Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

After Julius Caesar to be killed by Bruto and Casio , in Roman empire happens the second triumvirate : Marc Anthony (Charlton Heston) commands Egypt , Lepido (Fernando Rey) rules Africa and Octavio Augustus (John Castle) governs over Rome and Hispania . After the death of Julius , Cleopatra (Hildegard Neil , though Irene Papas was runner-up for the role and Heston wanted to cast Diana Rigg, who had co-starred with him in Julius Caesar) queen of Egypt , becomes infatuated with Marcus Antonius . However , Marc Anthony is married to Octavia (Carmen Sevilla) , Augustus's sister . Cleopatra who seduced the conqueror Julius to gain a kingdom , now she pins her hopes on rash Mark Anthony and then he is wedded to Cleopatra , but things don't turn out so well and they are defeated by Octavio Augustus in Actium .Co-production England/Switzerland/Spain by Rank Organisation and Izaro Films . This is a peculiar symbiosis between theatrical colossal and Peplum . The dialog , cinematography , and direction combine to cast a potent and enjoyable movie . Imposing sets , lavish costumes , good stars , massive scope , opulent interiors , including great spectacle of crowd scenes well staged by Joe Canutt who was Heston's stunt stand-in for Ben-Hur, most notably during the famous chariot race . Runtime is overlong , it's a little bit boring but the history aficionados will appeal too much . This is a special version of the Egyptian temptress's lust for Marco Antonio after Julius Caesar's death and results to be an intermittently extravaganza by Charlton Heston who is a tower of strength , as always . Charlton ¨Chuck¨ seem to be enjoying herself in the lead character in this hokey , spectacular as well as theatrical adaptation based on Shakespeare's play .This marked the third and final time Charlton Heston would play Mark Antony , he did so previously in Julius Caesar and also in Julius Caesar . For a middle budget of three million dollars , Heston asked Metro Goldwyn Mayer footage from ¨Ben Hur¨ , as was added stock-shots of the famous sea battle. Superb British/Spanish support cast such as Eric Porter , Peter Arne , Julian Glover , Douglas Wilmer , Warren Clarke , Freddie Jones as Pompey and Juan Luis Galiardo , Sancho Gracia , Aldo Sambrell and Fernando Rey who was wounded by an armour dressed by Heston . Evocative and sensitive musical score composed by John Scott and performed by London Symphony Orchestra , and musical additional by Augusto Alguero . Colorful and glamorous photography in stunning Technicolor by one of the best Spanish cameraman , Rafael Pacheco . Sumptuous sets and impressive production design by Jose Maria Alarcon and Jose Alguero , and breathtaking battles especially aboard ships and rousing final fight among two armies . It was completely shot in Spain , at Moro , Sevilla Films , Madrid studios , and on location in Aranjuez , Tabernas , Cabo De Gata and Roquetas De Mar (Almeria) . In Cabo De Gata was filmed a naval battle in which took part two ships .Other films dealing with the infamous Egyptian Queen and her Roman lovers saga are the following : Silent version ¨Cleopatra¨ with Theda Bara ; ¨Caesar and Cleopatra¨ by Gabriel Pascal with Claude Rains , Vivien Leigh and Flora Robson , ¨Cleopatra¨ by Cecil B De Mille with Claudette Colbert , Warren William and Henry Wilconson ; ¨Cleopatra¨ by Joseph L . Mankiewicz with Elizabeth Taylor , Rex Harrison and Richard Burton and TV adaptation ¨Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra¨ with Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman and ¨Cleopatra¨ TV series by Frank Roddan with Leonor Varela , Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane .

In Fraser Heston's forward to his father's Anthony And Cleopatra that is on the DVD that I just bought he mentions that his father was ever mindful of the mammoth Elizabeth Taylor film that only came out nine years earlier. He wanted to do something different and in that I felt that Charlton Heston failed. Not that this is not a good production, it most certainly is, but it did not break any new ground in that regard in the way that Laurence Olivier's Shakespeare films had done. Heston is a stalwart and resolute Mark Antony who for the first time in his pantheon of classical heroes on the screen is really quite the fool, but a fool for love as history has brought Antony down to us. He terribly underestimates Octavian played by John Castle who is best known as Prince Geoffrey of Anjou in The Lion In Winter. Heston marries Carmen Sevilla as Octavia and Castle thinks him and his following tied to the Caesar family. But Heston has a yen for Hildegarde Neil who is every bit as beguiling and seductive as Elizabeth Taylor or Claudette Colbert ever were as Cleopatra. The sea battle of Actium is always mentioned by historians as one of the twenty or so decisive battles in world history. What is shown here is that it need not be fought, but Heston spoiling for a fight and eager to dust off this young punk Octavian commits to a sea battle with inexperienced Egyptian sailors. That was his downfall or the beginning thereof.Speaking of which Actium is a nicely staged sequence and done for less money than you would think. Fraser Heston's narrative tells us how.Antony And Cleopatra is a fine production, not the best Shakespeare adaption, but still quite good. Look for John Castle as Octavian, he really has the character down perfectly.

