Antony and Cleopatra

"Antony and Cleopatra" is a movie for Shakespeare lovers by Shakespeare lovers. Let's face it, after 400 years Shakespeare offers little in thrills and suspense. We seem to know Shakespeare's stories by a sort of cultural osmosis.This is not to say we can't be surprised and held in suspense by minor Shakespeare works. I have been held in thrall by "A Winter's Tale" and was astounded by its beautiful climax. The monumental tragedies, however, promise few surprises. Shakespeare's modern fans watch Shakespeare performed to hear the most beautiful words in the English language enunciated by good speakers.This, "Antony and Cleopatra" has in spades. The cast is superb. Julian Glover ("Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"); Freddie Jones; Eric Porter (Forsyte Saga, Jewel in the Crown); Peter Arne; and John Castle, who plays Octavius like a more powerful extension of his Geoffrey in "Lion in the Winter," and who is by far preferable to Roddy McDowell in the overblown "Cleopatra" of an earlier decade. These actors know how to do Shakespeare right, inhabiting the roles rather than doing recitation.Heston is a perfect Antony. Obsessed with the role all his life, he had recently played a younger Antony in "Julius Caesar" -- a movie with a great cast sabotaged by Jason Robards in the worst ever performance by a good actor.Perhaps learning his lesson from "Caesar" Heston made sure he cast no fish-out-of-water types. The only weak spot in the acting, if any, is Cleopatra herself. Hildegard Neil is certainly photogenic, and her acting is good. She reminded me of a kind of English Katherine Hepburn, though slinkier; able to show for Shakespeare the facility Hepburn had for Eugene O'Neill. Her only fault, if it is a fault, is that she lacks the tremendous presence one expects of one of history's most famous women.For my money, Neil is a lot better than the histrionics of that more infamous English-born Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor, who was overrated in both talent and looks. But Neil does not dominate the screen, so when she acts opposite someone with Charlton Heston's grasp of the screen she tends to get lost. Whatever one thinks of Taylor and Burton, they did fill a wide screen, especially when it shrinks to home video size.One problem Heston had with "Antony and Cleopatra" was the Taylor/Burton debacle, which would have destroyed 20th Century Fox if not for the surprising success of "The Sound of Music." Elizabeth Taylor made the very word "Cleopatra" anathema to movie-makers. And until the days of Branagh, Shakespeare was always a hard sell. The chord Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" struck the youth of 1968 might not transfer to the more mature obsessions of Cleo and Antony in 1972. The combined words "Cleopatra" and "Shakespeare" scared backers away.And director Heston (possibly because it was what he knew best) wanted to make an epic. That's the worst problem with the movie, Heston's efforts to make an epic when he lacked an epic bankroll. Shooting it in the desert helped greatly, since all he needed was sand. But this was Heston's entry-level position as director, and to make an epic one has to have a born eye for it. David Lean and his cinematographer Freddie Young practically made the desert a character in "Lawrence of Arabia." Heston's desert just lies there.By 1972, the epic was dying out, anyway. And Heston faced the same problem that nearly ruined Branagh with "Hamlet." HAMLET is principally a family drama, with two families destroyed by one man's obsessions; nevertheless, the survival of an entire country rested on Hamlet's decisions. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA is even more directly concerned with the contention between two mighty kingdoms, boiled down to a story presentable on a Jacobean stage.Heston did his best, even managing to swipe footage cut from "Ben Hur" to flesh out the battle of Actium. The movie might have played better on a smaller scale rather than a wide-screen epic but who's to say? Heston isn't a bad director (how could he be, with this cast?). But some of the editing is sloppy. And Heston used less than subtle imagery, such as having Antony talk with Octavius (John Castle) and Lepidus (Fernando Rey), being inter-cut with a LONG fight between gladiators. Way to hammer home the subtext, Chuck!Both the opening and closing credit sequences are lousy, but at least at the beginning the red lettering shows up against the sea. The closing credits were hard to read against the desert.If you love to hear Shakespeare spoken by good actors, this movie is a keeper. How can anything with both John Castle and Freddie Jones be otherwise? If, on the other hand, you want an exciting sand-and-sandal epic, but you don't know much about Shakespeare or about Roman or Egyptian history, you'll likely be bored.The DVD also has a "Making of Antony and Cleopatra" which is only an interview with Fraser Heston, Charlton's son and whose greatest claim to fame is being the infant Moses in "The Ten Commandments."

