Cleopatra 1963 film Trivia from IMDB.com

 


 
 
 
IMDb  

 
All Titles TV Episodes Names Companies Keywords Characters Videos Quotes Bios Plots Advanced Search »



Movies, TV
 & Showtimes




































Celebs, Events
 & Photos































News &
Community



























Watchlist


Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist


IMDbPro Menu 


Go to IMDbPro
Go to IMDbPro













|
IMDb Apps
|
Help

Login





 


 







Edit 
Cleopatra (1963) Poster 
Cleopatra  (1963) 
 
Trivia



Showing all 83 items


A group of female extras who played Cleopatra's servants and slave girls went on strike to demand protection from amorous Italian male extras. The studio eventually hired a special guard to protect the female extras.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


The budget for Elizabeth Taylor's costumes, $194,800, was the highest ever for a single screen actor. Her 65 costumes included a dress made from 24-carat gold cloth.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz hoped that the film would be released as two separate pictures, "Caesar and Cleopatra" followed by "Antony and Cleopatra." Each was to run approximately three hours. 20th Century-Fox decided against this, and released the film we know today. It runs just over four hours. It is hoped that the missing two hours will be located and that one day a six-hour 'director's cut' will be available.
 8 of 8 found this interesting  | Share this


A clerical error by 20 Century-Fox probably cost Roddy McDowall a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in this film. See McDowall's biography page for details.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Adjusted for inflation, this is one of the most expensive movies ever made. Its budget of $44 million is equivalent to $297 million in 2007 dollars.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


The film is widely regarded as one of the biggest flops of all time. It was actually one of the highest grossing films of the 1960s. Once it opened, it was was sold out for the next four months. In 1966, ABC-TV paid 20th Century-Fox a record $5 million for two showings of the film, a deal that put the film in the black.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract stipulated that her million-dollar salary be paid out as follows: $125,000 for 16 weeks work plus $50,000 a week afterwards plus 10% of the gross (with no break-even point). When the film was restarted in Rome in 1961, she had earned well over $2 million. After a lengthy $50 million lawsuit brought against Taylor and Richard Burton by 20th Century Fox in 1963 and a countersuit filed by Taylor, the studio finally settled with the actress in 1966. Her ultimate take for the film was $7 million.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor reputedly threw up the first time she saw the finished product.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Soon after shooting began in England, Elizabeth Taylor became ill and could not work. Her presence was required for almost every scene, and production soon closed down. Director Rouben Mamoulian finally resigned on January 3, 1961. He was followed by Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd, who had to honor prior commitments.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The first of eleven theatrical films that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in together.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


In Anzio, while building the Alexandria set, a few construction workers were killed by an unexploded mine left over from World War II.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Egypt initially refused to let Elizabeth Taylor in because she was Jewish. They changed their minds when they realized the film's presence would put millions of American dollars into the economy.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz's first cut ran 5 hours and 20 minutes. Darryl F. Zanuck's first reaction was that Mark Antony was ineffectual, many of the scenes were too long and the battle scenes were amateurish.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was booked to play Euphranor. When no one could be found to play Ruffo, Landau was recast.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau learned Italian during the shoot.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


While filming Cleopatra's triumphant entry into Rome, a scene requiring thousands of extras and the transportation of a huge barge carrying the Queen of Egypt, Joseph L. Mankiewicz had to cut the scene, roll back the barge, and begin again because one camera caught an enterprising extra hawking gelato to his fellow extras.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's overall take of $7 million is equivalent to about $29 million in 2009 dollars.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The finished script was as thick as the Beverly Hills phonebook.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


After long days of shooting, Joseph L. Mankiewicz would retire to his private rooms to do rewrites. He initially begged for time off to do a proper rewrite, but Twentieth Century Fox was so deeply in debt that they couldn't allow for yet another delay in production. Mankiewicz resorted to daily injections to keep him going during the day, and different ones at night to help him sleep.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz told Martin Landau that he had enough cut footage to make another movie called "The Further Adventures of Octavian and Ruffio".
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


In principle, Darryl F. Zanuck, did not object to Joseph L. Mankiewicz's idea to make two 3-hour movies. However, he knew the public was obsessed with the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton affair, and would not show up for the first part, in which Burton did not appear. The two parts were edited into one movie.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film was cut from six hours to four, 49 pages of re-shoots were required to make sense of the changes.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The scene showing Cleopatra's navy required huge numbers of boats and ships. It was said at the time that Twentieth Century-Fox had the world's third largest navy.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz was never proud of this film, and only stayed for his friend, Elizabeth Taylor. At one point he even tried to have his name taken off.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had met Richard Burton several years prior to their working together on the film, and had found him to be brutish and boorish. However, when Burton showed up for work on this film on his first day, it was with a hangover so severe that he had the shakes. Taylor had to help him around and administer to such basic needs as helping him drink a cup of coffee. This time, she found him to be very endearing.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


According to Rex Harrison's autobiography, Twentieth Century-Fox custom-made his Julius Caesar boots while Richard Burton's boots were hand-me-downs from the previous attempt at making the film. Harrison was amazed that Burton did not complain.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Richard Burton presented two of the swords he used during filming to Frankie Howerd. The comedian thereafter kept them by his fireplace at home.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


A clause in Rex Harrison's contract required a picture of him to appear in any ad with a picture of Richard Burton. When a large billboard on Broadway showed only Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Harrison's lawyers complained. The studio fulfilled the contract by placing a picture of Harrison in one corner of the billboard.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Filming began in 1960.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John DeCuir rebuilt the massive set of Alexandria three times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Susan Hayward was the first choice to play Cleopatra.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor demanded that the film be shot in the large format Todd-AO system. She owned the rights to the system as the widow of Michael Todd.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film finally broke even in 1973, 20th Century-Fox "closed the books" on "Cleopatra", keeping all future profits from this film secret to avoid paying those who might have been promised a percentage of the net profits.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Marlon Brando was sought to play Marc Antony, but he was attached to Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


This film has been cited as one factor that ended the Italian-made "sword and sandal" epics that had been popular since the late 1950s. Specialized suppliers raised their prices for goods and services supplied to this production. The higher prices were beyond the budget of Italian producers, so production values for their films dropped, and audiences declined.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Twentieth Century-Fox was in financial trouble in the late 1950s due to disappointing box-office returns of some major releases. Orders were given to search the Fox script library for a proven property that could be remade. The project chosen was Cleopatra (1917), a Theda Bara film that had been a smash hit for the studio. With no surviving prints, they based their judgment on an archived copy of the original script and some stills from the production. Then the studio needed a producer willing to handle the project. At the same time, veteran producer Walter Wanger approached Twentieth Century-Fox with an idea for a project he'd been planning for several years: the story of Cleopatra. In the words of David Brown, "We fell on him."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was fired during post-production phase. Since there was no actual shooting script (Mankiewicz wrote as he was shooting), Twentieth Century-Fox soon realized that only Mankiewicz knew how the story fit together. He was brought back to complete the project.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Robert Stephens said in a radio interview that most of his part was deleted from the final print.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Michael Hordern said on a chat show he was under contract for 18 months
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


