REMEMBERING 1963, ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S CLEAVAGE, JOE MANKIEWICZ, PAUL BARTEL, AND MY DAD
All the above things are, for me, connected to the Twentieth-Century Fox "Sword and Sandals" epic 1963 film about the legendary Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII. This fascinating ruler was descended from a long line of Greeks beginning with Ptolemy I, Alexander the Great's general. While the film night never make any "great movies" list, surely in many regards it was simply enormous, not the least of which was the runaway budget eventual totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of, in today's dollars, about $300,000,000.00. Three hundred million dollars. The movie was originally budgeted for much less than it ended up costing, and among the collateral damage from this wild, sprawling dog, pony, horse and cobra show which started at Pinewood Studios in London, only to have all that had been done there trashed and rebuilt and re shot at Cinecitta in Rome was the financial emasculation and near bankruptcy of Twentieth-Century Fox. To stay solvent one of the means the studio used to raise money was to sell off a large portion of its old back lot. This gave us which is today called "Century City." Also, it might be noted that the romance which was ignited during Miss Taylor and Richard Burton's torrid onscreen smooches eventually destroyed the marriages of both stars, subsequently leading to the Miss Taylor's 5th trip down the altar and Mr. Burton's 2nd, accompanied by each other. They stayed married about ten years and their escapades, extravagances, jets, jewels, various illnesses and maladies and their sometimes very public and now legendary episodes of brawling were constantly in the news when I was young and I am sure to this day no power couple of modern times has even come close to overshadowing the love story that was Taylor and Burton. The romance came to a final end with Richard Burton's death, their tale having endured a divorce and remarriage and subsequent second divorce. At 58, Mr. Burton unfortunately left us too soon but Dame Elizabeth Rosamond Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Warner Fortensky still endures. I think of her as truly one of the very last "stars," in the sense of what they once were in the old days of Hollywood when the studios pretty much held all the cards, or at least just about all of them that matted.
What got me on this "Cleopatra" thing was the fact that this morning I read an article about the possibility that Angela Jolie playing Cleopatra in a film to be produced by Scott Rudin based on a new biography of the Queen of the Nile by Stacy Schiff.
My Father took me to see Cleopatra at the Capitol Theater in Paris, Tennessee.
On a long ago Saturday afternoon in 1963, my father took me to see Cleopatra at a the first movie theater I ever knew, the Capitol, in Paris, Tennessee. The Capitol, like so many old movie houses is now only a memory. If you should be interested in learning about its sad fad, I found some information here:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/14475/
Cleopatra and The Dirty Dozen are the only movies I actually remember ever seeing with my father and it was at the Capitol in Paris where I saw both of them. I remember how I loved the chilled enchanted darkness that I experienced when I walked through the doors, with the ever-present smell of popcorn greeting you like an old friend. My memories of the Capitol are quite fond and I very much enjoyed the hours which I spent there, for watching the tales played out on the screen which were literally "larger than life" allowed me, for a few short hours, at least, to escape the stress and heartbreaks of my troubled youth. I say this not out of self-pity but simply as a fact, because all of my earlier memories were colored by the shame I grew up feeling due to my Mother's alcoholism. I won't say more about that and that could involve much revelation at any point in the future. HEY! I just had an idea as I was typing - I have thought about writing a book for quite some time and perhaps the entries in this blog could be the bare bones, or an outline of some future literary endeavor. You tell ME if you think there is any future in that. Okay, back to my story now. My father and Cleopatra and the Capitol Theater. While he was alive, the only thing I ever called my father was "Daddy." My dear father, George Tillman Wiseman
Eye Makeup and Boobs. Regarding my memories of the film which have remained with me these past 47 years since Daddy and I viewed it together I can mention two two things in particular. The first was Cleo's exotic quasi-authentic by way of the hip 1960s eye makeup. The other was Liz's prominent and amply satisfying cleavage. In Cleopatra I found at that time and still find whenever I watch it now a stunningly beautiful creature which surely Elizabeth Taylor was. I do not imagine she was ever more beautiful, actually, than she was then. Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor, WOW! The effect of seeing her onscreen then was... Oh, truth be told I was mesmerized and infatuated. I have long found Miss Taylor to be utterly fascinating and nothing has ever changed that assessment.
