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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 438837" data-attributes="member: 5079">The movie likely would have been better as a cheaper, backlot production, but Collins would have given it the air a B-movie even if she (circa 1960) had not sunk to B-movie level yet.Mankiewicz was entirely the right person to write and direct a movie about Cleopatra, and entirely the wrong person to write and direct this movie about Cleopatra. There&#039;s a reason this story works so well on stage (Shakespeare and Shaw) -- it&#039;s a character study, all foreground and dialogue. That was Mankiewicz&#039;s specialty. The story of Cleopatra doesn&#039;t need bombast and epicness.&nbsp; Mankiewicz was swamped by the production.&nbsp; Everything about this movie is ridiculous: the boring battle scenes, the interminable procession into Rome, the pristine and oversized sets that never look like anything but sets.&nbsp; The teeming, squalid streets in DeMille&#039;s version are far more effective for a fraction of the cost.&nbsp; This production should have been more I,CLAUDIUS and less THE 10 COMMANDMENTS.Taylor likely would have benefited from a smaller, breezier production too, more like DeMille&#039;s version.&nbsp; Grandiosity brought out the worst in her acting.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 438837, member: 5079"] The movie likely would have been better as a cheaper, backlot production, but Collins would have given it the air a B-movie even if she (circa 1960) had not sunk to B-movie level yet. Mankiewicz was entirely the right person to write and direct a movie about Cleopatra, and entirely the wrong person to write and direct [I]this [/I]movie about Cleopatra. There's a reason this story works so well on stage (Shakespeare and Shaw) -- it's a character study, all foreground and dialogue. That was Mankiewicz's specialty. The story of Cleopatra doesn't need bombast and epicness. Mankiewicz was swamped by the production. Everything about this movie is ridiculous: the boring battle scenes, the interminable procession into Rome, the pristine and oversized sets that never look like anything but sets. The teeming, squalid streets in DeMille's version are far more effective for a fraction of the cost. This production should have been more I,CLAUDIUS and less THE 10 COMMANDMENTS. Taylor likely would have benefited from a smaller, breezier production too, more like DeMille's version. Grandiosity brought out the worst in her acting. [/QUOTE]

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