Some Edition of Cleopatra

She's ruled a country for decades, she'd rather die than admit defeat, she's rich and drop dead gorgeous. Hail Queen Cleopatra! You can have the look of the most popular icon in the entire land of Egypt in its golden ages.  Indeed, she's everyone's favorite royalty because her whole life has been better than a daytime soap opera. The more we know about her, the more controversies unroll.  Famous for all her exploits, she's also been made a legend in a blockbuster Hollywood film.

Theda Bara

1917

Theda Bara played Cleopatra in the 1917 version. This version like many of Bara's films is Lost. It was directed by J. Gordon Edwards and also stared Fritz Leiber, Sr and Thurston Hall as Caesar and Mark Antony respectively. At the time it was the most elaborate productions ever with lavish sets and detail costumes. According to the studio it costed $500,000 (approximately $8.3 million in 2009). The film was loosely based on the plot of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The film was very success in it's time. The Hays Movie Code deemed the film as too risque to be shown due some of Bara's costumes. Unfortunately the last two known prints burned in Fox studios and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York fires. Only a few fragments survive today.

Marilyn Monroe (detail) as silent movie star. Theda Bara’s version of Cleopatra. 1957 shot by Richard Avedon.

Claudette Colbert   
1934

Claudette Colbert played Cleopatra in the 1934 Cecil B DeMille version. The film also stars Warren William and Henry Wilcoxon as Julius Caesar and Marc Antony respectfully. Hays Movie Code just came out so DeMille got away with using more risque imagery than he would be able to in his later productions.

The film has an art deco look to the sets and features beautiful costumes. The film won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Victor Milner), and was nominated Best Picture, Best Assistant Director (Cullen Tate), Best Film Editing (Anne Bauchens), and Best Sound, Recording (Franklin Hansen).

Vivien Leigh

1945

Vivien Leigh played Cleoptra in the 1945 British technicolor version based on the 1901 play by George Bernard Shaw Caesar and Cleopatra. It was directed by Gabriel Pascal and was romantic comedy. It also started Claude Rains as Caesar. This not meant to a historically accurate version it was a coming of age story. It's fun, well acted and has great chemistry between Leigh and Rains.

Sophia Loren

1953

Sophia Loren played Cleopatra in the Italian movie "Two Nights with Cleopatra" and it's a comedy. Loren plays both Cleopatra and Nisca, a slave. Nisca takes Cleopatra place and is wooed by a bodyguard who thinks she's the Queen. Cleopatra in this film is depicted as having a "man-a-night" appetite. It's a fun movie that while is not great, it's not terrible. The sets and costumes are great and Loren is both sexy and funny.

Elizabeth Taylor

1963

Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra in the 1963 version which is the most popular version of Cleopatra. It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starred Rex Harrison and Richard Burton as Caesar and Marc Antony respectfully. The film cost $44 million ($320 million in 2010 dollars) and nearly bankrupted Fox Studios. It's the third-most costly movie ever produced worldwide. It won Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume and Best Visual Effects. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing. It also the film earned Elizabeth Taylor a Guinness World Record title for "Most costume changes in a film"; Taylor made 65 costume changes. That record lasted until Evita (1996) which had 85 costume changes for Madonna.

This version remains the favorite for it's acting, over-the-top sets, and lavish costumes.

Leonor Varela

1999

Leonor Varela played Cleopatra in the 1999 TV Mini Series. It starred Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane as Caesar and Marc Antony respectfully. It was directed by Frank Roddan. Varela's Cleopatra comes as very ambitious. This version was loosely based off "Memories of Cleopatra" by Margaret George. It has great sets and costumes. The acting is fairly good across the board and the battles are well choreographed. The Music is by Trevor Jones and is stunning.

Monica Bellucci

2002

Monica Bellucci played Cleopatra in "Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra". It was directed by Alain Chabat. This film is about Astérix and Obélix who go to Egypt to help architect Numérobis who is building a palace for Cleopatra. It also stars Gérard Depardieu. It's a fun, action/adventure, comedy, that's great for kids, though it does have a PG rating for language, sensuality and mild violence.

Angelina Jolie

2013

Angelina Jolie is slated to play Cleopatra in an upcoming movie version. Many people have strong opinions that she is not an appropriated choice to play the Egyptian Queen. Some feel that a women of color should play Cleopatra, others feel that a women who looked Grecian would be better choice (Cleopatra was Macedonian) and some feel that Jolie is a little too old. Stacy Schiff author of the acclaimed "Cleopatra: A Life" thinks she is a great choice. So we'll have to wait and see how Jolie's Cleopatra will be, but hopefully she won't use a British accent in this role.