Raoul Had Not Yet Eaten. Nor would he for quite some time to come when Paul Bartel was in Rome while Cleopatra was being filmed. Several years ago, though I don't remember how many, in Santa Monica, California, I heard Paul Bartel talk about his life in the movies and he told us that he was at Cinecitta while Cleopatra was being filmed. I had taken a "Learning Exchange" seminar, or something along those lines and this particular event involved Paul Bartel, whose wrote and directed the black comedy "Eating Raoul." Before moving to California I had lived at 74 West 82nd Street in Manhattan and another occupant of this brownstone, on a floor below me, was Paul's sister, Wendy Bartel. Having by this time acquired some knowledge of Paul's work, having seen "Eating Raoul," at least, I thought it would be fun to go and hear and perhaps meet Paul so I would be able to tell him that I knew his sister. The seminar or whatever you would call it occurred in a meeting room in a Santa Monica hotel. It was attended by several people but not a large group, I wouldn't say. I thought what he had to say was interesting but not so much so that I remember anything he talked about specifically other than the fact that he had been working as an apprentice or something equivalent, at Cinecitta Studios in Rome while Cleopatra was being filmed there. I recall him relating to us having seen over a period of time Joe Mankiewicz arriving for work in the mornings, looking quite bleary-eyed due to night after night having to stay up until all hours rewriting the script and attempting to fashion it into something understandable and marketable. I understand that originally the film had been planned as two separate movies, first Caesar and Cleopatra's story and second Anthony and Cleopatra's story. During the course of the creation of this epic it was decided that there would be only ONE film, which Joe Makiewicz had planned to run about four hours, a full hour more than what it ended up being cut down to. There had been some great scenes cut, some which involved important exposition of the characters which would have made the entire thing more understandable. In the long run due what Joe was forced by the studio to piece together seemed to never fully satisfy the expectations of either Twentieth Century Fox, it's director, or those who have viewed it over the years. Sadly it turned out to be a huge (and costly) disappointed for a project that all the collaborators had originally hoped would turn out to be a blockbuster. It pretty much HAD to be a big, big hit in order to be anything other than a huge failure.
I Hear, See, And Manage to Even Get The Autograph Of the Great Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Some years ago, around the same time period I went to see Paul Bartel, I read that there was going to be a screening of "All About Eve," at the Director's Guild in Hollywood and the writer and director would be present for a discussion afterward. Of course All About Eve's writer and director were none other than the great Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The even was open to the public so I bought a ticket and before the day of the screening I went to a some shop in Hollywood that sold old movie star photos and I managed to find one of Mr. Mankiewicz, on a beach, directing some actress whose name I don't know in a film who name I don't remember, either. The Saturday of the Screening I took the picture with me, along with a black sharpie, and waited until after the film was viewed, and the discussion session which followed, and the whole thing ended when quite a few other people who had had the same idea as me kind of mobbed the poor man, requesting autographs. Not wanting to be pushy or rude I got into the crowd but wasn't as aggressive as I might have been and probably shouldn't have been but I very nearly miss getting the great writer/director's autograph. I was the VERY last person who had a picture signed by Joe Mankiewicz on that day. It was announced that he would have no more time but I had taken my photograph, and sharpie, and maybe the movie that the still was from wasn't that very interested anyway because Joe had to show the picture to his wife and it was Mrs. Mankiewicz who remembered Joe of the name of the film. I went home a happy man and to this day I possess the autograph of the man who is responsible for "fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night," as well as - are you ready? I'll tell you from memory the ending of Cleopatra. One of Octavian's men discovered that ruining Octavian's plan to drag Cleopatra into Rome chained to his chariot she has tricked him and ended her own life, ruining Octavian's chance to glorify himself even further had he been able to carry it through. The narration begins (after the Roman solder sees that Cleopatra is dead, which angers him) "And the Roman asked, 'Is this well done of your lady.' And the servant answered, extremely well, as befitting the last of so many noble rulers." And with those words, expressed in voice over, as the camera pulls back to reveal the gorgeous and dead Cleopatra, displayed like a fine jewel on a translucent slab of stone, dressed in the golden finery of the goddess Isis, the legendary 1960s grand cinematic portrayal of the most famous Egyptian Queen of all comes to an end as the credits begin to roll. Frankly, if anyone asked me I would tell you I think that movie was worth every penny spent. Perhaps instead of saying that I might say that regardless of the cost, I am very glad that they made it. If you ever watch see it, take note of the sheer number of bodies in the big wide shots, for example, at the beginning of the film where we meet Caesar, after the battle at Farsalia. The number of extras is truly STAGGERING, and the same thing occurs in the next scene when Caesar sails into the port of Alexandria. No doubt many things you see in this film could now be duplicated using CG and any number of other techniques which involved digital magic but way back then none of that technology existed. The sets were all really BUILT. The people were all REAL. I don't think there will ever be anything like it again. For that reason alone I will always treasure it.
