CLEOPATRA (Cecil B. Demille, Paramount, 1934)

When I started watching CLEOPATRA (Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount, 1934) I'll admit I was not overly impressed. What first caught my attention was the body of Claudette Colbert. How much of it we got to see, how revealing the costumes were and how sensual a figure she was as the titular Cleopatra. As the movie revealed itself I quickly came to understand that this was an entirely a film of its era, blatantly racist and misogynistic, utterly ignoring anyone from a different ethnic background than white and giving no credit whatsoever to women, other than as objectified sexual beings. But slowly the film wore me down and quickly I realized that for 1934 this was an epic film on a grand scale. And slowly the DeMille traits started to present themselves to me and I realized that in its day this film was utterly remarkable. Flawed but a true blockbuster in every sense. The film is titled CLEOPATRA and any mention of this film needs to begin with the lovely Claudette Colbert. The film begins with our heroine Cleopatra being taken to the desert where she is to be stranded and left to die. She causes too much discord amongst the royalty of Egypt and she needs to be silenced with the impending arrival of Julius Caesar (Warren William). So our first images of Cleopatra is Colbert scantily clad in what appears to be just strips of cloth placed around her breasts. Now I know my film history and 1934 is the year the Production Code was instituted by Hays. I later read that DeMille had shot much of this film before the Code took effect. And it shows. The costumes that Colbert wears throughout the film are barely strips of cloth as mentioned. Other women, servants particularly, wear even less. It is an interesting dichotomy to what we expect of film almost eighty years ago. And this film is entirely from its time. The film is blatantly racist in tone and I am fairly certain I never saw anyone ethnic in the film at all. In fact as we are taken back to Rome, the white patrician class that is gossiping about Caesar and Cleopatra makes a joke about Cleopatra "being black" and they all laugh. As if being a queen from Egypt who is black is utterly unimaginable to these people. Also being marginalized throughout the film is women. When Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) and Caesar discuss the arrival of Cleopatra they are disgusted by the thought of a woman ruling them, that women are beneath men and barely capable of survival on their own. Even later as Cleopatra seduces Antony she gives up her identity to him whispering "I'm no longer a queen, I'm a woman". She can't be both so she allows herself the role of being Antony's woman. The film is such a striking dichotomy to what we are treated to today. I compared the film to the HBO show Rome which aired just a few years ago. Now we as audiences demand authentic portrayals, historical facts or at least the semblance of effort in getting close to the historical record. The film has awful portrayals of every historical figure in the film (of particular note would be the awful representation of Brutus - just bad) and any accuracy to the film historically is highly questionable. This dichotomy represents a change in our outlooks, our core belief systems and values and particularly in what we expect from entertainment. I will say this though, there does exist a similarity in the lavish Production budget expended on the film and what is made today. And the opulence and extravagance of a DeMille film is entirely on display on the famed set piece he crafted to the film, Cleopatra's seduction of Antony on her pleasure barge. As her seduction comes complete every aspect of the production screams "spare no expense". The set design; opulent and extravagant. The costumes; flamboyant, risqué and rich. The performances; over the top and larger than life. The choreography and composition; meticulously planned and executed as only DeMille could. This set piece is extraordinary for 1934, as DeMille's camera slowly pulls back to reveal every aspect of his rich Production design on full display. When it came to historical epics with lavish budgets and high production values, no one comes close to DeMille. Not even Cleopatra.