Epic Fox

I finally got around to seeing all four hours of Cleopatra (1963). The famously troubled production was the costliest ever, almost bankrupting 20th Century Fox. It actually grossed a decent amount but simply had no chance of showing a profit.

Seen today, it's the last gasp of those 50s historical epics that were Hollywood's response to television. This is one of my least favorite genres, and though Cleopatra is too long (the original cut was actually six hours) and disjointed--the first half is all about Caesar, the second, Antony--it's not as bad as I feared. The first two hours even manage to be pretty decent.

I don't think, however, that Elizabeth Taylor is up to the role. You have to be fiercely fascinating to hold the screen that long, and Taylor, or perhaps the part, just isn't enough. On the other hand, I was impressed that, while there was some artistic license taken, for the most part the film (as far as I could tell) was fairly accurate, historically.