Main Cast: Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson, Francis L. Sullivan
Release Year: 1946
Country: UK
Run Time: 135 minutes
Plot
George Bernard Shaw adapted his own play for the screen in this blithe film version of the romance between Caesar (Claude Rains) and Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh). Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra are merely Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle cast back into ancient times with Caesar doting with admiration and burgeoning love upon Cleopatra and expostulating, "You have been growing up since the Sphinx introduced us the other night." The story is a simple one concerning Caesar instructing Cleopatra on how to act like a queen. But Cleopatra is left cold by Caesar and his blatherings. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
In its time, Caesar and Cleopatra was the most lavish British film ever produced and was both a financial and critical disappointment. Viewed today, the flaws are obvious, but its virtues are also more apparent. On the debit side, the film is wildly overproduced with all of the money spent on spectacle getting in the way of what at heart is a character study cum sociological tract. Author George Bernard Shaw is known for writing "talky" plays. Those who savor his sharp wit, incisive observations, and marvelous facility with words will find much to enjoy in Caesar. But those who believe that movies are a medium that need to tell stories in as visual a manner as possible will largely be bored by Caesar -- and not without reason, as Gabriel Pascal has directed in a lumbering and plodding manner almost throughout. The stars are well cast, with Vivien Leigh an alluring and fiery Cleopatra and Claude Rains appropriately cynical and withering as Caesar. And there's able support from the delicious Flora Robson and a virile Stewart Granger. Ultimately, there's both good and bad in Caesar, and a viewer's reaction to it will largely depend upon his willingness to sit through an elephantine production to enjoy Shaw's remarkable wordplay. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Cecil Parker - Britannus; Basil Sydney - Rufio; Ernst Thesiger - Theodotus; Anthony Harvey - Ptolemy; Anthony Eustrel - Achillas; Leo Genn - Bel Affiris; Robert Adams - Nubian Slave; Felix Aylmer - 1st Nobleman; Renée Ashershon - Iras; Marie Ault - Egyptian Lady; Ivor Barnard - 2nd Nobleman; Peter Bayliss - A.D.C. to Mithridates; Agnes Bernelle; Dorothy Bramhall; John Bryning - Quayside Sentinel; Gerald Case - Roman Tax Officer; Valentine Dyall - First Guardsman; Olga Edwardes - Cleopatra's Lady Attandent; Anthony Holles - Vociferous Boatman; Stanley Holloway - Belzanor; Virginia Kelly; Kay Kendall; Harry Lane; John Laurie - First Auxiliary Sentinel; Raymond Lovell - Lucius Septimus; Zena Marshall; James McKechnie - Wounded Centurion; Gibb McLaughlin - High Priest; Charles Minor; Cathleen Nesbitt; Shaun Noble - A.D.C. to Achillas; Charles Paton; Esme Percy - Major Domo; Michael Rennie - Quayside Centurion; Charles Rolfe - Second Auxiliary Sentinel; Roy Russell; Ronald Shiner - 2nd Porter; Jean Simmons - Harpist; Eve Smith; Don Stannard; Russell Thorndike - Harpist's Master; Charles Victor - First Porter; Wilfred Walter; Mackenzie Ward; Alan Wheatley - Persian; Michael Cacoyannis; Ronald Davidson; Charles Deane - Guardsman; H.F. Maltby; Daphne Day; Michael Martin-Harvey; Jill Carpenter; Bill Holland; Gerhardt Kempinski - Angry Boatman; Hylton Allen - Councillor; Andre Belhomme - Boatman; Olwen Brooks; Cecil Calvert; Alan Lewis
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Cleopatra hasn't been on the throne of the pharaohs of Egypt very long when Julius Caesar pays a visit. Caesar finds the prospect of romance more tempting than he expected, since Cleopatra is a rare woman who is bright as well as beautiful. And for Cleopatra, a friendly relationship with the most powerful man in the world may pay dividends in the future. [2]
Production
Filmed in Technicolor with lavish sets, the production was reported to be the most expensive film ever made in Britain at the time. Pascal ordered sand from Egypt to get the right cinematic color. It was described as a "box office stinker" at the time, and virtually ended Pascal's career. It was the last film version of a Shaw play during his lifetime. After Shaw's death in 1950 Pascal went on to produce one more Shaw film, the 1952 version of Androcles and the Lion.