While making of the movie, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton began a love-hate relationship which lasted until his death.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Alex North was chosen to score the film after Joseph L. Mankiewicz's son Christopher Mankiewicz told him that North had done a magnificent job in composing a score for Spartacus (1960).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During Cleopatra's entry into Rome, the shots of Cleopatra's barge and the parade that precedes it were filmed several months apart, so the light would hit Cleopatra directly.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The filming of Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was delayed for months due to lighting problems. The American child actor who played her four-year-old son got taller during the delay. He was replaced by an Italian boy, complete with accent.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract gave her director approval. When Rouben Mamoulian resigned, Taylor would only approve two possible replacements: George Stevens and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Stevens was already at work on The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When producer Walter Wanger was removed from the production, it ended his movie career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joan Collins was cast in the title role in 1958, but after several delays she became unavailable. After Collins' departure, producer Walter Wanger considered Audrey Hepburn as a replacement. Wanger then offered the role to Elizabeth Taylor. He called her on the set of her latest film, Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), and relayed the offer through Taylor's then-husband Eddie Fisher who had answered the phone. As a joke, Taylor replied "Sure, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars." In October 1959, Taylor became the first Hollywood star to receive $1 million for a single picture.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The original list of choices for the role of Marc Antony was: Stephen Boyd, Richard Johnson, Michael David, Peter O'Toole, Peter Finch and Laurence Harvey. Boyd was cast as Antony while Finch was cast as Caesar. However, both men had to leave the project due to the lengthy delays and their obligations to other projects.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Originally "Cleopatra" was envisioned as a modest $2,000,000 project starring Joan Collins.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz referred to this as "the toughest three pictures I ever made".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Ten people (7 art directors, 3 set decorators) won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Color). It remains the largest number of people sharing a single award in an annual category. In 1988 and 2006, 12 people shared a Scientific and Technical Award, which is not necessarily given each year.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John Alderton's movie debut.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Production moved from London to Rome following Elizabeth Taylor's illness, and the film's elaborate sets and props all had to be constructed twice. The production required so much lumber and raw material that building materials became scarce throughout Italy.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board as director after the departure of Rouben Mamoulian, he inherited a film that was already $5 million over budget and with no usable footage to show for it.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film's initial North American box-office take was $48 million, the highest-grossing film of the year. Fox's share of the receipts was $26 million, half of the total production costs. The film eventually recouped its budget through worldwide box office receipts and television sales, but the studio had to cut costs drastically to survive. the studio managed to stay afloat with the success of The Longest Day (1962). Twentieth Century-Fox then invested in the The Sound of Music (1965), which became the most financially successful film ever at that time, turning the studio's finances around.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Seventy-nine sets were constructed for the film, and 26,000 costumes were created.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


One of Cleopatra's handmaidens is a 16-year-old Francesca Annis.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's barge alone cost about $2 million in today's dollars.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Leon Shamroy was unavailable for many of the re-shoots, so Claude Renoir filled in.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz was tapped to direct, he was working on adapting Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria quartet novels.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz originally wanted to have either Laurence Olivier or Trevor Howard as Julius Caesar. Olivier was running the National Theatre of Great Britain, and Howard was caught up in the protracted filming of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film has no big final battle sequence because the studio couldn't afford one.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The Roman forum built at Cinecitta was three times the size of the real thing.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was cast after Joseph L. Mankiewicz admired his performance in North by Northwest (1959). Mankiewicz called up Alfred Hitchcock to ask him if he could act.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Stanley Baker was set to play Ruffio but demurred over taking the part because there was no script available. By the time he decided to take it, the part had gone to Martin Landau.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The dragged-out production cost Martin Landau a part in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


At the time, all Italian films were dubbed in post-production. Carpenters constantly hammered on the set during filming. Joseph L. Mankiewicz spent hours trying to make it clear to the Italian crew that silence was required on set at all times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The blistering review that Judith Crist gave the film effectively kickstarted her film critic career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The first screenwriter drafted in on the film was industry veteran Nigel Balchin.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Nunnally Johnson was paid $140,000 for a script polish.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Hume Cronyn was originally signed to be on the film for 10 weeks. He stayed with the production for 10-1/2 months.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was nearly ruined when enthusiastic extras started shouting "Liz! Liz!" instead of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the Marilyn Monroe vehicle "Something's Got to Give" was shelved due to budget overruns and an unreliable star, this film became the only one in production at Twentieth Century-Fox.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Rex Harrison was one of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's most passionate allies. At one point, Harrison offered up his own salary to help the production. Mankiewicz refused to let him do that.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


After firing Rouben Mamoulian as director, Walter Wanger and Darryl F. Zanuck approached Alfred Hitchcock to take over the project. Hitchcock refused and chose to make The Birds (1963) instead.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Walter Wanger's first choice for director insisted that Julius Caesar was gay, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras told the producer not to hire him. Skouras reasoned, "To hell with history. I want a triangle with two men and one woman. Having one of the greatest men in history as a homo isn't box office!"
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


In order to keep star Elizabeth Taylor happy, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras had chili from Chasens restaurant air-freighted to Europe for her.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When studio execs suggested that Joan Collins, Dana Wynter, Sophia Loren or Susan Hayward should replace a problematic 'Elizabeth Taylor (I)' (av), Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras allegedly screamed, "Cleopatra must have a chest. A chest will mean $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 extra for us."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During production, Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras sold 1000 of his estimated 100,000 shares in the studio on a whim. When rumors of his lack of faith in the studio began to spread, he bought them back to squash the rumors.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Jack Hildyard was initially the film's cinematographer, but left at the same time as original director Rouben Mamoulian. When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board, he initially looked at hiring an Italian cinematographer, but the studio did not believe that there were any Italians sufficiently qualified to work on the film and pressured him to hire an American or British cinematographer. Freddie Young, Milton R. Krasner and Robert Surtees were all unsuccessfully approached for the position, before Leon Shamroy finally agreed to sign on.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Halfway through production, when Twentieth Century-Fox realized costs were out of control, the studio tried to take away Rex Harrison's chauffeur and dressing room. According to the actor, he had to threaten to quit in order to get them back.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By the time Rouben Mamoulian was fired, he'd been on the film 16 weeks. Seven million dollars of production costs yielded 10 minutes of usable film.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By June 6, the Italian shoot was spending nearly $70,000 per day, and the film cost $3 million dollars more than Ben Hur.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had 65 costume changes for this film, a record for a motion picture. Joan Collins broke that record in 1986, with 85 costume changes in the TV miniseries Sins (1986).
 1 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this
.
See also
Goofs | Crazy Credits | Quotes | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks 
.
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »
Contribute to This Page

 Edit page
.

 

ad feedback
 
Cleopatra
Did You Know?
Trivia
 Goofs
Crazy Credits
Quotes
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks













































Explore More




Share this page:   
 



Create a list »
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users

list image  
A Journey Through Film
a list of 2634 titles created 12 Jan 2012


list image  
Historical
a list of 48 titles created 23 Jan 2013


list image  
all About the Best Costume in Movies all times..
a list of 25 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
Good historical movies (1)
a list of 32 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
LOVE...LOVE...LOVE
a list of 47 titles created 3 months ago

See all related lists »









 
 
Home | Search | Site Index | In Theaters | Coming Soon | Top Movies | Top 250 | TV | News | Message Boards | Press Room
Register | Advertising | Contact Us | Jobs | IMDbPro | Box Office Mojo | Withoutabox
 IMDb Mobile: iPhone/iPad | Android | Mobile site | Windows Phone 7 | IMDb Social: Facebook | Twitter


Copyright © 1990-2014 IMDb.com, Inc.
Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy | Interest-Based Ads
 An  company.
Amazon Affiliates 
Amazon Instant Video
Watch Movies &
TV Online   Prime Instant Video
Unlimited Streaming
of Movies & TV   Amazon Germany
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon Italy
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon France
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon India
Buy Movie and
TV Show DVDs   DPReview
Digital
Photography   Audible
Download
Audio Books  
               
























 


 
 
