , overlong epic and nice version based on George Bernard Shaw's play . Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains are awesome but talk alone does not save the movie from slowly sinking into the sands surrounding the Sphinx . At the height of the Roman Civil War , civilised Julius Caesar (Claude Rains) takes control of the city Alexandria in order to resolve a long-running feud between Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) and her brother Ptolemy (Anthony Harvey) . Caesar finds the prospect of romance more tempting than he expected , since Cleopatra is a strange woman who is bright as well as attractive . And for Cleopatra, a friendly relationship with the mighty Caesar may pay dividends in the future . The most lavish picture ever on the screen!. Days of magnificent adventure... nights of maddest revelry... a temptation in Technicolor!. Never before such seductive beauty; such riotous... luxurious... loving and living.

Gorgeous 1945 Technicolour and great English cast . Britain's costliest movie at the time it was made , but failed to persuade cinemagoers to watch it . Setting was a bit like a stage play in terms of dialogue based on George Bernard Shaw's wordy play about Rome's titanic leader and Egypt's young queen . The film relies heavily on their peculiar relationship , as Caesar teaches her how to rule Egypt , the two form a special relationship . As I think the relation between the flirtatious Vivian Leigh still at the height of her beauty and the stately velvet voiced Claude Rains as the most powerful man in the world , managed to make the wordiness agreeable , thoug slow-moving and extremely talking . As Vivien Leigh's interpretation is top notch , likeness to Claude Rains . Both of whom are well assisted by a familar support cast , such as : Stewart Granger , Flora Robson , Francis L. Sullivan , Basil Sydney ,Ernest Thesiger , John Laurie , Felix Aylmer , Anthony Harvey , Cecil Parker , Jane Simmons ,Kay Kendall, some uncredited , among others . Runtime film is overblown , it's a little bit dull but the history aficionados will appeal too much . The dialog , cinematography , and direction combine to cast a potent and charming movie . Imposing sets , lavish costumes , good stars , massive scope , opulent interiors , including great spectacle of crowd scenes well staged . Brilliant costumes and props but the backgrounds were like painted flats ; I suppose that is to be expected with the high lighting requirements of technicolour film. There are also some battle scenes that are breathtaking , including thousands of extras . First range set design , the film is very atmospheric , Roman time is well designed . It contains stunning Technicolor photography by four of the best cameramen in the business : Robert Krasker , Jack Hildyard , Freddie Young , Jack Cardiff , they are the main bonuses to this expensive , leisurely rendition. The motion picture was professionally directed by Gabriel Pascal , but it failed to disguise the ponderous nature of the some tiring recounting and it had a flop at boxoffice . Rating : 6 . Well worth catching.

The actual events are the following ones : It's created the first triumvirate formed by Caesar , Pompeyus and Crasus . Caesar fights Pompeyus who's vanquished in Farsalia . Julius goes to Alejandria , Tolomeo hands over the Pompeyo's head to Caesar who rules over Egypt and gives up the throne to the beautiful and . After that , the out-of-wedlock son of Cleopatra with Caesar is seen to be a threat to his future leadership . Brutus and other Roman legislators scheme the assassination of Caesar . As Julius Caesar is killed by Bruto and Casio . Later on , it happens the second triumvirate : Marc Anthony commands Egypt , Lepido rules Africa and Octavio Augustus governs over Rome and Hispania . Marc Anthony is married to Octavia , Augustus's sister . Then , Marcus Antonius is wedded to Cleopatra , but things don't turn out so well and they are defeated by Octavio Augustus in Actium.

Other films dealing with the infamous Egyptian Queen and her Roman lovers saga are as follows : Silent version ¨Cleopatra¨ with Theda Bara ; ¨Cleopatra¨ by Cecil B De Mille with Claudette Colbert , Warren William and Henry Wilconson ; ¨Cleopatra¨ by Joseph L . Mankiewicz with Elizabeth Taylor , Rex Harrison and Richard Burton and TV adaptation ¨Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra¨ with Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman and TV Mini-Series by Frank Roddan with Leonor Varela , Billy Zane , Timothy Dalton ,Rupert Graves .

