Talk:Cleopatra (1963 film)

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[edit] Trivia

Please find sources for this trivia and integrate into the article. Thanks. Chaz ^Beckett 16:48, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The World Premiere was held at the Rivoli Theatre (Broadway & 49th in NYC). The entrance to the theatre was on Broadway. The rear wall of the theatre faced 7th Avenue and there was a huge billboard affixed to same which initially depicted Taylor and Burton only. Rex Harrison was not included. He made his displeasure well known. Shortly afterwards, a small "thumbnail" rendering of Harrison appeared in the lower left of the billboard. Harrison was still not satisfied. Finally, Harrison was painted in to match the dimensions of Taylor and Burton.
• Keith Baxter originally was signed to play Marc Anthony. Taylor's bout with pneumonia soon after filming began shut down the set, and by the time she fully recovered Baxter had to meet other acting obligations, forcing the producer to hire Burton as his replacement.
• The costume worn by Taylor during the famous "entry into Rome" procession was made of real gold at a cost of about $1 million. It was so heavy that she could only wear it for short periods of time.
• In 1958 Joan Collins was cast in the title role, but after several delays she became unavailable. Collins had previously starred in a similar role in Land of the Pharaohs (1955). After Collins' departure, Audrey Hepburn was considered as a replacement by producer Walter Wanger. Wanger then offered the role to Elizabeth Taylor. He called her on the set of her latest film, Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) and related the offer through Taylor's then husband Eddie Fisher, who had answered the phone. As a joke, Taylor replied "Sure, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars." This then unheard-of sum was accepted and in October 1959 Taylor became the first Hollywood star to receive $1 million for a single picture.
• Dorothy Dandridge was considered for the role in the early stages of the production by director Rouben Mamoulian, which would have made her the first African-American woman to portray the historical figure.
• A group of female extras who played Cleopatra's various servants and slave girls went on strike to demand protection from amorous Italian extras and their bottom-pinching fingers. The studio eventually hired a special guard to protect the extras.
• Susan Hayward and Marilyn Monroe were considered as replacements after Joan Collins dropped out of the film.
• Marlon Brando, Peter O'Toole, and Laurence Harvey were considered for the role of Marc Antony.
• Adjusting for inflation, this is the second most expensive film ever made, topped only by 1968's War and Peace.
• The 1964 comedy film Carry on Cleo, which spoofed the film, was made on the sets left by the production. This explains the unusually lavish backdrop for an ostensibly low- to mid-budget comedy film.
• Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat sometimes refers to the film as "new", and Elizabeth Taylor as a "new, sexy, young starlet" whom he would like to meet.
• Actor Roddy McDowall was denied a likely Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor when an error in submission by the studio classified the role of Octavian as Leading rather than Supporting. By the time the error was discovered, it was too late to make a change. A letter of public apology to Mr. McDowall was subsequently printed in movie trade publications. In keeping with his characteristic professionalism, Mr. McDowall never voiced public criticism for the oversight.
• The Asterix adventure Asterix and Cleopatra parodies the film in two distinct ways. The cartoon Cleopatra bears a definite resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor's version (together with the identifiable nose), and the front cover of the cartoon parodies the film's iconic poster.