Cleopatra

1934
Approved
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

4.7K

YOUR RATING

Claudette Colbert, Henry Wilcoxon, and Warren William in Cleopatra (1934)

The man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Mark Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.

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The man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.The man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.The man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

4.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total

Trivia
When Cecil B. DeMille was in pre-production on this film, he asked to screen the original Cleopatra (1917) with Theda Bara. No prints could be found in Los Angeles, so a copy was borrowed from the Fox office in New York. After DeMille viewed the film, it was sent back to Little Ferry, NJ. On 7/9/37 a fire at the storage facility destroyed almost all of Fox's known archived prints, most likely including "Cleopatra". The screening for DeMille's company, on 2/15/34, may have been the last time anyone saw the legendary film. However, on September 14, 2023, 42 seconds of extremely rare footage of the final act in which Cleopatra prepares to die as the Roman Legion marches upon her palace was procured from a 1920's toy film projector and presented on YouTube.

Goofs
The main doors to Cleopatra's chambers have modern metal hinges.

Quotes
Cleopatra: Queens don't hiccup.

Alternate versions
The movie was released in Germany with German direction by Kurt Bleines and German dialogue by Helmut Brandis and Helena von Fortenbach.

Connections
Edited into Catalogue of Ships (2008)

User reviews72

Review

Featured review

7/10

Though a bit dated, still better than the Taylor-Burton "epic".

This movie is a typical DeMille PRODUCTION, with all the strengths-gorgeous sets, costumes and a sort of grandeur to all the proceedings-as well as the weaknesses-the lavishness often comes at the expense of things like the story, acting and plot. There's no question that it's beautiful (although, interestingly enough, none of it's five nominations for Academy Awards was for Interior Decoration.) Claudette Colbert does a wnderful job, but most of the other peformances are only average at best. 1934 was a particularly good year for Colbert, who won an Academy Award for It Happened One Night and starred in at least two other major productions that year-Imitation of Life and this movie. The picture feels a bit dated, but, while far from perfect, I think it superior to the 1963 remake in a great many respects and it's well worth watching.