NipkowDisc Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 I have to agree with those who say this film has gotten a raw deal. every time in recent years that I sit through it I like it more and more. martin landau shoulda gotten more screen time because his acting is first rate. everybody's acting is first rate. manckiewicz directed liz taylor pretty good for she is cleopatra. the editing coulda been better I suppose. I mean a shot of cleopatra's murdered son laying in a wagon. that shot is unforgivable. I suppose it is meant to get it across to the audience that octavian is a monster. I like the film but not that. the scene with antony watching cleopatra sailing away from the disastrous battle of actium is priceless. he looks like a guy who just had his quarter pounder pilfered. it's almost laughable. it's a great, great film and I think that is slowly being realized. alex north's score suggests the haunting timeless beauty that Cleopatra possessed and I do notice those recycled chords of his Spartacus music during the battle of actium. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Nip, Surprised you didn't find a way to connect this film to Trump. You're slipping. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Alex North was robbed of a Best Score Oscar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Recent reconstructed image of Cleopatra. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 6 minutes ago, hamradio said: Recent reconstructed image of Cleopatra. Looks like a young Helen Westley with Coppertone smeared all over her skin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 LOL. Reportedly the big nose ran in the family (from Ptolemy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 7 hours ago, hamradio said: Recent reconstructed image of Cleopatra. I think I prefer Liz Taylor. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 prior to cleo coming into Rome on that gold thingamachig we get this floor show with the dancers and the colored smoke kinda like a super bowl halftime event. this one babe twists and prances right up to the camera and all she has on her bozingas are these tassles flinging to and fro... who was she? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Herbert Berghof, one of the great acting teachers, played Theodotos. He eschewed commercial theater and cinema and was able to use his earning from Cleopatra to purchase a small theater adjacent to his acting studio (HB Studio on Bank Street in Greenwich Village). Berghof was married to the great actress/teacher Uta Hagen (1919-2004), most famous for originating the role of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Tomorrow marks Hagen's 100th birthday. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Swithin said: Herbert Berghof, one of the great acting teachers, played Theodotos. He eschewed commercial theater and cinema and was able to use his earning from Cleopatra to purchase a small theater adjacent to his acting studio (HB Studio on Bank Street in Greenwich Village). Berghof was married to the great actress/teacher Uta Hagen (1919-2004), most famous for originating the role of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Tomorrow marks Hagen's 100th birthday. uta hagen reminds me of mrs folger the coffee lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 23 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said: uta hagen reminds me of mrs folger the coffee lady. Are you saying her performances were always good to the last drop? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 I need to continue my Popcorn Champs posts, because Cleopatra, even though I think it ultimately lost money because of its extraordinary expense, was the highest-grossing film of 1963. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 11 hours ago, Gershwin fan said: I think I prefer Liz Taylor. HMPH! I still prefer CLAUDETTE! Sepiatone 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 10 hours ago, NipkowDisc said: uta hagen reminds me of mrs folger the coffee lady. You mean Mrs. Olson, who was the Folger's coffee spokesperson. She was played by Virginia Christine, who also played Princess Ananka in The Mummy's Curse. Ms. Christine was of Swedish descent. Uta Hagen's other was Danish, so there was that connection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 reading up on Cleopatra last nite found out how historically inaccurate this movie is. she had numerous children by a number of men. after caesarion she had 3 children by antony so she was no slouch in the procreating department. although an Egyptian queen she was not of Egyptian ancestry but macedonian descent and she had the learning of a scholar. she was one smart babe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 To keep Elizabeth happy, 20th Century Fox regularly had chili from the Beverly Hills restaurant Chasen's air-freighted to Rome for her. In Rome and eating chili? How gauche. She must have been farting quite a bit in her bath scenes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 maybe it was a debeaned puree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 imagine a cameraman saying "hey liz, you just let out another one". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 or "miss taylor, can you knock it off with the chili already". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 15 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said: although an Egyptian queen she was not of Egyptian ancestry but macedonian descent and she had the learning of a scholar. There's some dispute about this: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/1/14/18182744/cleopatra-white-actress-liz-taylor-angelina-jolie-lady-gaga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 21 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said: imagine a cameraman saying "hey liz, you just let out another one". I'm sure the cameraman would find it quite lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 The spectacular scene of Cleopatra's entry into Rome, which required thousands of extras, had to be reshot because an extra could be seen on camera selling gelato. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 22 hours ago, Hibi said: LOL. Reportedly the big nose ran in the family (from Ptolemy) Yeah, her nose is very prominent in this Roman sculpture of her (looks a bit less protruding than in the reconstruction). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougieB Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 1 minute ago, cigarjoe said: The spectacular scene of Cleopatra's entry into Rome, which required thousands of extras, had to be reshot because an extra could be seen on camera selling gelato. When it was originally shot, the cinematographer looked at the footage and decided the angle of the sun was all wrong, so they waited about six months until the sun was at the "right" angle to reshoot the whole thing. Another huge hole in the budget. I hadn't heard about the gelato guy, but that seems to be about the kind of luck they were having. 11 hours ago, Swithin said: Herbert Berghof, one of the great acting teachers, played Theodotos. He eschewed commercial theater and cinema and was able to use his earning from Cleopatra to purchase a small theater adjacent to his acting studio (HB Studio on Bank Street in Greenwich Village). Berghof was married to the great actress/teacher Uta Hagen (1919-2004), most famous for originating the role of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Tomorrow marks Hagen's 100th birthday. Berghof, Hume Cronyn, Martin Landau and some others were hired for a limited amount of time, but shooting was so off-schedule and the script kept being rewritten, so they hung out for most of a year on overtime, not doing much. Glad he got a theater out of it at least. And when the studio took over editing, lots of their scenes disappeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Interesting. Hadn't seen that piece. (of sculpture). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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