 
IMDb  

 
All Titles TV Episodes Names Companies Keywords Characters Videos Quotes Bios Plots Advanced Search »



Movies, TV
 & Showtimes




































Celebs, Events
 & Photos































News &
Community



























Watchlist


Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist


IMDbPro Menu 


Go to IMDbPro
Go to IMDbPro













|
IMDb Apps
|
Help

Login





 


 







Edit 
Cleopatra (1963) Poster 
Cleopatra  (1963) 
 
Trivia



Showing all 83 items


A group of female extras who played Cleopatra's servants and slave girls went on strike to demand protection from amorous Italian male extras. The studio eventually hired a special guard to protect the female extras.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


The budget for Elizabeth Taylor's costumes, $194,800, was the highest ever for a single screen actor. Her 65 costumes included a dress made from 24-carat gold cloth.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz hoped that the film would be released as two separate pictures, "Caesar and Cleopatra" followed by "Antony and Cleopatra." Each was to run approximately three hours. 20th Century-Fox decided against this, and released the film we know today. It runs just over four hours. It is hoped that the missing two hours will be located and that one day a six-hour 'director's cut' will be available.
 8 of 8 found this interesting  | Share this


A clerical error by 20 Century-Fox probably cost Roddy McDowall a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in this film. See McDowall's biography page for details.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Adjusted for inflation, this is one of the most expensive movies ever made. Its budget of $44 million is equivalent to $297 million in 2007 dollars.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


The film is widely regarded as one of the biggest flops of all time. It was actually one of the highest grossing films of the 1960s. Once it opened, it was was sold out for the next four months. In 1966, ABC-TV paid 20th Century-Fox a record $5 million for two showings of the film, a deal that put the film in the black.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract stipulated that her million-dollar salary be paid out as follows: $125,000 for 16 weeks work plus $50,000 a week afterwards plus 10% of the gross (with no break-even point). When the film was restarted in Rome in 1961, she had earned well over $2 million. After a lengthy $50 million lawsuit brought against Taylor and Richard Burton by 20th Century Fox in 1963 and a countersuit filed by Taylor, the studio finally settled with the actress in 1966. Her ultimate take for the film was $7 million.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor reputedly threw up the first time she saw the finished product.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Soon after shooting began in England, Elizabeth Taylor became ill and could not work. Her presence was required for almost every scene, and production soon closed down. Director Rouben Mamoulian finally resigned on January 3, 1961. He was followed by Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd, who had to honor prior commitments.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The first of eleven theatrical films that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in together.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


In Anzio, while building the Alexandria set, a few construction workers were killed by an unexploded mine left over from World War II.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Egypt initially refused to let Elizabeth Taylor in because she was Jewish. They changed their minds when they realized the film's presence would put millions of American dollars into the economy.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz's first cut ran 5 hours and 20 minutes. Darryl F. Zanuck's first reaction was that Mark Antony was ineffectual, many of the scenes were too long and the battle scenes were amateurish.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was booked to play Euphranor. When no one could be found to play Ruffo, Landau was recast.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau learned Italian during the shoot.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


While filming Cleopatra's triumphant entry into Rome, a scene requiring thousands of extras and the transportation of a huge barge carrying the Queen of Egypt, Joseph L. Mankiewicz had to cut the scene, roll back the barge, and begin again because one camera caught an enterprising extra hawking gelato to his fellow extras.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's overall take of $7 million is equivalent to about $29 million in 2009 dollars.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The finished script was as thick as the Beverly Hills phonebook.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


After long days of shooting, Joseph L. Mankiewicz would retire to his private rooms to do rewrites. He initially begged for time off to do a proper rewrite, but Twentieth Century Fox was so deeply in debt that they couldn't allow for yet another delay in production. Mankiewicz resorted to daily injections to keep him going during the day, and different ones at night to help him sleep.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz told Martin Landau that he had enough cut footage to make another movie called "The Further Adventures of Octavian and Ruffio".
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


In principle, Darryl F. Zanuck, did not object to Joseph L. Mankiewicz's idea to make two 3-hour movies. However, he knew the public was obsessed with the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton affair, and would not show up for the first part, in which Burton did not appear. The two parts were edited into one movie.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film was cut from six hours to four, 49 pages of re-shoots were required to make sense of the changes.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The scene showing Cleopatra's navy required huge numbers of boats and ships. It was said at the time that Twentieth Century-Fox had the world's third largest navy.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz was never proud of this film, and only stayed for his friend, Elizabeth Taylor. At one point he even tried to have his name taken off.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had met Richard Burton several years prior to their working together on the film, and had found him to be brutish and boorish. However, when Burton showed up for work on this film on his first day, it was with a hangover so severe that he had the shakes. Taylor had to help him around and administer to such basic needs as helping him drink a cup of coffee. This time, she found him to be very endearing.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


According to Rex Harrison's autobiography, Twentieth Century-Fox custom-made his Julius Caesar boots while Richard Burton's boots were hand-me-downs from the previous attempt at making the film. Harrison was amazed that Burton did not complain.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Richard Burton presented two of the swords he used during filming to Frankie Howerd. The comedian thereafter kept them by his fireplace at home.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


A clause in Rex Harrison's contract required a picture of him to appear in any ad with a picture of Richard Burton. When a large billboard on Broadway showed only Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Harrison's lawyers complained. The studio fulfilled the contract by placing a picture of Harrison in one corner of the billboard.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Filming began in 1960.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John DeCuir rebuilt the massive set of Alexandria three times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Susan Hayward was the first choice to play Cleopatra.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor demanded that the film be shot in the large format Todd-AO system. She owned the rights to the system as the widow of Michael Todd.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film finally broke even in 1973, 20th Century-Fox "closed the books" on "Cleopatra", keeping all future profits from this film secret to avoid paying those who might have been promised a percentage of the net profits.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Marlon Brando was sought to play Marc Antony, but he was attached to Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


This film has been cited as one factor that ended the Italian-made "sword and sandal" epics that had been popular since the late 1950s. Specialized suppliers raised their prices for goods and services supplied to this production. The higher prices were beyond the budget of Italian producers, so production values for their films dropped, and audiences declined.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Twentieth Century-Fox was in financial trouble in the late 1950s due to disappointing box-office returns of some major releases. Orders were given to search the Fox script library for a proven property that could be remade. The project chosen was Cleopatra (1917), a Theda Bara film that had been a smash hit for the studio. With no surviving prints, they based their judgment on an archived copy of the original script and some stills from the production. Then the studio needed a producer willing to handle the project. At the same time, veteran producer Walter Wanger approached Twentieth Century-Fox with an idea for a project he'd been planning for several years: the story of Cleopatra. In the words of David Brown, "We fell on him."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was fired during post-production phase. Since there was no actual shooting script (Mankiewicz wrote as he was shooting), Twentieth Century-Fox soon realized that only Mankiewicz knew how the story fit together. He was brought back to complete the project.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Robert Stephens said in a radio interview that most of his part was deleted from the final print.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Michael Hordern said on a chat show he was under contract for 18 months
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


