Movie Review: Cleopatra (1934)
It is 48 B.C., and Egypt is having a bit of a civil war. Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) and her brother Ptolemy both want to be the ruler. The regent Pothinos (Leonard Mudie), who finds Ptolemy easier to control, exiles Cleopatra to the desert, then negotiates with Julius Caesar (Warren William), representative of Rome. Cleopatra has managed to get herself smuggled back into the city, and makes her own appeal to Caesar.
While Caesar likes Cleopatra better than he does Pothinos, he is more fascinated by her offer of not just Egypt’s wealth, but India’s as well. They soon become lovers, and Caesar takes Cleopatra back to Rome with him, planning to divorce his wife and marry Cleopatra so he can become ruler of both Rome and Egypt.
Alarmed by Julius Caesar’s ambitions and worried that he is too strongly influenced by the foreign queen, prominent Romans conspire, and eventually assassinate Caesar. Cleopatra is forced to flee back to Egypt.
In Rome, Caesar’s buddy Marc Anthony (Henry Wilcoxon) has quickly used his oratorical skills to gain favor, much to the envy of Caesar’s nephew Octavian (Ian Keith). A misogynist, Marc Anthony thinks it will be easy for him to trick Cleopatra into becoming his captive, despite the warnings of his faithful friend Enobarbus (C. Aubrey Smith.)
Cleopatra, however, has shrewdly realized that Marc Anthony is actually a repressed hedonist. She gets him aboard her barge and plies him with fine wine, rich food, jewels and dancing girls. It works, and Marc Anthony becomes besotted with Cleopatra, accompanying her back to her queendom.
There they are visited by the sly King Herod (Joseph Schildkraut) who is allied with Octavian, and turns the lovers against each other with paranoia. Before this can bear deadly fruit, however, the impatient Octavian declares war. Marc Anthony’s bold response to this wins Cleopatra’s heart for real.
Unfortunately, the opposite is true for Marc Anthony’s legions, who desert to Octavian rather than rebel against Rome. Even Enobarbus is forced to repudiate Marc Anthony by his principles. Marc Anthony puts up a valiant fight using the Egyptian troops, but it is no use. Soon he and Cleopatra are trapped inside her palace.
Cleopatra tries to bargain with Octavian to leave Egypt if he will spare Marc Anthony’s life, but he’s having none of that. Only Enobarbus’ reminder of the honor of Rome keeps Octavian from violating her peace negotiation immunity then and there.
Returning to the palace, Cleopatra discovers that Marc Anthony mistook her envoy for a betrayal, and committed suicide rather than surrender. As he passes away, the lovers reconcile. Cleopatra then commits suicide by asp herself, the invading Romans finding her dead upon her throne.
This is another Cecil B. DeMille film, this one produced just as the Hays Code came in. The stranglehold was not so firm yet, so some pretty risque images made it into the film, especially in the scene on Cleopatra’s barge where she seduces Marc Anthony. Dancing girls in leopard skins having catfights, yowza! The sets and costumes are really nice with an Art Deco feel, and almost make up for the lack of color.
Cleopatra is the star of the movie, and Claudette Colbert shines in the role. She has little actual power, and must rely on the men around her to get things done. So she uses her sex appeal and wealth and psychology to manipulate those men into doing her bidding. Cleopatra throws herself wholeheartedly into this endeavor, allowing herself to truly fall in love with Caesar and then Marc Anthony.
But it is all for the sake of Egypt, and Rome will not have Egypt be anything but a vassal, so it all ends in tragedy. There are references to the Shakespeare plays here and there.
As always with the DeMille films, this is a highly romanticized version of history, but it’s a great movie.
