Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains pop off the screen in vivid Technicolor in Gabriel Pascal’s version of Shaw’s 1901 play about love and politics in ancient Rome and Egypt. At the time the most expensive British film ever produced (complete with real imported Egyptian sand), Caesar and Cleopatra is a lavish epic, featuring standout performances by its two stars.
Cast
| Cleopatra | Vivien Leigh |
| Julius Caesar | Claude Rains |
| Apollodorus | Stewart Granger |
| Pothinus | Francis L. Sullivan |
| Rufio | Basil Sydney |
| Ftatateeta | Flora Robson |
Credits
| Director | Gabriel Pascal |
| Screenplay | George Bernard Shaw |
| Producer | Gabriel Pascal |
| Cinematography | Jack Cardiff, Jack Hildyard, Robert Krasker and Freddie Young |
| Editing | Frederick Wilson |
| Music | Georges Auric |
| Custom... | John Bryan |
| Art directors | Oliver Messel |
by Bruce Eder
Feb 25, 2010
MAJOR BARBARA: STAGE TO SCREEN
It was one of the most improbable linkups in the history of either theater or cinema—as unlikely as Andrew Undershaft’s turning over . . .
Jan 26, 2010
Today, most people’s knowledge of George Bernard Shaw doesn’t extend much further than his classic comedy Pygmalion. But the legendary playwright and . . .
Dec 14, 2009
Almost sixty years ago, George Bernard Shaw died at age ninety-four, leaving behind an unfinished play. Tonight, in New York, that final work from the Pygmalion writer, Why She Would Not, will be presented in a reading by the Gingold . . .