While making of the movie, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton began a love-hate relationship which lasted until his death.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Alex North was chosen to score the film after Joseph L. Mankiewicz's son Christopher Mankiewicz told him that North had done a magnificent job in composing a score for Spartacus (1960).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During Cleopatra's entry into Rome, the shots of Cleopatra's barge and the parade that precedes it were filmed several months apart, so the light would hit Cleopatra directly.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The filming of Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was delayed for months due to lighting problems. The American child actor who played her four-year-old son got taller during the delay. He was replaced by an Italian boy, complete with accent.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract gave her director approval. When Rouben Mamoulian resigned, Taylor would only approve two possible replacements: George Stevens and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Stevens was already at work on The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When producer Walter Wanger was removed from the production, it ended his movie career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joan Collins was cast in the title role in 1958, but after several delays she became unavailable. After Collins' departure, producer Walter Wanger considered Audrey Hepburn as a replacement. Wanger then offered the role to Elizabeth Taylor. He called her on the set of her latest film, Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), and relayed the offer through Taylor's then-husband Eddie Fisher who had answered the phone. As a joke, Taylor replied "Sure, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars." In October 1959, Taylor became the first Hollywood star to receive $1 million for a single picture.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The original list of choices for the role of Marc Antony was: Stephen Boyd, Richard Johnson, Michael David, Peter O'Toole, Peter Finch and Laurence Harvey. Boyd was cast as Antony while Finch was cast as Caesar. However, both men had to leave the project due to the lengthy delays and their obligations to other projects.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Originally "Cleopatra" was envisioned as a modest $2,000,000 project starring Joan Collins.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz referred to this as "the toughest three pictures I ever made".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Ten people (7 art directors, 3 set decorators) won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Color). It remains the largest number of people sharing a single award in an annual category. In 1988 and 2006, 12 people shared a Scientific and Technical Award, which is not necessarily given each year.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John Alderton's movie debut.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Production moved from London to Rome following Elizabeth Taylor's illness, and the film's elaborate sets and props all had to be constructed twice. The production required so much lumber and raw material that building materials became scarce throughout Italy.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board as director after the departure of Rouben Mamoulian, he inherited a film that was already $5 million over budget and with no usable footage to show for it.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film's initial North American box-office take was $48 million, the highest-grossing film of the year. Fox's share of the receipts was $26 million, half of the total production costs. The film eventually recouped its budget through worldwide box office receipts and television sales, but the studio had to cut costs drastically to survive. the studio managed to stay afloat with the success of The Longest Day (1962). Twentieth Century-Fox then invested in the The Sound of Music (1965), which became the most financially successful film ever at that time, turning the studio's finances around.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Seventy-nine sets were constructed for the film, and 26,000 costumes were created.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


One of Cleopatra's handmaidens is a 16-year-old Francesca Annis.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's barge alone cost about $2 million in today's dollars.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Leon Shamroy was unavailable for many of the re-shoots, so Claude Renoir filled in.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz was tapped to direct, he was working on adapting Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria quartet novels.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz originally wanted to have either Laurence Olivier or Trevor Howard as Julius Caesar. Olivier was running the National Theatre of Great Britain, and Howard was caught up in the protracted filming of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film has no big final battle sequence because the studio couldn't afford one.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The Roman forum built at Cinecitta was three times the size of the real thing.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was cast after Joseph L. Mankiewicz admired his performance in North by Northwest (1959). Mankiewicz called up Alfred Hitchcock to ask him if he could act.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Stanley Baker was set to play Ruffio but demurred over taking the part because there was no script available. By the time he decided to take it, the part had gone to Martin Landau.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The dragged-out production cost Martin Landau a part in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


At the time, all Italian films were dubbed in post-production. Carpenters constantly hammered on the set during filming. Joseph L. Mankiewicz spent hours trying to make it clear to the Italian crew that silence was required on set at all times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The blistering review that Judith Crist gave the film effectively kickstarted her film critic career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The first screenwriter drafted in on the film was industry veteran Nigel Balchin.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Nunnally Johnson was paid $140,000 for a script polish.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Hume Cronyn was originally signed to be on the film for 10 weeks. He stayed with the production for 10-1/2 months.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was nearly ruined when enthusiastic extras started shouting "Liz! Liz!" instead of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the Marilyn Monroe vehicle "Something's Got to Give" was shelved due to budget overruns and an unreliable star, this film became the only one in production at Twentieth Century-Fox.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Rex Harrison was one of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's most passionate allies. At one point, Harrison offered up his own salary to help the production. Mankiewicz refused to let him do that.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


After firing Rouben Mamoulian as director, Walter Wanger and Darryl F. Zanuck approached Alfred Hitchcock to take over the project. Hitchcock refused and chose to make The Birds (1963) instead.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Walter Wanger's first choice for director insisted that Julius Caesar was gay, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras told the producer not to hire him. Skouras reasoned, "To hell with history. I want a triangle with two men and one woman. Having one of the greatest men in history as a homo isn't box office!"
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


In order to keep star Elizabeth Taylor happy, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras had chili from Chasens restaurant air-freighted to Europe for her.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When studio execs suggested that Joan Collins, Dana Wynter, Sophia Loren or Susan Hayward should replace a problematic 'Elizabeth Taylor (I)' (av), Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras allegedly screamed, "Cleopatra must have a chest. A chest will mean $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 extra for us."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During production, Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras sold 1000 of his estimated 100,000 shares in the studio on a whim. When rumors of his lack of faith in the studio began to spread, he bought them back to squash the rumors.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Jack Hildyard was initially the film's cinematographer, but left at the same time as original director Rouben Mamoulian. When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board, he initially looked at hiring an Italian cinematographer, but the studio did not believe that there were any Italians sufficiently qualified to work on the film and pressured him to hire an American or British cinematographer. Freddie Young, Milton R. Krasner and Robert Surtees were all unsuccessfully approached for the position, before Leon Shamroy finally agreed to sign on.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Halfway through production, when Twentieth Century-Fox realized costs were out of control, the studio tried to take away Rex Harrison's chauffeur and dressing room. According to the actor, he had to threaten to quit in order to get them back.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By the time Rouben Mamoulian was fired, he'd been on the film 16 weeks. Seven million dollars of production costs yielded 10 minutes of usable film.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By June 6, the Italian shoot was spending nearly $70,000 per day, and the film cost $3 million dollars more than Ben Hur.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had 65 costume changes for this film, a record for a motion picture. Joan Collins broke that record in 1986, with 85 costume changes in the TV miniseries Sins (1986).
 1 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this
.
See also
Goofs | Crazy Credits | Quotes | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks 
.
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »
Contribute to This Page

 Edit page
.

 

ad feedback
 
Cleopatra
Did You Know?
Trivia
 Goofs
Crazy Credits
Quotes
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks













































Explore More




Share this page:   
 



Create a list »
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users

list image  
A Journey Through Film
a list of 2634 titles created 12 Jan 2012


list image  
Historical
a list of 48 titles created 23 Jan 2013


list image  
all About the Best Costume in Movies all times..
a list of 25 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
Good historical movies (1)
a list of 32 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
LOVE...LOVE...LOVE
a list of 47 titles created 3 months ago

See all related lists »









 
 
Home | Search | Site Index | In Theaters | Coming Soon | Top Movies | Top 250 | TV | News | Message Boards | Press Room
Register | Advertising | Contact Us | Jobs | IMDbPro | Box Office Mojo | Withoutabox
 IMDb Mobile: iPhone/iPad | Android | Mobile site | Windows Phone 7 | IMDb Social: Facebook | Twitter


Copyright © 1990-2014 IMDb.com, Inc.
Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy | Interest-Based Ads
 An  company.
Amazon Affiliates 
Amazon Instant Video
Watch Movies &
TV Online   Prime Instant Video
Unlimited Streaming
of Movies & TV   Amazon Germany
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon Italy
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon France
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon India
Buy Movie and
TV Show DVDs   DPReview
Digital
Photography   Audible
Download
Audio Books  
               





















 


 
 
 
IMDb  

 
All Titles TV Episodes Names Companies Keywords Characters Videos Quotes Bios Plots Advanced Search »



