Well, despite being a big fan of the two leads--and several of the supporting players--it's taken me over five decades to finally see this. I came across it tonight on one of the bazillion tv channels (sadly, un-bereft of commercial interruption) so I'm finally going to give it a watch. After all, it features two acting legends and a supporting cast brimming with talent. Stay tuned, and I'll be back in a couple of hours.......
.........all righty, then. These players are highly skilled; they handle the famous Shavian dialogue with ease. Perhaps too much ease. (They have it down so well that most of it is delivered at roughly the speed of light.) Claude Rains' Caesar is rather kindly for a hardened ruler, but as written he's well matched with Leigh's kittenish Cleo. Stewart Granger adds some vitality to the main cast, while veteran Flora Robson's Ftatateeta supports Leigh and provides a bit of a running gag throughout the film. It's all beautifully mounted (almost too beautiful; everyone and everything--from costumes to buildings to public streets--looks brand new.) Turning on the closed-captioning helps with the rapid-fire dialogue delivery. Verdict: if you're fans of the leads, and would like to get a glimpse of one-half of the alternating "Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Antony and Cleopatra" productions that Leigh would later perform onstage with then-husband Laurence Olivier, give this a watch.
Review of Caesar and Cleopatra
