Lets talk about CLEOPATRA- 1963 (1 Viewer)

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by kenNew

I saw Cleopatra at about the same time - but in a very different place: It was in Brighton on England's south coast. It's a large resort city which was often the venue for preview runs for major releases which were otherwise restricted to exclusive runs in London's West End. The cinema was almost as grand as those in the West End and, with marble pillars and gilt trimming, these picture houses seemed particularly appropriate settings for films about the grandeur of Rome, although there was nothing antique about their sound and projection systems.


Like you, I still have the programme book from that show and, again like you, I look forward to a Blu-ray release although, personally, I have not seen any official announcement and part of me wonders if it will actually happen.

I did not get to see the movie when originally released. Brighton is a lovely place. My family enjoys taking our holiday time in the south. I hope we get a Blu ray release of this timeless classic.

 

[kagemusha98]

I remember seeing CLEOPATRA at the Capri theater in San Diego during it's reserved seat engagement. ( I have 2 copies of the program) It made such an impression on me.....70mm..stereo...wow. It was 3hrs 15 min.

Years later I saw a rerelease of it at the Egyptian theater in LA in 70mm. It turned out to be the 4 hr version. It was vastly better than the 3 hr version. I was shocked how the 3 hr version had been so drastically cut in that the motivations for her suicide were quite different. FOX, please release CLEOPATRA on Blu Ray!!!!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Ken...makes you wonder how great it would have been had it been released as two 3 hour films ("Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Antony and Cleopatra") as Mankiewicz intended, doesn't it?

 

[john a hunter]

Originally Posted by Towergrove





I did not get to see the movie when originally released. Brighton is a lovely place. My family enjoys taking our holiday time in the south. I hope we get a Blu ray release of this timeless classic.

I think the theatre referred was the Astoria. I understand it was for many years the only 70mm venue on the South Coast. It showed all the 70mm epics exclusively for many years after kicking off with a record breaking run of South Pacific.

 

[kagemusha98]

Andrew...It sure does!!!!!!

 

[Jason Adams]

I remember last labor day, they had a screening in 70mm at the Walter Reade theater in NYC for Fox's 75th anniversary. Oh. My. God. An amazing experience.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Jason, I heard that it got a standing ovation?!

 

[RPMay]

I was working for Buena Vista (Disney) in Los Angeles at the time, and was invited to the first (or one of the first) showings at the Pantages.

Our seats were in row 3, so all four hours were looking up at the monstrous screen.

We thought the picture would never end!

I have seen it more recently, and except for a few spectacular scenes, my opinion hasn't changed. DeMille's, being two hours shorter, is easier to take.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Douglas R /forum/thread/311885/lets-talk-about-cleopatra-1963#post_3818418

 

[Charles Smith]

Got my 3-disc Cleopatra today. Following a quick sampling of a few scenes of the film, I saw I had the makings of a perfect evening by setting up some snacks and watching the two-hour documentary. Fantastic! The feature on the two DVDs looks great, too. It's a fine set that will hold me very nicely till its appearance on Blu-ray.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I sampled some of the scenes this past weekend. I remember being in awe when it was first released 10 years ago, but now obviously not so much... I can't wait to see what they do with this film on Blu-ray!


And yes, the 2-hr documentary certainly is fantastic! I've watched it many times over the years and really enjoy it.

 

[GerardoHP]

I'm glad there's so much interest in a Bluray re-release of Cleopatra. It was the movie that made me love the movies, and all out of sheer anticipation. There was so much brouhaha about it before it opened I became obsessed with it at 8 years of age and made my dad take me to see it the day it opened in Rosario, Argentina. I must confess, however, that I was a bit disappointed with the movie at the time. For one, it was too dialogue-driven for an 8 year old. I must have spent the entire four hour duration gawking at the sets and the costumes. But I never forgot the sheer magnitude of the production.


Over the years, I've followed with great interest the efforts to recover Joseph Mankiewicz' original six-hour footage for Cleopatra that once involved Roddy MacDowall. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see Cleopatra again (after many, many video views) on the big screen in 70mm at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood. Let me say, there's simply no comparison between this movie in 70mm and any of its previous video incarnations. In 70mm, you can not only clearly see Elizabeth Taylor's then-recent (and fresh) tracheotomy, but the smallpox vaccine scars on most of the cast, in addition to the dazzlingly designed sets.