Movies, TV
 & Showtimes




































Celebs, Events
 & Photos































News &
Community



























Watchlist


Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist


IMDbPro Menu 


Go to IMDbPro
Go to IMDbPro













|
IMDb Apps
|
Help

Login





 


 







Edit 
Cleopatra (1963) Poster 
Cleopatra  (1963) 
 
Trivia



Showing all 83 items


A group of female extras who played Cleopatra's servants and slave girls went on strike to demand protection from amorous Italian male extras. The studio eventually hired a special guard to protect the female extras.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


The budget for Elizabeth Taylor's costumes, $194,800, was the highest ever for a single screen actor. Her 65 costumes included a dress made from 24-carat gold cloth.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz hoped that the film would be released as two separate pictures, "Caesar and Cleopatra" followed by "Antony and Cleopatra." Each was to run approximately three hours. 20th Century-Fox decided against this, and released the film we know today. It runs just over four hours. It is hoped that the missing two hours will be located and that one day a six-hour 'director's cut' will be available.
 8 of 8 found this interesting  | Share this


A clerical error by 20 Century-Fox probably cost Roddy McDowall a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in this film. See McDowall's biography page for details.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Adjusted for inflation, this is one of the most expensive movies ever made. Its budget of $44 million is equivalent to $297 million in 2007 dollars.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


The film is widely regarded as one of the biggest flops of all time. It was actually one of the highest grossing films of the 1960s. Once it opened, it was was sold out for the next four months. In 1966, ABC-TV paid 20th Century-Fox a record $5 million for two showings of the film, a deal that put the film in the black.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract stipulated that her million-dollar salary be paid out as follows: $125,000 for 16 weeks work plus $50,000 a week afterwards plus 10% of the gross (with no break-even point). When the film was restarted in Rome in 1961, she had earned well over $2 million. After a lengthy $50 million lawsuit brought against Taylor and Richard Burton by 20th Century Fox in 1963 and a countersuit filed by Taylor, the studio finally settled with the actress in 1966. Her ultimate take for the film was $7 million.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor reputedly threw up the first time she saw the finished product.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Soon after shooting began in England, Elizabeth Taylor became ill and could not work. Her presence was required for almost every scene, and production soon closed down. Director Rouben Mamoulian finally resigned on January 3, 1961. He was followed by Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd, who had to honor prior commitments.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The first of eleven theatrical films that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in together.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


In Anzio, while building the Alexandria set, a few construction workers were killed by an unexploded mine left over from World War II.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Egypt initially refused to let Elizabeth Taylor in because she was Jewish. They changed their minds when they realized the film's presence would put millions of American dollars into the economy.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz's first cut ran 5 hours and 20 minutes. Darryl F. Zanuck's first reaction was that Mark Antony was ineffectual, many of the scenes were too long and the battle scenes were amateurish.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was booked to play Euphranor. When no one could be found to play Ruffo, Landau was recast.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau learned Italian during the shoot.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


While filming Cleopatra's triumphant entry into Rome, a scene requiring thousands of extras and the transportation of a huge barge carrying the Queen of Egypt, Joseph L. Mankiewicz had to cut the scene, roll back the barge, and begin again because one camera caught an enterprising extra hawking gelato to his fellow extras.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's overall take of $7 million is equivalent to about $29 million in 2009 dollars.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The finished script was as thick as the Beverly Hills phonebook.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


After long days of shooting, Joseph L. Mankiewicz would retire to his private rooms to do rewrites. He initially begged for time off to do a proper rewrite, but Twentieth Century Fox was so deeply in debt that they couldn't allow for yet another delay in production. Mankiewicz resorted to daily injections to keep him going during the day, and different ones at night to help him sleep.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz told Martin Landau that he had enough cut footage to make another movie called "The Further Adventures of Octavian and Ruffio".
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


In principle, Darryl F. Zanuck, did not object to Joseph L. Mankiewicz's idea to make two 3-hour movies. However, he knew the public was obsessed with the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton affair, and would not show up for the first part, in which Burton did not appear. The two parts were edited into one movie.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film was cut from six hours to four, 49 pages of re-shoots were required to make sense of the changes.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The scene showing Cleopatra's navy required huge numbers of boats and ships. It was said at the time that Twentieth Century-Fox had the world's third largest navy.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz was never proud of this film, and only stayed for his friend, Elizabeth Taylor. At one point he even tried to have his name taken off.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had met Richard Burton several years prior to their working together on the film, and had found him to be brutish and boorish. However, when Burton showed up for work on this film on his first day, it was with a hangover so severe that he had the shakes. Taylor had to help him around and administer to such basic needs as helping him drink a cup of coffee. This time, she found him to be very endearing.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


According to Rex Harrison's autobiography, Twentieth Century-Fox custom-made his Julius Caesar boots while Richard Burton's boots were hand-me-downs from the previous attempt at making the film. Harrison was amazed that Burton did not complain.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Richard Burton presented two of the swords he used during filming to Frankie Howerd. The comedian thereafter kept them by his fireplace at home.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


A clause in Rex Harrison's contract required a picture of him to appear in any ad with a picture of Richard Burton. When a large billboard on Broadway showed only Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Harrison's lawyers complained. The studio fulfilled the contract by placing a picture of Harrison in one corner of the billboard.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Filming began in 1960.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John DeCuir rebuilt the massive set of Alexandria three times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Susan Hayward was the first choice to play Cleopatra.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor demanded that the film be shot in the large format Todd-AO system. She owned the rights to the system as the widow of Michael Todd.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film finally broke even in 1973, 20th Century-Fox "closed the books" on "Cleopatra", keeping all future profits from this film secret to avoid paying those who might have been promised a percentage of the net profits.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Marlon Brando was sought to play Marc Antony, but he was attached to Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


This film has been cited as one factor that ended the Italian-made "sword and sandal" epics that had been popular since the late 1950s. Specialized suppliers raised their prices for goods and services supplied to this production. The higher prices were beyond the budget of Italian producers, so production values for their films dropped, and audiences declined.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Twentieth Century-Fox was in financial trouble in the late 1950s due to disappointing box-office returns of some major releases. Orders were given to search the Fox script library for a proven property that could be remade. The project chosen was Cleopatra (1917), a Theda Bara film that had been a smash hit for the studio. With no surviving prints, they based their judgment on an archived copy of the original script and some stills from the production. Then the studio needed a producer willing to handle the project. At the same time, veteran producer Walter Wanger approached Twentieth Century-Fox with an idea for a project he'd been planning for several years: the story of Cleopatra. In the words of David Brown, "We fell on him."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was fired during post-production phase. Since there was no actual shooting script (Mankiewicz wrote as he was shooting), Twentieth Century-Fox soon realized that only Mankiewicz knew how the story fit together. He was brought back to complete the project.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Robert Stephens said in a radio interview that most of his part was deleted from the final print.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Michael Hordern said on a chat show he was under contract for 18 months
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