Charlton Heston directed and starred in this production of Shakespeare's *Antony and Cleopatra*. Filmed in England in 1972, it seems to have been influenced by Franco Zefferelli's 1968 version of *Romeo and Juliet* in which nudity was introduced into film adaptations of the bard's plays.English teachers who may wish to show this movie in class should preview the film and make their own decisions about whether to employ the famous "hold-a-folder-in-front-of-the-screen" technique as Heston did find a way to introduce a bit of skin, creating a scene on Cleopatra's barge where her ladies-in-waiting go in for some eye-popping sunbathing in front of the eunuch who protects them.J. Arthur Rank (1888-1972), the British founder of the Rank Group, PLC, which made the movie, got into the filmmaking industry in the 1930s in an effort to bring family-friendly films to the British filmgoing audience to counter-balance what he considered the risque direction American films were taking. Knowing that, one wonders if the sincere Methodist, who would have been 84 and in the last days of his life when this film was in production, would have jumped so blithely onto the Zefferelli bandwagon had he still had a hand in what his company was doing.Still, the delivery of the Shakespearean dialogue is masterful, which is an important consideration for the literature classroom. My main disappointment was that Heston's Antony seemed wooden and hardly the slobbering fool that "piece of work," Cleopatra, led around by the nose. Thus, Heston lost a key element in Shakespeare's history plays: how human folly can bring down even the greatest of the world's powers.Since this movie was made in England, it is hard to find in a VHS format that will play in Region 1. It has not yet been released in DVD format, and since Charlton Heston himself considered this film a flop, it may be a long time before someone takes the risk of doing so. Bottom line: snap up a VHS copy and make your own decisions about classroom use.

I did not quite know what to expect from this film, but as a big fan of Charlton Heston I had to find out. To put it mildly, I was extremely impressed by virtually everything I saw. The cast is excellent. Mr. Heston's acting is brilliant here but as director, I think he also shines. The cast he selected is equally wonderful. Perhaps the biggest thrill for me is the production values that were on display. This is a FILM and does not come across as a low budget feature - or a filmed stage play. I consider Charlton Heston one of the most interesting actors of any generation and his work here as auto AND director only solidly those feelings. Highly recommended!

DVD arrived sealed and undamaged. DVD played without recording defect.

Rejoiced too early: this 4Digital Media issue is again the cut version of 2h 28m as the WB’s DVD, issued 10 years ago, not 2h 40m. Bitterly disappointed. What‘s unpardonable is that they cut most of the Antony-Cleopatra scenes at the beginning that the viewer get no idea what kind of character Shakespeare meant her to be. An obvious example: the first scene of Antony with Cleopatra: he leaning against her bedside; next moment he is standing or kneeling on the bed breaking a huge pearl necklace around his neck which was not there a second before. Cleopatra's lines "Nay, hear them, Antony, ... etc" were cut. Also cut were the leave-taking scene (act 1, sc iii of the play), Alexas’s appearance in the papyrus boat scene (1, v), and maybe more. In total about 12 or 14 minutes. it may not sound much but the cut butchered Cleopatra’s part. "Critics‘ wrath" was concentrated on Hildegard(e) Neil, Heston wrote (Actor‘s Life), but I wonder whether the person or persons who mutilated (an appropriate term) the film by eliminating her key scenes really believed that they improved it. They only succeeded in damaging Charlton Heston’s reputation as a Shakespearian, in my humble opinion. He may be squirming in his grave.Actually I‘m not a fan of Shakespeare‘s Roman plays and the character of Cleopatra in particular. Let‘s not forget that women‘s parts were all played by boys in Shakespeare’s time. IMHO they do not require great actresses - but that is another matter. Neil's performance cannot be judged from what is left. And Heston? I have a problem which has nothing to do with the film:I don't see Heston gladly as Antony. Having read Cicero, I know that Antony was a monstrous villain. He was nothing like what one imagines from being played by Charlton Heston.Now about the BD quality briefly.Picture quality: good, presumably because there was not much demand for prints.Sound: that of the WB’s DVD was poor and this BD is hardly better - unusually high noise level, occasionally as if from an ancient SP record (no exaggeration).PS: In Germany a version appeared which claims to have the "long US version of 155 min" ( ASIN : B08NS9J71T ) - a curious claim considering that the film received no commercial release there - but unfortunately a LIE - the same 148 min version sold in the UK and the USA. The original trailer in English is on the DVD but not on the BD, in which one line of Cleopatra, cut from the current version, can be heard.The true length of the film is 162 minutes. Heston himself said that when he was in Japan in 1972. It was on television and I noted it well.

