Stewart Granger Collection - Caesar And Cleopatra Details

Legend has it that garrulous Hungarian producer Gabriel Pascal managed to convince George Bernard Shaw he was the only person who could do justice to the great man's plays. Unfortunately, Pascal wasn't content to be merely producer here: he also directed, and with astounding ineptitude. The production went grossly over budget, which might account for both the film's excessive length and its failure to recoup its costs. There's no denying the Technicolor is splendid, but, despite the spirited efforts of Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh as the titular couple — he's suave, she's lovely — there's no sexual chemistry at all, and the script is far too wordy. Stewart Granger smoulders, despite the boot-polish make-up, but Flora Robson is quite ludicrous as Ftatateeta; the high style isn't needed here. It's still worth a look, though not to be taken too seriously.

Britain's most expensive film is an absurd extravaganza for which the producer actually took sand to Egypt to get the right colour. It has compensations however in the sets, the colour, the performances and the witty lines, though all its virtues are thea