Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-06-27

at least fugitively the derriere
Whether Cleopatra" is a greaI
picture is less clear. and per.
haps less important, than the
fact that is a great phenom-
enon. In any terms. includ-
ing bookkeeping, it is an epic
achievement in film making
that leaves the spectator so daz-
1led that he forgets even the
scandalous gossip associated
with its production.
That history as visualized by
Director-Writer Joseph L. Man.
kiewicz can be this absorbing II
the feat that may be the finest
recommendation for "Cleopa-
ira" In the simplest Of terms
this means that the virtues Of
the spectacular film triumph
over any lack of them In the
behaviour of any of its per-
formers.
Under the seldom cool eye
Of the camera, Caesar, Cleo
patra, Antony and the multi
tude Of other classic figures
become wildly or unevenly
played characters. Clearly, the
most striking performance in
the prodigal pageant is Rex
Harrison'S wise, worldly, weary
Caesar; its most breathtaking-
" daring and least stable, Miss
Taylor's; and its most corrosive
and unsympathetic that of
Richard Burton.
Save for the nobility Of Har-
rison's Caesar, however, the
visual grandeur, the films color
and dimension, diminishes the
human drama of the narrative
which Mr.. Mankiewicz was de-
termined should not be over
whelmed by the spectacle.
1t is this that is the largest
detachable flaw in Cleopatra"
in those fleeting instances when
the spectators mind is able to
take over from the senses.
=
Two stories from Mediter-
ranean history's greatest hour
are told In Mr.. Mankiewicz's
screenplay which draws upon
Plutarch. Suetonius, Cicero,
Shakespeare and Shaw. The
first, and best, is that of Caesar
and Cleopatra. the mature Ro-
man conqueror whose last bat
tie was a draw with the daz-
cling adolescent daughter Of
Egypt's Ptolemy. The other,
one Of those loves that is big
ger than both Of u.s." is that
Of the affair between the reck-
less, liquor and love-intoxi-
Gated Antony and the by-then
Rome-schooled Cleopatra.
The first Is q romance imbued
with wit and restrained emo
ton; the second full Of stri-
dence. passion, and doom. As
the proud, petulant, wanton
who amuses Harrison's Caesar
Miss Taylor is an Irresistible
Cleopatra. in or out of her bath.
As the latter experienced Sc
ductress who inflames Antony,
she is Shrill and insecure, the
kitten turned into a too, too
cat.
Amid the grandeur of Rome,
Athens, and Alexandria, Direc-
tor Mankiewicz is surrounded
by the spectacular natural
beauty and man-made gram
deur Of the Mediterranean
world. He has no choice but to
use it grandly. Just as he uses
Miss Taylor's beauty with all
that nature and Irene Sharaff
have given her.
History must, Of course, d.
vert him from an excessive con-
Germ with these amorous
aspects Of Cleopatra" There
were those battles to be fought
with such decisiveness, Phar-
salia, at Alexandria's Moon
Gate. Philippi, and finally at
Actium from which Antony fled.
Mr.. Mankiewicz is no direc-
tor to waste time or film on
armor-clad warriors shooting
arrows, swinging swords, OF
hurting spears. Nevertheless
these battles are the expression
Of the political passions which
bring the principals Of his pic
ture together for the more per-
sonal kind. He fits them into
the narrative of Cleopatra, .
always in the most discreet pro.
portions and with a proper
sense Of spectacle.
Never. however. does he for
get that Clennatra was Ynosi