This epic period drama produced in the early-'70s was Charlton Heston's third cinematic performance as Mark Antony a propos of versions released earlier in his career in 1950 and 1970 - the latter starred that great English classical actor Sir John Gielgud as Caesar. Financed by Folio Films , the Rank Organisation and Izaro Films and filmed at Madrid's Moro Studios, Alcazaba and Aranjuez plus the deserts of Tabernas in Almeria between June and August 1971 and released in that greyest of hippy years -1972 - this is a very credible, economic production and is full of classical things. I was most impressed by the visual relationships - a vigorous gladiatorial scene, the alien pyramids and temples, lavish costumes, props, high-stepping horses etc. The abundant Spanish sun is astonishing and the camera records the pneuma and passage of time in the summer and autumn of 1971 so well. Heston's grandiloquent performance in some scenes can be compared to the flair of those other American stars - Marlon Brando in Burn! [1968-1970] or even Kirk Douglas in the adventure film The Light at the Edge of the World [1971]. In the aftermath of The Battle of Actium, Heston with his hawk-like profile seems strangely self-willed - sporting an auburn caesar cut and black cape he bestrides the Mediterranean surf like a Colossus. Antony's death scene - when he is stabbed by his servant features a strange Spanish night-time setting - the subdued light is very evocative. The English actors - the young fairhaired John Castle as Octavian and Eric Porter as Enobarbus are excellent. Hildegard Neil who plays Cleopatra is married in real life to Yorkshireman Brian Blessed.

