Epic Saturday Nights
4 Movies / Saturdays in January
Merriam-Webster defines epic as “extending beyond the usual or ordinary, especially in size or scope,” or “very great or large, and usually difficult or impressive.” TCM’s lineup of epic films on Saturday evenings this month fits both descriptions.
All four of our spectacles come from the period before CGI when all effects had to be staged and photographed literally, not accomplished digitally. Each film required tremendous time and expense in securing locations, building sets, hiring armies of extras and transporting cast, crew and materials to far-flung locales. Each movie won multiple Oscars and nominations.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is David Lean’s sweeping historical drama based on the life of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who became a leader of Arab tribes during World War I. Principal locations for the film were Jordan, Morocco and Spain (with the city of Seville standing in for Cairo, Jerusalem and Damascus).
Oscar-nominated Peter O’Toole became a major star due to his performance as Lawrence, and the film won Oscars in the categories of Best Picture, Director (David Lean), Cinematography (Freddie Young), Music Score (Maurice Jarre), Art Direction, Film Editing and Sound.
Made at an estimated cost of $15 million, the movie was a huge hit, winning universal acclaim and taking in a worldwide gross of more than $45 million. In a poll of British filmmakers in 2004 it was voted “Best British Film of All Time.”
Cleopatra (1963), 20th Century Fox’s lavish telling of the story of the Egyptian queen and her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, became infamous for the adulterous off-camera love affair of Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra) and Richard Burton (Antony).
Delays due in part to Taylor’s precarious health, including a major restart of filming with a new writer-director (Joseph L. Mankiewicz) and some roles recast, escalated an already enormous budget to $40 million, the highest for any film up to that time. Most of the principal photography for the final version was shot in Rome, with lavish sets and costumes and as many as 7,000 extras in one scene alone (Cleopatra’s entrance into Rome).
The film was nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture and Actor (Rex Harrison as Caesar). It won four, for Best Color Cinematography (Leon Shamroy), Costume Design (Irene Sharaff), Art Direction, Film Editing and Special Effects.
Reviews of the day were mixed, with some critics seeming to evaluate the offscreen behavior of the stars more than their performances. Later opinions seemed more objective. Writing retrospectively, British critic Billy Mowbray described the film as “ever-watchable thanks to its uninhibited ambition, size, and glamour.”
Despite its cost, Cleopatra eventually turned a profit. It was the highest-grossing film for the year of its release and finally earned a total of $40.3 million in theaters, with additional profits from television and video.
Doctor Zhivago (1965), another epic from master of spectacle David Lean, was the film version of Boris Pasternak’s popular novel set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War of 1918. Although he wanted to shoot in Russia, Lean settled on Spain because he feared too much interference in the Soviet Union.
In addition to a sterling cast headed by Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, the film includes many extras played by Spanish Army soldiers through permission from dictator Francisco Franco, and villagers from nearby pueblos who played Siberian refugees.
A 10-acre, very detailed Moscow set was erected at Canillas, Spain, with thousands of daffodils imported from the Netherlands for a scene set in spring. The snowy landscapes with the train were shot in Finland.
The film won high critical praise and was a tremendous commercial success, leading producing studio MGM out of a period of financial hardship.
Gandhi (1982) is Richard Attenborough’s elaborately produced screen biography of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of India’s nonviolent independence movement of the 20th century. The film had been Attenborough’s dream project for two decades before he was able to begin shooting with Ben Kingsley in the title role.
The half-Indian Kingsley immersed himself in elaborate preparations for his role by losing weight, practicing yoga and studying everything he could find about Gandhi.
The movie was shot in England and India, with some scenes filmed on actual locations where events had occurred. These included Gandhi’s assassination, which was filmed at Birla House in New Delhi, where it happened in 1948. Scenes were also shot in Porbandar, the coastal city where Gandhi was born.
The funeral scene, filmed at Rajpath, a ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi, utilized more than 300,000 extras, setting a Guinness World Record. The sequence was shot on January 31, 1981, the 33rd anniversary of the actual funeral.
The film won eight Oscars, for Best Picture, Director (Attenborough), Actor (Kingsley), Cinematography (Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor), Original Screenplay (John Briley), Art Direction, Film Editing and Costume Design.
Ironically, Attenborough himself felt that Steven Spielberg’s E.T. (1982) was a more imaginative film and deserved that year’s Best Picture Oscar!