While making of the movie, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton began a love-hate relationship which lasted until his death.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Alex North was chosen to score the film after Joseph L. Mankiewicz's son Christopher Mankiewicz told him that North had done a magnificent job in composing a score for Spartacus (1960).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During Cleopatra's entry into Rome, the shots of Cleopatra's barge and the parade that precedes it were filmed several months apart, so the light would hit Cleopatra directly.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The filming of Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was delayed for months due to lighting problems. The American child actor who played her four-year-old son got taller during the delay. He was replaced by an Italian boy, complete with accent.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract gave her director approval. When Rouben Mamoulian resigned, Taylor would only approve two possible replacements: George Stevens and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Stevens was already at work on The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When producer Walter Wanger was removed from the production, it ended his movie career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joan Collins was cast in the title role in 1958, but after several delays she became unavailable. After Collins' departure, producer Walter Wanger considered Audrey Hepburn as a replacement. Wanger then offered the role to Elizabeth Taylor. He called her on the set of her latest film, Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), and relayed the offer through Taylor's then-husband Eddie Fisher who had answered the phone. As a joke, Taylor replied "Sure, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars." In October 1959, Taylor became the first Hollywood star to receive $1 million for a single picture.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The original list of choices for the role of Marc Antony was: Stephen Boyd, Richard Johnson, Michael David, Peter O'Toole, Peter Finch and Laurence Harvey. Boyd was cast as Antony while Finch was cast as Caesar. However, both men had to leave the project due to the lengthy delays and their obligations to other projects.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Originally "Cleopatra" was envisioned as a modest $2,000,000 project starring Joan Collins.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz referred to this as "the toughest three pictures I ever made".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Ten people (7 art directors, 3 set decorators) won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Color). It remains the largest number of people sharing a single award in an annual category. In 1988 and 2006, 12 people shared a Scientific and Technical Award, which is not necessarily given each year.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John Alderton's movie debut.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Production moved from London to Rome following Elizabeth Taylor's illness, and the film's elaborate sets and props all had to be constructed twice. The production required so much lumber and raw material that building materials became scarce throughout Italy.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board as director after the departure of Rouben Mamoulian, he inherited a film that was already $5 million over budget and with no usable footage to show for it.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film's initial North American box-office take was $48 million, the highest-grossing film of the year. Fox's share of the receipts was $26 million, half of the total production costs. The film eventually recouped its budget through worldwide box office receipts and television sales, but the studio had to cut costs drastically to survive. the studio managed to stay afloat with the success of The Longest Day (1962). Twentieth Century-Fox then invested in the The Sound of Music (1965), which became the most financially successful film ever at that time, turning the studio's finances around.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Seventy-nine sets were constructed for the film, and 26,000 costumes were created.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


One of Cleopatra's handmaidens is a 16-year-old Francesca Annis.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's barge alone cost about $2 million in today's dollars.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Leon Shamroy was unavailable for many of the re-shoots, so Claude Renoir filled in.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz was tapped to direct, he was working on adapting Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria quartet novels.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz originally wanted to have either Laurence Olivier or Trevor Howard as Julius Caesar. Olivier was running the National Theatre of Great Britain, and Howard was caught up in the protracted filming of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film has no big final battle sequence because the studio couldn't afford one.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The Roman forum built at Cinecitta was three times the size of the real thing.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was cast after Joseph L. Mankiewicz admired his performance in North by Northwest (1959). Mankiewicz called up Alfred Hitchcock to ask him if he could act.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Stanley Baker was set to play Ruffio but demurred over taking the part because there was no script available. By the time he decided to take it, the part had gone to Martin Landau.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The dragged-out production cost Martin Landau a part in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


At the time, all Italian films were dubbed in post-production. Carpenters constantly hammered on the set during filming. Joseph L. Mankiewicz spent hours trying to make it clear to the Italian crew that silence was required on set at all times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The blistering review that Judith Crist gave the film effectively kickstarted her film critic career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The first screenwriter drafted in on the film was industry veteran Nigel Balchin.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Nunnally Johnson was paid $140,000 for a script polish.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Hume Cronyn was originally signed to be on the film for 10 weeks. He stayed with the production for 10-1/2 months.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was nearly ruined when enthusiastic extras started shouting "Liz! Liz!" instead of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the Marilyn Monroe vehicle "Something's Got to Give" was shelved due to budget overruns and an unreliable star, this film became the only one in production at Twentieth Century-Fox.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Rex Harrison was one of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's most passionate allies. At one point, Harrison offered up his own salary to help the production. Mankiewicz refused to let him do that.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


After firing Rouben Mamoulian as director, Walter Wanger and Darryl F. Zanuck approached Alfred Hitchcock to take over the project. Hitchcock refused and chose to make The Birds (1963) instead.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Walter Wanger's first choice for director insisted that Julius Caesar was gay, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras told the producer not to hire him. Skouras reasoned, "To hell with history. I want a triangle with two men and one woman. Having one of the greatest men in history as a homo isn't box office!"
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


In order to keep star Elizabeth Taylor happy, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras had chili from Chasens restaurant air-freighted to Europe for her.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When studio execs suggested that Joan Collins, Dana Wynter, Sophia Loren or Susan Hayward should replace a problematic 'Elizabeth Taylor (I)' (av), Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras allegedly screamed, "Cleopatra must have a chest. A chest will mean $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 extra for us."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During production, Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras sold 1000 of his estimated 100,000 shares in the studio on a whim. When rumors of his lack of faith in the studio began to spread, he bought them back to squash the rumors.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Jack Hildyard was initially the film's cinematographer, but left at the same time as original director Rouben Mamoulian. When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board, he initially looked at hiring an Italian cinematographer, but the studio did not believe that there were any Italians sufficiently qualified to work on the film and pressured him to hire an American or British cinematographer. Freddie Young, Milton R. Krasner and Robert Surtees were all unsuccessfully approached for the position, before Leon Shamroy finally agreed to sign on.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Halfway through production, when Twentieth Century-Fox realized costs were out of control, the studio tried to take away Rex Harrison's chauffeur and dressing room. According to the actor, he had to threaten to quit in order to get them back.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By the time Rouben Mamoulian was fired, he'd been on the film 16 weeks. Seven million dollars of production costs yielded 10 minutes of usable film.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By June 6, the Italian shoot was spending nearly $70,000 per day, and the film cost $3 million dollars more than Ben Hur.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had 65 costume changes for this film, a record for a motion picture. Joan Collins broke that record in 1986, with 85 costume changes in the TV miniseries Sins (1986).
 1 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this
.
See also
Goofs | Crazy Credits | Quotes | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks 
.
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »
Contribute to This Page

 Edit page
.

 

ad feedback
 
Cleopatra
Did You Know?
Trivia
 Goofs
Crazy Credits
Quotes
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks













































Explore More




Share this page:   
 



Create a list »
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users

list image  
A Journey Through Film
a list of 2634 titles created 12 Jan 2012


list image  
Historical
a list of 48 titles created 23 Jan 2013


list image  
all About the Best Costume in Movies all times..
a list of 25 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
Good historical movies (1)
a list of 32 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
LOVE...LOVE...LOVE
a list of 47 titles created 3 months ago

See all related lists »









 
 
Home | Search | Site Index | In Theaters | Coming Soon | Top Movies | Top 250 | TV | News | Message Boards | Press Room
Register | Advertising | Contact Us | Jobs | IMDbPro | Box Office Mojo | Withoutabox
 IMDb Mobile: iPhone/iPad | Android | Mobile site | Windows Phone 7 | IMDb Social: Facebook | Twitter


Copyright © 1990-2014 IMDb.com, Inc.
Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy | Interest-Based Ads
 An  company.
Amazon Affiliates 
Amazon Instant Video
Watch Movies &
TV Online   Prime Instant Video
Unlimited Streaming
of Movies & TV   Amazon Germany
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon Italy
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon France
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon India
Buy Movie and
TV Show DVDs   DPReview
Digital
Photography   Audible
Download
Audio Books  
               
























 


 
 
 
IMDb  

 
All Titles TV Episodes Names Companies Keywords Characters Videos Quotes Bios Plots Advanced Search »



Movies, TV
 & Showtimes




































Celebs, Events
 & Photos































News &
Community



























Watchlist


Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist
Add items to your Watchlist


