Trailer
Plot summary
Cleopatra has ruled Egypt only a short time when Julius Caesar arrives during the Roman civil war. He comes upon her at a Sphinx, and, not knowing who he is, she tells him of her fear of the Romans. Caesar urges her to find the courage to rule as a queen and takes her back to the palace, where his legions make his identity known. In Alexandria, Caesar meets her younger brother Ptolemy, who is her rival for the throne, and the guardian Pothinus. Caesar asks for a heavy tribute and rules that the two should share the throne. The Egyptians refuse, and talk turns to war. Caesar sends his aide Rufio to seize the Pharos lighthouse, and Cleopatra, rolled inside a carpet, is carried through the blockades to him.
Cast
- Robert Adamsas Nubian Slave
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Shot in Technicolor with enormous sets, Caesar and Cleopatra was reported as the most expensive film ever made when it appeared, at a cost of 1,278,000 pounds. It held that record only until Duel in the Sun was made in 1946.
- Chasing the right color on screen, director Gabriel Pascal had sand shipped in from Egypt for the desert scenes, while wartime restrictions kept holding the production up.
- Members of the British aristocracy from the Mayfair nightclub set were hired for the crowd scenes, extra work having become a fashion among them. Professional extras in The Film Artists' Association protested at the practice.
- Vivien Leigh was pregnant during the shoot and lost the baby after a fall on set. The episode brought on a breakdown and shut the production down for five weeks.
- Gabriel Pascal joined the Film Extras Union so that he could appear in his own film, and put himself on screen leading a camel.
- It was the first film of a George Bernard Shaw work made in color, and the last screen version of a Shaw play to appear while he was alive.
- Variety reckoned Rank lost three million dollars, about 750,000 pounds, on the picture once marketing, distribution, prints, insurance and wages were counted, and another account puts the loss higher still at 981,678 pounds.