This 56 year old still thinks the movie could benefit from some trimming but the spectacle is undeniably grand. Here's an image I took last week at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills, where many of Cleopatra'scostumes and props are being previewed for the Debbie Reynolds auction of movie memorabilia. I encourage all those who are nearby to attend this most amazing exhibit of famous Hollywood artifacts.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

What an amazing photo, Gerardo! Thank you so much for sharing it with us all.


I wish that Fox had recovered more missing scenes. Like I said in one of my previous posts, I hope they include the original first glimpse of Cleopatra, in her camp, as bonus material. I think that's the most substantial thing they found, except a lengthier version of the Entrance into Rome. Does anyone know of any other scenes that were recovered?

 

[Charles Smith]

I was a little surprised to see that the documentary was produced (at least in part) by AMC. If I'm remembering correctly, I've seen a few other really fine ones by them, in particular the one on the Planet of the Apes series which in Fox history could probably serve as a great double-feature follow-up to this one.


So, if AMC is so good at choosing and nurturing some brilliant TV series (Remember WENN, Mad Men, etc.), and so remarkably brilliant and thorough in producing documentaries on the film industry, why do they insist on remaining a leader of the most execrable channels in the universe when it comes to actual film presentation? Or am I misinterpreting their role in any of this?

 

[Dick]

Originally Posted by Chas in CT

So, if AMC is so good at choosing and nurturing some brilliant TV series (Remember WENN, Mad Men, etc.), and so remarkably brilliant and thorough in producing documentaries on the film industry, why do they insist on remaining a leader of the most execrable channels in the universe when it comes to actual film presentation? Or am I misinterpreting their role in any of this?


AMC was once nearly the channel TCM was. They ran uncut, uninterrupted films (not as often in widescreen, but sometimes) and had a great catalog of films you would not see on TCM. Slowly the channel began to devolve. The station bug in the corner started coming on 24/7, instead of flashing for a minute every fifteen minutes or so. One commercial break was added (an "intermission"), then two, then one every ten minutes (did they think we wouldn't notice if they did this gradually?), and then the movie selection began to change radically to what they offer now. All of this happened with the original Disney Channel, too. I find it incredibly sad that the good channels (other than TCM, and I don't know how they are able to continue as they are since they are commercial-free and not even considered a "premium" channel) had to bow to financial pressures and become something that is almost the complete antithesis of what they started out to be.

 

[Charles Smith]

Yes, that's my recollection as well. I recently got rid of a stack of home-recorded VHS tapes of AMC "horror-thons", etc., in the late 1990s, early 2000s. I sampled a couple of things and was astounded when reminded of just how TCM-like the channel was then.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Chas in CT I would have paid you to send them to me.

 

[Eric Vedowski]

You can download the whole catalog for the auction:http://www.profilesinhistory.com/debbie-reynolds-auction/debbie-reynolds-the-auction
Lots of great color pictures.

Originally Posted by GerardoHP

I'm glad there's so much interest in a Bluray re-release of Cleopatra. It was the movie that made me love the movies, and all out of sheer anticipation. There was so much brouhaha about it before it opened I became obsessed with it at 8 years of age and made my dad take me to see it the day it opened in Rosario, Argentina. I must confess, however, that I was a bit disappointed with the movie at the time. For one, it was too dialogue-driven for an 8 year old. I must have spent the entire four hour duration gawking at the sets and the costumes. But I never forgot the sheer magnitude of the production.


Over the years, I've followed with great interest the efforts to recover Joseph Mankiewicz' original six-hour footage for Cleopatra that once involved Roddy MacDowall. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see Cleopatra again (after many, many video views) on the big screen in 70mm at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood. Let me say, there's simply no comparison between this movie in 70mm and any of its previous video incarnations. In 70mm, you can not only clearly see Elizabeth Taylor's then-recent (and fresh) tracheotomy, but the smallpox vaccine scars on most of the cast, in addition to the dazzlingly designed sets.


This 56 year old still thinks the movie could benefit from some trimming but the spectacle is undeniably grand. Here's an image I took last week at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills, where many of Cleopatra'scostumes and props are being previewed for the Debbie Reynolds auction of movie memorabilia. I encourage all those who are nearby to attend this most amazing exhibit of famous Hollywood artifacts.

 

[Jason Adams]

Jason, I heard that it got a standing ovation?!

lol...know its late, but it definately did!

 

[LetThemEatCake]

so, what is the saying on the grapevine of the missing footage?