IMDbPro Menu 


Go to IMDbPro
Go to IMDbPro













|
IMDb Apps
|
Help

Login





 


 







Edit 
Cleopatra (1963) Poster 
Cleopatra  (1963) 
 
Trivia



Showing all 83 items


A group of female extras who played Cleopatra's servants and slave girls went on strike to demand protection from amorous Italian male extras. The studio eventually hired a special guard to protect the female extras.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


The budget for Elizabeth Taylor's costumes, $194,800, was the highest ever for a single screen actor. Her 65 costumes included a dress made from 24-carat gold cloth.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz hoped that the film would be released as two separate pictures, "Caesar and Cleopatra" followed by "Antony and Cleopatra." Each was to run approximately three hours. 20th Century-Fox decided against this, and released the film we know today. It runs just over four hours. It is hoped that the missing two hours will be located and that one day a six-hour 'director's cut' will be available.
 8 of 8 found this interesting  | Share this


A clerical error by 20 Century-Fox probably cost Roddy McDowall a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in this film. See McDowall's biography page for details.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Adjusted for inflation, this is one of the most expensive movies ever made. Its budget of $44 million is equivalent to $297 million in 2007 dollars.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


The film is widely regarded as one of the biggest flops of all time. It was actually one of the highest grossing films of the 1960s. Once it opened, it was was sold out for the next four months. In 1966, ABC-TV paid 20th Century-Fox a record $5 million for two showings of the film, a deal that put the film in the black.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract stipulated that her million-dollar salary be paid out as follows: $125,000 for 16 weeks work plus $50,000 a week afterwards plus 10% of the gross (with no break-even point). When the film was restarted in Rome in 1961, she had earned well over $2 million. After a lengthy $50 million lawsuit brought against Taylor and Richard Burton by 20th Century Fox in 1963 and a countersuit filed by Taylor, the studio finally settled with the actress in 1966. Her ultimate take for the film was $7 million.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor reputedly threw up the first time she saw the finished product.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Soon after shooting began in England, Elizabeth Taylor became ill and could not work. Her presence was required for almost every scene, and production soon closed down. Director Rouben Mamoulian finally resigned on January 3, 1961. He was followed by Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd, who had to honor prior commitments.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The first of eleven theatrical films that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in together.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


In Anzio, while building the Alexandria set, a few construction workers were killed by an unexploded mine left over from World War II.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Egypt initially refused to let Elizabeth Taylor in because she was Jewish. They changed their minds when they realized the film's presence would put millions of American dollars into the economy.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz's first cut ran 5 hours and 20 minutes. Darryl F. Zanuck's first reaction was that Mark Antony was ineffectual, many of the scenes were too long and the battle scenes were amateurish.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was booked to play Euphranor. When no one could be found to play Ruffo, Landau was recast.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau learned Italian during the shoot.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


While filming Cleopatra's triumphant entry into Rome, a scene requiring thousands of extras and the transportation of a huge barge carrying the Queen of Egypt, Joseph L. Mankiewicz had to cut the scene, roll back the barge, and begin again because one camera caught an enterprising extra hawking gelato to his fellow extras.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's overall take of $7 million is equivalent to about $29 million in 2009 dollars.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The finished script was as thick as the Beverly Hills phonebook.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


After long days of shooting, Joseph L. Mankiewicz would retire to his private rooms to do rewrites. He initially begged for time off to do a proper rewrite, but Twentieth Century Fox was so deeply in debt that they couldn't allow for yet another delay in production. Mankiewicz resorted to daily injections to keep him going during the day, and different ones at night to help him sleep.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz told Martin Landau that he had enough cut footage to make another movie called "The Further Adventures of Octavian and Ruffio".
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


In principle, Darryl F. Zanuck, did not object to Joseph L. Mankiewicz's idea to make two 3-hour movies. However, he knew the public was obsessed with the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton affair, and would not show up for the first part, in which Burton did not appear. The two parts were edited into one movie.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film was cut from six hours to four, 49 pages of re-shoots were required to make sense of the changes.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The scene showing Cleopatra's navy required huge numbers of boats and ships. It was said at the time that Twentieth Century-Fox had the world's third largest navy.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz was never proud of this film, and only stayed for his friend, Elizabeth Taylor. At one point he even tried to have his name taken off.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had met Richard Burton several years prior to their working together on the film, and had found him to be brutish and boorish. However, when Burton showed up for work on this film on his first day, it was with a hangover so severe that he had the shakes. Taylor had to help him around and administer to such basic needs as helping him drink a cup of coffee. This time, she found him to be very endearing.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


According to Rex Harrison's autobiography, Twentieth Century-Fox custom-made his Julius Caesar boots while Richard Burton's boots were hand-me-downs from the previous attempt at making the film. Harrison was amazed that Burton did not complain.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Richard Burton presented two of the swords he used during filming to Frankie Howerd. The comedian thereafter kept them by his fireplace at home.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


A clause in Rex Harrison's contract required a picture of him to appear in any ad with a picture of Richard Burton. When a large billboard on Broadway showed only Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Harrison's lawyers complained. The studio fulfilled the contract by placing a picture of Harrison in one corner of the billboard.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Filming began in 1960.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John DeCuir rebuilt the massive set of Alexandria three times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Susan Hayward was the first choice to play Cleopatra.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor demanded that the film be shot in the large format Todd-AO system. She owned the rights to the system as the widow of Michael Todd.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the film finally broke even in 1973, 20th Century-Fox "closed the books" on "Cleopatra", keeping all future profits from this film secret to avoid paying those who might have been promised a percentage of the net profits.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Marlon Brando was sought to play Marc Antony, but he was attached to Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


This film has been cited as one factor that ended the Italian-made "sword and sandal" epics that had been popular since the late 1950s. Specialized suppliers raised their prices for goods and services supplied to this production. The higher prices were beyond the budget of Italian producers, so production values for their films dropped, and audiences declined.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Twentieth Century-Fox was in financial trouble in the late 1950s due to disappointing box-office returns of some major releases. Orders were given to search the Fox script library for a proven property that could be remade. The project chosen was Cleopatra (1917), a Theda Bara film that had been a smash hit for the studio. With no surviving prints, they based their judgment on an archived copy of the original script and some stills from the production. Then the studio needed a producer willing to handle the project. At the same time, veteran producer Walter Wanger approached Twentieth Century-Fox with an idea for a project he'd been planning for several years: the story of Cleopatra. In the words of David Brown, "We fell on him."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was fired during post-production phase. Since there was no actual shooting script (Mankiewicz wrote as he was shooting), Twentieth Century-Fox soon realized that only Mankiewicz knew how the story fit together. He was brought back to complete the project.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Robert Stephens said in a radio interview that most of his part was deleted from the final print.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Michael Hordern said on a chat show he was under contract for 18 months
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


