Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on
August 12.
CLEOPATRA (1934)
Cleopatra vies with her brother
Ptolemy for control of Egypt. The regent, Pothinos has her taken into the
desert and abandoned. The Roman general Julius Caesar is preparing to sign an
agreement with Pothinos when a carpet is delivered as a gift. When it is
unrolled Cleopatra appears. Cleopatra woos Caesar and after she saves him from
an assassination attempt he makes her sole ruler of Egypt and they become
lovers. Caesar and Cleopatra go to Rome, but after he is killed she returns to
Egypt. Cleopatra tries to entice one of Caesar’s successors, Marc Antony into a
relationship, but later contemplates poisoning him if it will prevent war with
Octavion, Rome’s co-ruler. The war comes anyway and Cleopatra and Antony are
defeated. Antony kills himself, thinking Cleopatra has abandoned him, but they
reconcile just before he dies. On August 12, 30 b.c. Cleopatra kills
herself. [1:36:44 to 1:40:14:]
This version is not as well known
as the Elizabeth Taylor vehicle, but it has its moments.
Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt
by Joyce Tyldesley (Basic Books, NY, 2008) p. 198
Director - Cecil B. DeMille
Producer - Cecil B. DeMille
Screenplay - Waldemar Young,
Vincent Lawrence and Bartlett Cormack
Awards – The film won the Best
Cinematography Oscar. It was also nominated for the Best Production, Best
Assistant Director, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Recording at the 7th
Academy Awards.
Released – October 5, 1934
Runtime – 1 hour 40 minutes
Starring –
Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra
Warren William as Julius Caesar
Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Antony
Joseph Schildkraut as Herod the
Great
Ian Keith as Octavian
Gertrude Michael as Calpurnia
C. Aubrey Smith as Enobarbus
Irving Pichel as Apollodorus
Arthur Hohl as Brutus
Edwin Maxwell as Casca
Ian Maclaren as Cassius
Eleanor Phelps as Charmion,
Cleopatra's servant
Leonard Mudie as Pothinos
Grace Durkin as Iras, Cleopatra's
servant
Claudia Dell as Octavia
Robert Warwick as General
Achillas
Harry Beresford as Soothsayer
Jayne Regan as Lady Vesta
William Farnum as Lepidus
Lionel Belmore as Fidius
Florence Roberts as Lady Flora
Richard Alexander as General
Philodemas
Celia Ryland as Lady Leda
William V. Mong as Court
physician
George Walsh as Courier
Kenneth Gibson as Scribe
Wedgwood Nowell as Scribe
Bruce Warren as Scribe
Robert Seiter as Aelius
Edgar Dearing as Convict who
tests the poison
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014
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