A total stinker

[saint_barbie · 2/10 · 1 September 2006]

It's very hard to understand why this film is so beloved of IMDb commentators. I'm a fan of Shaw, Rains and Leigh, but I found the pacing tedious, the screenplay lightweight and trivial, and the performances ridiculous. Leigh, normally so luminous, is like fingernails being scraped down a blackboard in this performance. She plays the Queen of Egypt as a spoilt fourth-former from Mallory Towers. Rains attempts Julius Caesar in the manner of a mildly camp scoutmaster. There is no chemistry between the two of them, and only a slight whiff of rather dubious romance predicated on a sort of indulgent father/daddy's little girl relationship. The racial stereotyping of the characters may be a mark of the film's time, but it's no less tiresome for that. Black Africans are represented as wide-eyed, wordless imbeciles; Flora Robson is half-heartedly blacked up as the evil, controlling Ftatateeta; the Egyptian aristocrats are all played by white actors as if they came from Kensington.

Caesar and Cleopatra are two of the greatest figures of history, and it is hard to imagine that they could be done less justice than they are here. The whole thing comes off like a badly-improvised school play, with the occasional hints of sexism and racism doing absolutely nothing to cheer the mood.

A Spoiled Little Queen

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 19 October 2006]

Up to the time it was released in 1945 Caesar and Cleopatra was the most expensive British film ever made. It was as though the British cinema was trying to show America it could do a DeMille like epic as good as Cecil B. DeMille or anyone else from Hollywood. It may have been a little too overdone. Director Gabriel Pascal might have gotten a bit carried away with the spectacle and the audience might well have missed some of George Bernard Shaw's inspired dialog.

And Pascal had the advantage of the aged Mr. Shaw personally supervising the production. Of course Shaw insisted on total fidelity to his play and the ideas therein. I understand that J. Arthur Rank wanted to have a little sex and romance in there, like DeMille did do, but Shaw would have none of it.

What sets Caesar and Cleopatra apart from other Cleopatra stories that starred Theda Bara, Elizabeth Taylor, and Claudette Colbert is that Shaw portrayed her as probably what she was, a silly teenager who just happens to be Queen of Egypt. There's a little bit of Scarlett O'Hara in Vivien Leigh's performance as she moves from silly teen to a young women well schooled in statecraft by Julius Caesar.

Claude Rains plays a world weary Julius Caesar and the Shavian quips roll off his tongue with great aplomb. Like George Bernard Shaw's other masterpiece Pygmalion, Rains tutors Leigh and the results far exceed what he could have hoped for.

Production on Caesar and Cleopatra was begun while there was still a shooting war in Europe and V-2s and other such explosive devices were still raining down on the United Kingdom. A couple came real close to the studio in London this was being filmed at.

Stewart Granger got his first real notice in this film playing Apollodorus and Francis L. Sullivan plays a blustering and plotting Pothinos. If you look hard among the various slave women you will find both Jean Simmons and Kay Kendall among the extras.

You will also like both Basil Sydney as Ruffio and Cecil Parker as Britanus, two aides to Caesar who both occasionally give him a reality check.

Caesar and Cleopatra failed to recoup the cost of making it in initial release. J. Arthur Rank misjudged the British public taste post World War II. Maybe a little less expense and more attention to Shaw's words and the film might have been better.

Still it's pretty good as is.

An eminently watchable and important historic film

[johndunbar-580-920543 · 7/10 · 2 October 2016]

Worth the watch for no other reason than the fabulous cast; everyone who was, and ever was, a notable British stage actor is in this one. Besides the famous Claude Rains we are treated to the delights of Enrst Thesinger, Francis L. Sullivan and many more who never get the credit they deserve. The story is boring (being a silly romance between degenerate royals) and the costumes dubious, but the script of GB Shaw helps a lot. Obviously in competition with the Yanks for the coming fad of big screen, historical epics, the cinematography isn't bad either. But the real attraction is the cast; tune in and watch the great, glorious, fun acting of these film luminaries.

Caesar & Cleopatra

[amira101010 · 3/10 · 20 January 2007]

Although a great fan of Leigh as an actress, I did not care for her portrayal of Cleopatra as a spoiled, manipulative child who pouts and cries in order to get her way with old fuddy duddy Ceasar. This may indeed have made a witty stage play, but the movie was dull and lumbering. I kept going back to it hoping strongly it would get better, but to no avail. Not the least of it's irritating qualities for me was the total lack of historical accuracy. Cleopatra, though young, was acknowledged by contemporaries to be highly educated and intelligent, bred to rule and accustomed from birth to the political intrigues of her dynasty. She would not have needed Caesar to constantly prop her up and remind her to behave as a queen. I was sorry to see Leigh's talent wasted in this film. She is lovely to watch as always, and lights up the screen with her presence, and the acting of other cast members is likewise topnotch, but sadly none of that can save this dud.

