Cleopatra
Cast & Crew
J. Gordon Edwards
Theda Bara
Fritz Leiber
Thurston Hall
Albert Roscoe
Herschel Mayall
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Leading his conquering forces into Egypt, Julius Caesar falls madly in love with Cleopatra and the two rule Egypt jointly. When Caesar is assassinated after having returned to Rome to be crowned king of the civilized world, Mark Antony journeys to Egypt to secure Cleopatra's submission to the ruling triumvirate in Rome. Although Antony and Cleopatra are passionately in love, Antony returns to Rome and marries Octavia, sister of Octavius, to cement the triumvirate politically. When he discovers that Cleopatra still loves him, Antony joins forces with her but is vanquished by the forces of Octavius at Actium. Antony stabs himself, and when Cleopatra learns of his death, she applies a venomous asp to her breast and dies.
Director
J. Gordon Edwards
Cast
Theda Bara
Fritz Leiber
Thurston Hall
Albert Roscoe
Herschel Mayall
Dorothy Drake
Dell Duncan
Henri De Vries
Art Acord
Hector V. Sarno
Genevieve Blinn
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
According to the studio, this film cost $500,000 to produce and 2,000 people were employed behind the scenes.
The last two prints known were destroyed in fires at the Fox studios and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Please check your attic.
A few feet of this film were turned over to the George Eastman House by a private collector.
Notes
This film, which is believed to have been lost, is included on the American Film Institute's "Ten Most Wanted" list. It had its premiere in New York on October 14, 1917. Other films in which the character Cleopatra is featured include: the 1934 Paramount film Cleopatra, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Claudette Colbert; the 1953 Columbia film Serpent of the Nile, directed by William Castle and starring Rhonda Fleming; and the 1963 Twentieth Century-Fox film Cleopatra, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor.
