Film historian William K. Everson once observed that the secret to the success of Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 Cleopatra is that DeMille subtly reshaped the known historical events into a contemporary "gold-digger makes good" scenario. Exhibiting the same determination with which Barbara Stanwyck sleeps her way to the top in 1933's Baby Face, Queen Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) uses her feminine wiles to become sole ruler of Egypt. By turns kittenish and cold-blooded, Cleopatra wraps such otherwise responsible Roman worthies as ...
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Film historian William K. Everson once observed that the secret to the success of Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 Cleopatra is that DeMille subtly reshaped the known historical events into a contemporary "gold-digger makes good" scenario. Exhibiting the same determination with which Barbara Stanwyck sleeps her way to the top in 1933's Baby Face, Queen Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) uses her feminine wiles to become sole ruler of Egypt. By turns kittenish and cold-blooded, Cleopatra wraps such otherwise responsible Roman worthies as Julius Caesar (Warren William, who wittily plays his role like one of his standard ruthless business executives) and Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) around her well-manicured little finger. To emphasize the "contemporary" nature of the film, DeMille adds little modernistic touches throughout: The architecture of Egypt and Rome has a distinctly art-deco look; a matron at a social gathering clucks "Poor Calpurnia...well, the wife is always the last to know"; and, after Caesar's funeral, Mark Anthony is chided by an associate for "all that 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen' business!" Cleopatra's barge scene and her suicide from the bite of a snake marked two of the most memorable sequences in DeMille's career. Remarkably, for all the enormous sets and elaborate costumes, Cleopatra came in at a budget of $750,000 -- almost $40 million less than the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor remake. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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New. Size: 7x5x0; Buy from insomniacs! We dont sleep until your order is shipped! Professional packaging, same day shipping on most orders. View our feedback and buy with confidence.
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Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Ian Keith. New. 1934 Run time: 100. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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Gertrude Michael, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Ian Keith, Joseph Schildkraut, C. Aubrey Smith, Claudette Colbert. New. 1934 Run time: 101. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
THIS IS A "MUST SEE". QUITE DATED, BUT A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE DE MILLE ART AND PRODUCTION OF THE TIME. SOME DIALOG A BIT COMICAL. GREAT TO HAVE IN A COLLECTION. A BIG JUMP AHEAD FOR COLBERT IN HER CAREER.
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