Vivien Leigh is Cleopatra!

[chunsick · 16 October 1999]

The film overall is slow and laborous but Vivien's performance as Cleopatra is sublime. I wish she was the only cast member! Her range is incredible from a young, playful kitten of a queen to a dignified ruler of Egypt.

Seeing Vivien in full Cleopatra garb is breath-taking! She raises beauty to a different level.

Light-Leigh sprinkled Dark Raines

[arieliondotcom · 7/10 · 21 June 2008]

The first few minutes are dry and dull but suddenly the sun comes out with the appearance of Leigh. Granted, I'm infatuated with her but I don't think anyone else could deny the sparkle and power of her presence in this film as, though in her thirties in real life, she becomes a teenage girl just beginning to experience her sexuality and the power it has over men.

In those scenes where Raines acts with her, he reflects her and shines, too, and the picture takes on a light air. And there are patches of British style humor. But in those rather long stretches where GBS indulges himself in dialogue where he fancies himself to be Shakespeare (and Shakespeare he ain't!) it is dry torture, like licking a pyramid.

So watch it. To deny yourself seeing Leigh even in her few, spotty scenes of sunlight would be like denying yourself a picnic because of intermittent Raines.

The cleverness of Bernand Show

[moatazmohsen78 · 7/10 · 16 April 2006]

The great author in theater Bernand Show was very clever to be the first one made a play about the relation between Caeser and Cleopatra because no one in the world of literature write any thing about the love story between the both.

Most of writers in literature around the world made a spotlight on the love story between Marc Anthony and Cleopatra but Show made a difference in this subject and this is the cleverness of his work.

The new point in this work that he made light comic in this subject to be entertainment without feeling a silly in your wathcing.

Vivian Lee played her role of Cleopatra in a goodly way and she read this role depending on historical sources to be right in her acting.

The 42 Year Old Flora Robson

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 29 February 2020]

"She is blue-eyed and looks like hell" opined Cecil B. DeMille of Flora Robson - eight years earlier Elizabeth I to Vivien Leigh's lady-in-waiting in 'Fire Over England' (1937) - as Cleopatra's psycho henchwoman Ftatateeta (who's name Shaw personally advised Robson & Leigh on the correct pronunciation of).

Positions now reversed, her young mistress proudly declares "let my enemies beware of her!"; once more demonstrating that the Princess of the Nile didn't make idle threats.

The Rains Came ... And Went

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 20 June 2015]

Whoever told GBS he was a screenwriter. Probably the same dork who told Pia Zadora she was an actress. This is the kind of movie where the blocks of dialogue complement the blocks of buildings in Alexandria.Talk about Burnham wood coming to Dunsinane, this is like the March of the Redwoods with people like Raymond Lovell, Basil Sydney, Stewart Granger etc, leaving a trail of sawdust all over the set and Ernest Thesiger anticipating Charles Hawtrey by a good ten years or so. It was shot in 1945 so that the sound is pristine with no concession to the great outdoors so there is literally no atmos of any kind be it an interior or exterior scene. Watching this is a new way to grow old.

Not Liz's Cleopatra

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 23 February 2008]

Impressive acting is the highlight of 1945's "Caesar and Cleopatra," a British production starring Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson and Francis L. Sullivan. In smaller roles, you can spot Michael Rennie, Kay Kendall and Jean Simmons.

This production was not without its problems - made during World War II, bombings often delayed the filming; there was a five-week break while Vivien Leigh recovered from a miscarriage; and there was a shortage of materials to build the sets. Nevertheless, for a British film, this is a real spectacle and made in color, which was also unusual back then.

Shaw's Cleopatra (Leigh) is a childlike girl/woman who has hitting matches with her younger brother, runs, giggles, talks fast and becomes nervous at the thought of meeting the great Caesar (Rains). In the beginning, she meets him without realizing it. The two have a flirtation while he teaches her how to be a queen. Shaw's Caesar is an old man, a great warrior and a benevolent ruler who rules with a velvet glove rather than a sword.

Rains and Leigh are wonderful in their roles. Rains, as someone stated, with his Caesar haircut, weary face and beautiful profile looks as if he stepped out of that time period. His mastery of Shaw's language is magnificent, and he really holds the film together.

