Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spelling Be Damned! It's a Great Disc and a Good Buy!, January 23, 2007
When the company that makes these can't even spell the names of the stars right on the jacket, you get a queasy feeling that maybe you wasted your money - again. Fear Not! The disc itself plays well. I thought the colors were perhaps a bit over saturated, but that could have been the settings on my new TV. This is to me one of the great movies of all time and I have been trying to get a DVD of it for years. Finally I am satisfied. Caesar is the way I want him to be and think he was. All the rest are also dead on - even kittenish Cleo. Thanks again, Mr. Shaw. A great play and a great movie. (only 4 stars is for the idiot who couldn't watch the film to get the star's name right).
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The magnificence of Shaw and Caesar, March 22, 2008
It's our amazing good fortune to have this document of one of George Bernard Shaw's greatest plays, filmed during his lifetime so that he could author the screenplay as he wrote the original stage work. It is a monument to the magnificence, not only of Shaw, but of Caesar. It is also a monument to Shaw's brilliant playcraft, clever plotting, and canny application of humor. It goes without saying that Shaw was brilliant, since of course he was a socialist.
We have seen this story before, though differently told, when the wonderful Rex Harrison played Caesar to the talented Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra. (Both of these names should be written with a K, since that is how they were both actually pronounced.) It is an absolute truth about that later film that only the first half is much worth watching, since Richard Burton in the second half plays a lovesick puppy so well it's thoroughly disgusting. GBS avoids that pitfall by giving us a great Caesar and a delightful Cleopatra, and fabulous stars to play them.
Shaw's play tells the story of Caesar's occupation of Alexandria after his final defeat of Pompey, and his defense of his position against perfidious Egyptians and renegade Romans in the service of Ptolemy XIV, Cleopatra's prepubescent brother and husband. The text is a creation of the utmost cunning: nothing less than a successful imitation of Shakespeare (though mostly in a more modern idiom). Few writers other than Shaw would have attempted this feat, and fewer still would have been successful at it.
Mentioning Ptolemy XIV, I should mention his (and Cleo's) brother, Ptolemy XIII. They were both married to Cleopatra and each of them was pounding on her bedroom door by the time he was 10. The film, alas, forgets the last Ptolemy, the XVth, called Caesarion, Caesar's son by Cleopatra. It was his official acknowledgement of this son that caused him so much trouble back home.
The essence of Shaw is of course his wit. Hardly a play of his is as witty as this one. The film is 2 hours long and seems scarcely an hour, so packed is it with sparkling dialogue.
To portray this great literary work, the producers have assembled a gallery of some of the greatest actors of the time. Caesar is played by the hugely talented Claude Rains whose portrayals of iconic roles have made him one of the greatest actors of the last century. He gives the immortal Julius such sangfroid and cool calculation as to make us instantly believe his greatness as a general and statesman.
Cleopatra is portrayed by the great Vivien Leigh, who graced and enhanced every part she took. Her beauty is in fact far, far greater than the legendary queen's (we have pictures). There is a rumor that Cleopatra was African (black) by descent - which, while not a big deal, is a lie. We know each and every one of her ancestors since before the time of Alexander the Great, and they are all Greek (and mostly closely related). Shaw also cleverly switches the story of the rug from her first meeting with Caesar to ruse to smuggle her into Caesar's emergency redoubt at the Pharos (the Alexandria lighthouse).
Apollodoros (misspelt with a "u" before the "s"), the Greek jack of all trades, arts, and talents, is played with huge humor by the inimitable Stewart Granger. Granger's acting talents gave both of the Fairbanks a run for their money. Cleopatra's nurse and chief bottle washer, Ftatateeta, is portrayed by the wonderful Flora Robson. For this part her skin is stained dusky and she's given an Egyptian-style fright wig ... and is absolutely convincing. When she's on camera, she manages to upstage even the riveting Rains.
The roll of talented veteran actors continues. As Pothinos (misspelt with a "us"), Ptolemy's puppet master and master of all nasty diplomatic maneuvers, we have Francis L. Sullivan. It was Pothinos' idea to knock off Pompey in the hope of sucking up to Caesar. No such luck, of course, because Caesar greatly admired and liked Pompey despite the fact that they had recently become enemies. Sullivan portrays Pothinos with delightful wiliness and sliminess. *** As the loyal Rufio, "Caesar's shield", we have a steadfast Basil Sydney. Rufio eventually becomes Roman "governor" of Egypt, although that country was then still technically independent and didn't have a governor. Rufio's part is given a good shot of good-humored testosterone and Sydney gives it great stature. *** The talented veteran Cecil Parker gives us Caesar's faithful British amanuensis, Britannus. His physical stature and Druidic appearance make him very convincing as a 1st-Century BCE British warrior-poet. *** And so on. Every part in this film is well-played by people who know what they're doing.
The DVD itself was manufactured in Korea. Don't expect a lot. This Technicolor film has a washed-out look ... although the colors are usually clear if not vividly bright. The sound is good (but could be better) and as we might expect from actors of stage quality, the dialogue is clear. There are, in addition, English subtitles. There are no extra features, but with older films we seldom get them. Some people might take points off for substandard color and sound. So do I. I give extra stars for Shaw's genius and take them off for an inferior recording of the original film. That leaves the correct total: the maximum.
It's sad that shallow people with no appreciation of theater or great playwriting should inflict low-star ratings on this immortal film. It's an insult to the greatest English playwright since Shakespeare.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful!, June 22, 2008
This is one of the best movies that I've ever seen! George Bernard Shaw has written a play just as good as anything that Shakespeare could have penned. The cast was perfect, and the direction was on point!
Even the costumes and set designs were incredible. Add this to your movie collection!
Just one note: maybe Cleopatra was not African (black) as stated in an earlier review, but I do believe that
simply stating this rumor as an untruth would have been sufficient. Calling this untruth a "lie" was a bit strong!
However, I notice that whenever Africa is mentioned in even the slightest way people have a tendency to lose their minds a bit. We need to get over this visceral attitude!
Thank You.
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