Cleopatra

Ben Mankiewicz introduces Cleopatra, 1963.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces Cleopatra, 1963.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces Cleopatra, 1963.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces Cleopatra, 1963.

Nearly a soliloquy for Roddy McDowall as Octavian, the ambitious adopted son of the late Caesar, exhorting the senate in Rome to turn against Mark Antony (Richard Burton) for his alliance with the title character (Elizabeth Taylor), in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s expansive Cleopatra, 1963.

Talk of Caesar outside the senate, in the first scene in the city of Rome, Cassius (John Hoyt) and Brutus (Kenneth Haigh) tangle, Casca (Carroll O’Connor) and Cicero (Michael Hordern) joining, drawing the attention of Antony (Richard Burton), who later queries Octavian (Roddy McDowall), in Cleopatra, 1963.

After lots of buildup the first shot of Elizabeth Taylor (title character) arriving in Rome, her young son in tow, presenting him to his father Caesar (Rex Harrison), commenting on the event with his aide Antony (Richard Burton), in a true “money scene,” from Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra, 1963.

Wrapping up a war council as he occupies Egypt, Caesar (Rex Harrison) learns from mute Flavius (George Cole) that he’s been sent a gift, brought by Apollodorus (Cesare Danova), containing the crafty title character (Elizabeth Taylor), the deposed queen aiming to win the Roman’s support, in Cleopatra, 1963.

The crazy thing here is that Elizabeth Taylor (title character) gazes into the priestess’s fire and sees, presumably in advance, what actually transpires in the narrative, as Caesar (Rex Harrison) is murdered, and Antony (Richard Burton) isn’t even heard before the pyre, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra, 1963.

Politics doesn't stand a chance as Mark Antony (Richard Burton) and Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) discuss their affairs as they part in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra, 1963.

Having been mocked and made drunk at her party, Mark Antony (Richard Burton) manages at last to express his feelings as he visits the title character (Elizabeth Taylor) in her bedroom, his comments not without parallels in the actor's lives, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra, 1963.