The stunningly beautiful Leigh, white-faced with glorious cheekbones and dazzling eyes, is a whimsical Cleopatra at first. She matures and becomes calmer and more regal as she learns how to be a queen, but she falls back into her childish ways in the presence of Caesar, particularly when he promises to send her Marc Anthony. They say the camera adds 10 pounds - frankly, I'm surprised any of the actors could see Leigh, she is so tiny. She gives a sprightly, energetic performance. Shaw's Cleopatra is 16 (though in reality she is 20 or 21) - Leigh was 32 at the time of filming and comes off like the teenager Shaw wrote.

Stewart Granger as Apollodorus shows off his very hunky physique - no wonder he came to the attention of Hollywood. As two aides of Caesar's, Basil Sydney as Ruffio and Cecil Parker as Britanus give fine performances. Finally, Flora Robson as the protective, tough nursemaid of Cleopatra's, Ftatateeta, sinks her teeth into the role and is a force to contend with.

This movie flopped, probably because audiences thought it was going to be some huge spectacle - it's big for England, but it's not DeMille. Still, it's a real treat to see one of the classics done by two great actors who were well-trained and well-equipped to perform George Bernard Shaw.

Silly, gay, and highly improbable history.

[jgarbuz-1 · 6/10 · 4 May 2018]

About the only thing that makes this boring trollop of a play bearable at all is the beautiful visage of Vivien Leigh. If this is representative of Bernard Shaw's other works, then I'm thankful for my ignorance of them.

Claude Bernard Caesar meets Cleopatra O'Hara

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 15 March 2015]

Beautiful young Egyptian queen Vivien Leigh (as Cleopatra) meets powerful old Roman emperor Claude Rains (Julius Caesar) and, as they say, the rest is history. Produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal, this adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play loses nearly all of its verbal luster in an overblown production. It does look nice, with Technicolor photography and well-constructed sets. The epic opulence doesn't match the stagy direction and performances, however. The co-stars have little screen chemistry and Ms. Leigh flitters around the sound-stages like a scatter-brained Scarlett O'Hara played by Billie Burke. Next to Leigh and Mr. Rains, Stewart Granger looks healthy, at least. Pretty, harp-playing Jean Simmons took notice. The hours are sometimes filled with people standing around waiting for things to happen, and they do, intermittently.

**** Caesar and Cleopatra (12/11/45) Gabriel Pascal ~ Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson

Little part - HISTORY, considerable part - GEORGE B. SHAW; most part - VIVIEN LEIGH

[marcin_kukuczka · 8/10 · 11 November 2005]

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1945), based on George Bernard Shaw's play and directed by Gabriel Pascal, is a very unique movie that combines all precious aspects of film art. It is not purely a historical movie since it contains a lot of inaccuracies that appear to be illogical from a historical perspective. Nevertheless, one has to analyze it in a deeper understanding, taking into account other factors that make the film a precious piece of post-war cinema. Therefore, it is impossible to see it without the consideration of other aspects, or more clearly, other figures that significantly affect the movie in general: George Bernard Shaw with his style filled with wit and elegance; and Vivien Leigh with her extraordinary acting skills. Let me consider the three aforementioned aspects: history, Shaw and Leigh.

HISTORY: It is true that if you know Cleopatra's story and the events connected with the Roman conquest over Egypt, you will feel confused or even disappointed with the content of this film. Cleopatra definitely did not learn to be a queen from Caesar that much as she does here. She was a very intelligent woman with "foxy" plans as for Caesar and Rome(in this case, I would recommend CLEOPATRA by DeMille (1934) or by Mankiewicz (1963). The film by Pascal presents, in part justifiably, a total mess in Egypt that Caesar finds when he steps into its politics. This is proved by the way Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy are showed - two kids rather than rulers who compete for power. However, there are some strong historical points in the film that must be seen together with shortcomings. First, the film very well presents the Romans together with their leader Julius Caesar wonderfully played by Claude Rains. There is a very realistic scene of Roman legions entering Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. I also liked the way Caesar's personality is developed - someone who is full of contradictions rather than an "almighty" conqueror. These aspects make the film more authentic and ancient heroes more humane. However, it cannot be treated as a historical work for sure.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW: But all must be thanked not only to the director but to this great classic playwright. G.B. Shaw is noticeable throughout, particularly through magnificent elegance. The director, Gabriel Pascal, really retains everything that one can find in Shaw's play. Therefore, any Shaw's fan, including the one with richest imagination will not be disappointed thanks to the marvelous elegance in this movie. In other words, the pictures of the film will not leave anything else to wish. The lavish sets, the costumes, simply BEAUTY noticeable in most of the scenes! Wit is another aspect. This is most effective in the scenes with Caesar and Cleopatra. "You will soon learn how to govern" says Cleopatra to mighty Caesar after a day or two of his lessons of ruling. Or the jumps into the sea (Apollodorus, Caesar and .... Cleopatra) - quite unique!

