Cleopatra (1963)

A rewatch of the infamous Burton-Taylor sword and sandals epic that almost sunk Fox. On the plus side: Harrison and the massive crowds, sets, and customs. You can see all the money on the screen. A big minus has to be the script which just lumbers along for 4 hours (!) along with Burton who seems very subdued. He gets better at the end when his character has more to do. As for Taylor, it hard to think who else could have played Cleopatra in '63 spectacular, but she her acting seems very flat at times and seems at times somewhat matronly.

The supporting cast seems fine except the occasional lapse such as Roddy McDowell as Octavian!

All in all, not as bad as I remember. Certainly watching it on DVD helped as I was able to pause and do other things as opposed to being immobilized for 4 hours in a theater. Of course, the photography is more impressive on a big screen.

Supposedly, the director wanted to issue two 3 hour movies, which is incredible since it may mean that they shot 6 hours of film and cut 2 hours! Like Mutiny on the Bounty the film lost money for the studio not because it was unpopular - it was the highest grossing film of 1963 - but because it cost so much.