Cleopatra (1917 film)
| Cleopatra | |
|---|---|
 Original release poster | |
| Directed by | J. Gordon Edwards |
| Produced by | William Fox |
| Written by | Adrian Johnson |
| Starring |
Theda Bara Fritz Leiber, Sr. Thurston Hall |
| Music by | José Martínez |
| Cinematography |
John W. Boyle Rial Schellinger George Schneiderman |
| Editing by | Edward M. McDermott |
| Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 125 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language |
Silent English intertitles |
| Budget | $500,000 |
Cleopatra was a 1917 American silent historical drama film based on H. Rider Haggard's 1889 novel Cleopatra and the plays Cleopatre by Émile Moreau and Victorien Sardou and William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.[1] The film starred Theda Bara in the title role, Fritz Leiber, Sr. as Julius Caesar and Thurston Hall played Mark Antony.
The majority of the film is now considered lost, as no known complete negatives or prints of it survive. Brief fragments of footage from the film are known to exist today.[2]
Production notes
Cleopatra was one of the most elaborate Hollywood films ever produced up to that time, with particularly lavish sets and costumes. According to the studio, the film cost $500,000 (approximately $8.3 million in 2009) to make and employed 2,000 people behind the scenes. Theda Bara appeared in a variety of costumes, some quite risqué. The film was a great success at the time.
The picture was filmed on the Dominquez slough just outside of Long Beach, California. The throne prop used in the film ended up, years later, in the possession of Leon Schlesinger Productions, the production company behind the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons; its disposition after the acquisition of that company by Warner Bros. is unknown.
Cast
- Theda Bara as Cleopatra
- Fritz Leiber as Caesar
- Thurston Hall as Antony
- Albert Roscoe as Pharon
- Herschel Mayall as Ventidius
- Dorothy Drake as Charmian
- Delle Duncan as Iras
- Henri De Vries as Octavius Caesar
- Art Acord as Kephren
- Hector V. Sarno as Messenger
- Genevieve Blinn as Octavia
Preservation
_fragment_-_J._Gordon_Edwards.webm.jpg)
After the Hays Code was implemented in Hollywood, Cleopatra was judged too obscene to be shown. The last two prints known to exist were destroyed in fires at the Fox studios in 1937 (along with the majority of Bara's other films for Fox) and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.[2][3] Only a few fragments survive today.[2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ McCaffrey, Donald W.; Jacobs, Christopher P. (1999). Guide to the Silent Years of American Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 82. ISBN 0-313-30345-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Solomon, Aubrey (2011). The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography. McFarland. p. 1. ISBN 0-786-48610-4.
- ↑ Klepper, Robert K. (1996). Silent Films On Video: A Filmography Of Over 700 Silent Features Available On Videocassette, With a Directory Of Sources. McFarland & Co. p. 8. ISBN 0-786-40157-5.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cleopatra (1917 film). |
- Cleopatra at the Internet Movie Database
- Cleopatra at allmovie
- Cleopatra (1917) surviving footage on YouTube
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