While making of the movie, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton began a love-hate relationship which lasted until his death.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Alex North was chosen to score the film after Joseph L. Mankiewicz's son Christopher Mankiewicz told him that North had done a magnificent job in composing a score for Spartacus (1960).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During Cleopatra's entry into Rome, the shots of Cleopatra's barge and the parade that precedes it were filmed several months apart, so the light would hit Cleopatra directly.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The filming of Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was delayed for months due to lighting problems. The American child actor who played her four-year-old son got taller during the delay. He was replaced by an Italian boy, complete with accent.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor's contract gave her director approval. When Rouben Mamoulian resigned, Taylor would only approve two possible replacements: George Stevens and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Stevens was already at work on The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When producer Walter Wanger was removed from the production, it ended his movie career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joan Collins was cast in the title role in 1958, but after several delays she became unavailable. After Collins' departure, producer Walter Wanger considered Audrey Hepburn as a replacement. Wanger then offered the role to Elizabeth Taylor. He called her on the set of her latest film, Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), and relayed the offer through Taylor's then-husband Eddie Fisher who had answered the phone. As a joke, Taylor replied "Sure, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars." In October 1959, Taylor became the first Hollywood star to receive $1 million for a single picture.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The original list of choices for the role of Marc Antony was: Stephen Boyd, Richard Johnson, Michael David, Peter O'Toole, Peter Finch and Laurence Harvey. Boyd was cast as Antony while Finch was cast as Caesar. However, both men had to leave the project due to the lengthy delays and their obligations to other projects.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Originally "Cleopatra" was envisioned as a modest $2,000,000 project starring Joan Collins.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz referred to this as "the toughest three pictures I ever made".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Ten people (7 art directors, 3 set decorators) won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Color). It remains the largest number of people sharing a single award in an annual category. In 1988 and 2006, 12 people shared a Scientific and Technical Award, which is not necessarily given each year.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


John Alderton's movie debut.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Production moved from London to Rome following Elizabeth Taylor's illness, and the film's elaborate sets and props all had to be constructed twice. The production required so much lumber and raw material that building materials became scarce throughout Italy.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board as director after the departure of Rouben Mamoulian, he inherited a film that was already $5 million over budget and with no usable footage to show for it.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film's initial North American box-office take was $48 million, the highest-grossing film of the year. Fox's share of the receipts was $26 million, half of the total production costs. The film eventually recouped its budget through worldwide box office receipts and television sales, but the studio had to cut costs drastically to survive. the studio managed to stay afloat with the success of The Longest Day (1962). Twentieth Century-Fox then invested in the The Sound of Music (1965), which became the most financially successful film ever at that time, turning the studio's finances around.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Seventy-nine sets were constructed for the film, and 26,000 costumes were created.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


One of Cleopatra's handmaidens is a 16-year-old Francesca Annis.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's barge alone cost about $2 million in today's dollars.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Leon Shamroy was unavailable for many of the re-shoots, so Claude Renoir filled in.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Joseph L. Mankiewicz was tapped to direct, he was working on adapting Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria quartet novels.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Joseph L. Mankiewicz originally wanted to have either Laurence Olivier or Trevor Howard as Julius Caesar. Olivier was running the National Theatre of Great Britain, and Howard was caught up in the protracted filming of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The film has no big final battle sequence because the studio couldn't afford one.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The Roman forum built at Cinecitta was three times the size of the real thing.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Martin Landau was cast after Joseph L. Mankiewicz admired his performance in North by Northwest (1959). Mankiewicz called up Alfred Hitchcock to ask him if he could act.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Stanley Baker was set to play Ruffio but demurred over taking the part because there was no script available. By the time he decided to take it, the part had gone to Martin Landau.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The dragged-out production cost Martin Landau a part in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963).
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


At the time, all Italian films were dubbed in post-production. Carpenters constantly hammered on the set during filming. Joseph L. Mankiewicz spent hours trying to make it clear to the Italian crew that silence was required on set at all times.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The blistering review that Judith Crist gave the film effectively kickstarted her film critic career.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


The first screenwriter drafted in on the film was industry veteran Nigel Balchin.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Nunnally Johnson was paid $140,000 for a script polish.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Hume Cronyn was originally signed to be on the film for 10 weeks. He stayed with the production for 10-1/2 months.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Cleopatra's entrance into Rome was nearly ruined when enthusiastic extras started shouting "Liz! Liz!" instead of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!".
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When the Marilyn Monroe vehicle "Something's Got to Give" was shelved due to budget overruns and an unreliable star, this film became the only one in production at Twentieth Century-Fox.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Rex Harrison was one of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's most passionate allies. At one point, Harrison offered up his own salary to help the production. Mankiewicz refused to let him do that.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


After firing Rouben Mamoulian as director, Walter Wanger and Darryl F. Zanuck approached Alfred Hitchcock to take over the project. Hitchcock refused and chose to make The Birds (1963) instead.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When Walter Wanger's first choice for director insisted that Julius Caesar was gay, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras told the producer not to hire him. Skouras reasoned, "To hell with history. I want a triangle with two men and one woman. Having one of the greatest men in history as a homo isn't box office!"
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


In order to keep star Elizabeth Taylor happy, Fox chairman Spyros Skouras had chili from Chasens restaurant air-freighted to Europe for her.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


When studio execs suggested that Joan Collins, Dana Wynter, Sophia Loren or Susan Hayward should replace a problematic 'Elizabeth Taylor (I)' (av), Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras allegedly screamed, "Cleopatra must have a chest. A chest will mean $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 extra for us."
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


During production, Twentieth Century-Fox chairman Spyros Skouras sold 1000 of his estimated 100,000 shares in the studio on a whim. When rumors of his lack of faith in the studio began to spread, he bought them back to squash the rumors.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Jack Hildyard was initially the film's cinematographer, but left at the same time as original director Rouben Mamoulian. When Joseph L. Mankiewicz came on board, he initially looked at hiring an Italian cinematographer, but the studio did not believe that there were any Italians sufficiently qualified to work on the film and pressured him to hire an American or British cinematographer. Freddie Young, Milton R. Krasner and Robert Surtees were all unsuccessfully approached for the position, before Leon Shamroy finally agreed to sign on.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Halfway through production, when Twentieth Century-Fox realized costs were out of control, the studio tried to take away Rex Harrison's chauffeur and dressing room. According to the actor, he had to threaten to quit in order to get them back.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By the time Rouben Mamoulian was fired, he'd been on the film 16 weeks. Seven million dollars of production costs yielded 10 minutes of usable film.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


By June 6, the Italian shoot was spending nearly $70,000 per day, and the film cost $3 million dollars more than Ben Hur.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Elizabeth Taylor had 65 costume changes for this film, a record for a motion picture. Joan Collins broke that record in 1986, with 85 costume changes in the TV miniseries Sins (1986).
 1 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this
.
See also
Goofs | Crazy Credits | Quotes | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks 
.
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »
Contribute to This Page

 Edit page
.

 

ad feedback
 
Cleopatra
Did You Know?
Trivia
 Goofs
Crazy Credits
Quotes
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks













































Explore More




Share this page:   
 



Create a list »
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users

list image  
A Journey Through Film
a list of 2634 titles created 12 Jan 2012


list image  
Historical
a list of 48 titles created 23 Jan 2013


list image  
all About the Best Costume in Movies all times..
a list of 25 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
Good historical movies (1)
a list of 32 titles created 5 months ago


list image  
LOVE...LOVE...LOVE
a list of 47 titles created 3 months ago

See all related lists »









 
 
Home | Search | Site Index | In Theaters | Coming Soon | Top Movies | Top 250 | TV | News | Message Boards | Press Room
Register | Advertising | Contact Us | Jobs | IMDbPro | Box Office Mojo | Withoutabox
 IMDb Mobile: iPhone/iPad | Android | Mobile site | Windows Phone 7 | IMDb Social: Facebook | Twitter


Copyright © 1990-2014 IMDb.com, Inc.
Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy | Interest-Based Ads
 An  company.
Amazon Affiliates 
Amazon Instant Video
Watch Movies &
TV Online   Prime Instant Video
Unlimited Streaming
of Movies & TV   Amazon Germany
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon Italy
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon France
Buy Movies on
DVD & Blu-ray   Amazon India
Buy Movie and
TV Show DVDs   DPReview
Digital
Photography   Audible
Download
Audio Books