Cleopatra
1934/USA
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Paramount Pictures (A Cecil B. DeMille Production)
First viewing
Cleopatra: Together we could conquer the world.
Julius Caesar: Nice of you to include me.
Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) seduces Julius Caesar (Warren William) and then Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxson) in an attempt to save her beloved Egypt from conquest by Rome.
The Hollywood epic is my least favorite genre of movie. While spectacular, the sets here are more reminiscent of the studio backlot than of Egypt. Claudette Colbert can’t help but be just a bit charming but the other acting is over-the-top when it is not just wooden. Colbert wears many revealing gowns and there is plenty of suggestive dancing and gore to be had, but nothing near to that on display in DeMille’s <i>The Sign of the Cross</i> a couple of years earlier.
Re-release trailer