An ego production is still an ego production even when the names are big and the intentions honorable.One has to respect Charlton Heston all the more, whatever his politics (which one need not respect at all) for wanting to prove himself as a real actor in the worst way even after all his success in overblown performances in various Hollywood epics. I hear you saying "that's exactly the way he did prove it," but no, as limited as this film proved with Heston using Shakespeare and other famous plays to get his own production company going in anticipation of the fast approaching days when real roles wouldn't be forthcoming, it isn't the disaster it might have been (how frustrating, though, that a genuinely great American Shakespearean like Orson Welles had to struggle for years to finance his Shakespeare while financiers lined up for "Moses" with relative alacrity). If one had not seen better versions of the story (even the 20th Century Fox fiscal fiasco with Rex Harrison and Richard Burton), it might have seemed more respectable. In this case don't blame Shakespeare, 'though it's not one of the best in his canon, but Heston's adaptation and the limited budget he had to work with.One could *almost* forgive the obvious miniatures for the sea battles and the toy pyramid (Cleopatra's tomb - whose doll house proportions are emphasized by an idiotic pull back shot from the air at the end!) for the generally solid performances of the no-name cast, SOME of whom went on to solid stage careers. Best of the lot, John Castle as Octavian Caesar, is very good indeed. Heston himself, adapter, director and star, is certainly no worse an Antony than Marlon Brando's miscast attempt in 1953's JULIUS CAESAR (or might not have been if he had had a decent director to reign him in), but we realize we're in Heston-ego-silliness before the credits are even over and the overblown score is all but trumpeting (french horning?) "WE'RE SERIOUS" as a herald's horse barges through market sellers' tables and immediately after when Heston does the first of several literal "bodice ripping" scenes chewing scenery and scattering the pearls he's wearing just because news has arrived from Rome. Scarcely 12 minutes in, our star is stripping down to a mini g-string to show his still adequate body on the pretext of changing clothes to go to work. Shakespeare didn't need the help.Still, Shakespeare IS there at the core, and even self centered direction and poverty row costumes can't ultimately undercut the excellent story. It plays out with all the political intrigue and personal passion the original author loaded it with. Even in an amateur (or at least underfunded) film, production values from people - cinematographers and editors - who have made big professional films can disguise many a self indulgent actor's flaws and give an overall production look larger than it is (the "Making of" documentary narration from Heston's son on the DVD - bending over backwards to honor his father - is both illustrative and amusing in this regard).When not overacting, Heston has skills which better directors had been able to make the most of and are occasionally allowed to glow here with a far more effective quiet fire. If Heston, the director, can't quite make sense of "The Battle of Actium" sequence, he comes closer than many directors and serious historians have before him. The Cleopatra Heston found he could afford, Hildegarde Neil, is more hampered by a passing resemblance halfway between Elizabeth Taylor and Sally Kellerman than any actual failings of her own or her director.If the viewer is willing to indulge the excesses of a star just starting to show serious age and unaware how silly the film mannerisms picked up in a career as "star" could look as he tried to segue into a seniority as a serious actor, this ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA can be worth its two and a half hours screen time. Heston only played on Broadway four times in his career - appearances ranging from 1947 to 1960 - but the only time the show he graced managed to run longer than a single week (a fate which must have wounded) was his first appearance, in a Katherine Cornell production of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, in which Heston played the tiny role of Proculeius, one of Caesar's (Octavian's) soldiers who has two fine brief scenes with Cleopatra near the end of the play, for a very respectable 126 performances under Guthrie McClintic's direction. It was an experience which clearly stayed with him for the rest of his life (and he did well by the actor in his role in this film). It's his and our loss that McClintic wasn't around to direct the star for this film as well.Certainly worth having, but don't expect Olivier.

When I first saw this film I liked it very much except for Hildegard Neils performance as Cleopatra. I guess the Liz Taylor version is hard to forget. But this is Shakespeare and Ms. Neil handles the part very well.After repeated viewings, I have come around. Mr. Heston was correct in his casting. Neils Cleopatra is convincing. You can't have Antony interested in a wimpy love sick girl. This Cleopatra "acts" and gets angry, sullen and has a range of emotions. You could see why Antony would be attracted to her over the sedate but beautiful Octavia.This is a terrific film and grossly under rated. It was restored by Fraser Heston's company in 2005 but I have yet to see it's release on DVD.What happened?