I liked very much this excellent and very powerful adaptation of famous Shakespear's play. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.Charlton Heston is, except a mistake on my part, the person who played Mark Antony the most in all history of cinema - indeed, he was cast as this famous Roman warlord and politician no less than three times!The first time he played him it was in 1950, in the largely forgotten today "Julius Caesar" by David Bradley. It was Heston's only second role and even if the film itself was not a big hit, his performance as Mark Antony helped him a lot in launching his career, by landing leading roles in "Dark City", "Savage", "Ruby Gentry" and especially the part in Cecil B. DeMille gigantic production "The greatest show on Earth".In 1970 he played Mark Antony in another "Julius Ceaesar", this time as part of an ensemble cast, which included also John Gielgud, Jason Robards, Robert Vaughn, Richard Chamberlain, Diana Rigg, Christopher Lee and Richard Johnson. His performance was considered as most excellent and it inspired him to try to play this character in another Shakespear's play - "Antony and Cleopatra". But this time, he decided to also direct it.Released in 1972, this film received surprisingly poor reviews and bombed at box-office, as most cinemas withdrew it very fast from the screens. It remained almost impossible to see for 30 years and was all but forgotten. This 2011 DVD release is therefore a sort of RESURRECTION - long time overdue in my personal opinion...This film follows very faithfully Shakespear's script and therefore takes unavoidably some liberties with the real history. It begins with the Second Triumvirate formed (in real history in 42BC) and ends with Octavian total victory in 31BC. However you will not see here nine years passing and a great deal of real events will not be shown, such as Antony's disastrous failure in his campaign against Parths and the birth of Antony and Cleopatra's children (they are not even mentioned). But the real strength of this play is not in history lessons, but in a very powerful, very Shakespearian creation of a "symphony" about love, war, intrigue, hubris, betrayal, forgiveness, pride - and death...Charlton Heston is of course the major star and the main pillar of this film and I found his Mark Antony much BETTER than the much more famous portrayal by Richard Burton. Heston was already 49 when playing in this film and therefore close to the age of real Antony during the period described. Especially towards the end this age issue becomes a very great asset to the film, as real Antony was 53 when he died. Also, the imposing size and stature of Heston fits well with the descriptions of real Antony, who was clearly a physically very powerful man. It is also my impression, that Heston portrayed Antony as a much STRONGER, PROUDER and more FORMIDABLE person than the one shown by Burton (who in "Cleopatra" made Antony in a kind of sissy, really...) - and that is a mightily good thing.Stepping in the shoes of Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh and Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra was a much more difficult task for Hildegard Neil, a rather little known theatre and TV British actress. Well, she TOTALLY succeeded! Her Cleopatra is different from the one portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, with especially some quasi-comical accents (in full accordance with Shakespear's original script), but nevertheless she is absolutely IMPRESSIVE, in all her aspects: a cunning politician, a venomous vixen, a girl in love, a proud queen carrying on her shoulders the fate of her country - and finally a woman in deep mourning, defeated but not broken, reading herself for the ultimate voyage... Last but not least, as far as my personal taste is concerned, Hildegarde Neil's Cleopatra is the FAIREST OF THEM ALL, as this actress was in the 70s at her hottest and most gorgeous. Some SF amateurs, especially of more geeky/nerdy kind, will instantly recognize her as one of the hottest "Space 1999" guest stars, playing drop dead gorgeous and terminally venomous Elizia in the episode "Devil's planet" - and as of July 2013, she is still alive, well and busy....All the other cast performed also splendidly in this film, but some deserve special mentions:- John Castle plays Octavius Caesar (Octavian). He shows him as a kind of jerk, but not as wicked a man as the one played in Mankiewicz's "Cleopatra" by Roddy McDowall- Eric Porter is a particularly good Enobarbus, a character roughly corresponding to Martin Landau's Rufio in "Cleopatra"- Jane Lapotaire (at that time married to director Roland Joffe), who still continues today a succesful career in British TV, is excellent as Charmian, Cleopatra's chief handmaiden and confidante- Monica Peterson, a gorgeous black beauty, plays Iras, other Cleopatra's faithful handmaiden. She is real eye-candy - but sadly, Ms Peterson interrupted her career soon after this film- Emiliano Redondo, a Spanish actor who plays Mardian, a faithful eunuch, completely (and obviously platonically) in love with his queen...This film, so undeservedly ravaged by critics 30 years ago and for so long hidden from public view, is one of the BEST Shakespear's adaptations I ever saw and it is an impressive show, very much holding its own when compared to Mankiewicz's "Cleopatra". Charlton Heston particularly proved here, that he was not only a GREAT actor but also that he could direct as well as anybody else in this business. It is such a pity that his first, very succesful attempt in this field, was so poorly received... But at least now, we can admire his work and appreciate fully this EXCELLENT film. To buy, watch and keep. Enjoy!

Overall this film was very good. It was very well done. However, one little warning. The DVD was not rated. Having watched it I believe it would receive an X rating, or " suitable for persons over 15 / 18 " , as the X rating is today described.Also, for anyone who was impressed by Charlton Heston's previous biblical roles, it may come as quite a shock to see an actor of his generation and calibre, not to mention his stature, wearing nothing but a flesh coloured tassled G-String.The film was very good I would recommend it even to people who were not into the Bard.

This Dvd stalled after one hour of playing and could not be forwarded, had to fast forward it and rewind to next action. Very disappointing as this was a gift and not opened and tried until 2 months later.