VIVIEN LEIGH: Before seeing the film, I did not expect her to be as good as her Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939). Now I must say that she is better as Cleopatra. Vivien gives a marvelous performance as a girl dreaming of a handsome man with strong arms who could protect her, and as a girl who later changes into a courageous, mighty queen. "If one man in all Alexandria can be found to say I did wrong, I swear to have myself be crucified on the door of the palace by my own slaves," which she says to Caesar after ordering Pothinus to be killed. And how wonderfully she plays one of the first scenes when she, in very unpredictable circumstances, finds out that the stranger she met at the Sphynx and with whom she talked so trust-worthily, is Caesar himself. UNFORGETTABLE! A lot of people associate only Liz Taylor with film Cleopatra. Not to mention Claudette Colbert, it is a pity they don't find Leigh's performance as worth highest attention.

It would be unfair to skip one more factor: other cast. Vivien shines in her role but others do very good jobs as well. Claude Rains is a very different Caesar than in most other films (actors who played him were, among others, Rex Harrison, William Warren, Fritz Leibner). But he is unforgettable, his face reflects a spirit of antiquity. Flora Robson who gives a memorable performance of Cleopatra's bossy servant Ftatateeta, stresses rather male features of character. She does it wonderfully through her gestures and low voice. And Francis L Sullivan as Pothinus - really worth attention!

All in all, there are many other aspects that make the movie highly recommended. Of course, it is difficult to mention everything in one review. All I can say at the end of my review is:

Do see the film!

If you are Shaw's fan, you will find his spirit throughout.

If you are Vivien Leigh's fan, you will be absolutely amazed by her performance.

If you are fond of historical, lavish epics, there will definitely be something wonderful that you will appreciate in CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA. 8/10!

Beautiful to look at, pretty good to watch

[MauryMickelwhite · 7/10 · 22 February 2022]

A movie version of a play is usually not a good thing. It can be too play-like with no cinematic effort; it can have big stars who "movie" their way through a role they could never pull off on stage; it can move so far away from the play, in an effort to be cinematic, that there is no point to the effort; or, it can expose the fact that play wasn't all that interesting in the first place (this happened a LOT in the studio age.)

This movie manages to succeed as much as possible. First, it's a really good play. It is funny and intriguing. Watching it allows that elitist jerk who lives quietly inside all of every educated adult to laugh knowingly at subtle barbs thrown at long dead people and institutions. (The problem with watching this at home it that there was no audience to hear me laugh - how else would they know how sophisticated I am?)

Next, the cast is remarkable. Yes, it is filled with movie stars of the era but they are really good here, in particular, Claude Rains.

Finally, while this is ultimately a weakness, the play remains largely intact, most likely due to Shaw's adaptation of his own work. There is no effort to visualize a story here, but there is a great deal of effort to present this play with great visuals. This may the be best approach to presenting plays on screen - get them off a stage but stick to the script.

trying to be funny

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 12 October 2019]

Julius Caesar (Claude Rains) arrives in Egypt and takes a young princess Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) under his wing. Egypt is ruled jointly between Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy under the sway of his advisor Pothinus. Caesar takes control of the capital city of Alexandria and puts Cleopatra on the throne. He allows Ptolemy and the rest of the Egyptian nobility to leave. In turn, they raise a revolt against the Romans. Caesar orders Cleopatra to stay in the palace but she manages to escape wrapped in a carpet.

Caesar is presented as lenient, relaxed, and assured. Cleopatra is a childish teenager. Neither seem quite right. One expects Caesar to smile less and Cleopatra to be less of a valley girl. It's a take. It wants to be a comedy. It's adapted from the George Bernard Shaw play. I don't think it works but it is intriguing.