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Just found out it's being shown near me, and today's my day off!
So I shall be seeing the 7PM screening today!
REALLY looking forward to seeing this in a theatre again, probably for the last time....
(Must have seen it 6 or 7 times back when, during its first release, the first time during its first week in New York, at the Rivoli Theatre... That was something. Still have the souvenir program.)
Love to hear that gorgeous North score filling a theatre, too!
Awwwww ! Not fair...I want to go !! 
Well, I ended up not going....
Worked until 2 AM last night, didn't get to bed until around 3:30. Took a nap today, didn't wake up until 6:15. "Cleo" started at 7. Felt too groggy to want to spend over 4 hours in a darkened theatre.
Oh well.
Glad everyone else seemed to enjoy it.
John , it is also showing Sunday afternoon at 2 at Regal Cinemas -
Nice idea. But I have to work.
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It was great to see it on the BIG screen at last. But what a pitiful attendance in San Diego. 2pm show (4 people), 7pm show (2 people including myself). This should have been advertised better.
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It was great to see it on the BIG screen at last. But what a pitiful attendance in San Diego. 2pm show (4 people), 7pm show (2 people including myself). This should have been advertised better.
Would have been 3 had I been more awake.
Oh well.
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Posted: |
May 26, 2013 - 11:12 PM
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By: |
philiperic
(Member)
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So today we went to see CLEOPATRA -
what a wonderful treat to see an uncut version in a movie theater for the 1st (+ probably only ) time(too bad it wasnt in 70mm!) -
When I originally saw it in 1963 at the State Lake Theater in downtown Chicago as a mere youth , it was in roadshow engagement ( with reserved seats + souvenir programs)but it had already been editted down to 3 hr 12 mins. So this was a great chance to see the 4hr 8min original roadshow on a giant screen with great sound(although it did not seem to be surround).
Age has been kind to CLEO - it has improved with it. It is amazing how 50 years later what I considered a disappointment now looks like a classic - not perfect but so much better than most films made today - generally all my youthful criticizms do not seem true now. Above all else, I realized that the script by Joseph Mankiewicz was outstanding - literate , intelligent, witty - superior to all previous versions , notably the DeMille epic. I still love Colbert as Cleo but Elizabeth Taylor was really born to play the Queen of Egypt - in her 65 Oscar winning costumes by Irene Sharaff - she does much better than I originally thought . I remembered thinking her voice was really not suited to the role - but now I found it to be fine . Naturally the stage trained other actors have more sonorous voices , especially Burton and Harrison but she holds her own with them. And her scenes with Burton , seen now, especially in the last half hour are more poignant than they once were.
I am so glad to have had the chance to see this in a theater again-- I hope that Fox might release some of their other Roadshow films back to theaters - there are quite a few -- THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, THE SAND PEBBLES, STAR, DOCTOR DOOLITTLE , HELLO DOLLY,etc.
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"Age has been kind to CLEO..."
Very well said.
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Posted: |
May 27, 2013 - 3:36 AM
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By: |
CinemaScope
(Member)
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"Age has been kind to CLEO..."
Very well said.
Ha, I'm thinking the reverse. I think I enjoyed it when I first saw it in 1964, I know I enjoyed it when I saw it at the cinema in the early 70's (it was on in a big West End cinema over Christmas). I enjoyed the DVD (maybe thought it was a bit slow). I thought it dragged a bit when I last viewed the DVD, & when I viewed the Blu-ray a few days ago it was all I could do not to skip chapters. It's just all talk, talk forever, & then more talk, & the (very) few action scenes arn't well done, the assault on the Moon Gate looks cheap, & the sea battle is a mess. The photography is great (but the Blu should look richer), the production design is amazing, & the Alex North score is just the best, I think better than Spartacus. But I'm not really sure if the Blu will ever get looked at again, it's certainly a good example of the kind of film they don't (can't) make anymore.
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Posted: |
May 27, 2013 - 2:10 PM
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By: |
philiperic
(Member)
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"Age has been kind to CLEO..."
Very well said.
Ha, I'm thinking the reverse. I think I enjoyed it when I first saw it in 1964, I know I enjoyed it when I saw it at the cinema in the early 70's (it was on in a big West End cinema over Christmas). I enjoyed the DVD (maybe thought it was a bit slow). I thought it dragged a bit when I last viewed the DVD, & when I viewed the Blu-ray a few days ago it was all I could do not to skip chapters. It's just all talk, talk forever, & then more talk, & the (very) few action scenes arn't well done, the assault on the Moon Gate looks cheap, & the sea battle is a mess. The photography is great (but the Blu should look richer), the production design is amazing, & the Alex North score is just the best, I think better than Spartacus. But I'm not really sure if the Blu will ever get looked at again, it's certainly a good example of the kind of film they don't (can't) make anymore.
I cannot comment on watching it on BR(although I do have it) but I do believe that the only place one can truly appreciate CLEOPATRA( and most epics) is at the movies. Some of the cinematography is literally breathtaking. Most of the talk is quite well written and if one is really involved in the story , it makes for fascinating listening. It IS a very long film and I can see that two movies - the lost 6 hour version - might have worked better - it is in fact two stories - CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA + ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. By the end of part two I yawned a few times but I was never bored . As to the action scenes , they didnt look cheap to me - the long shot of the approaching Roman army- literally 1000s of extras - was one of the most impressive in the movie.
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Posted: |
May 28, 2013 - 3:18 PM
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By: |
ClipperJon
(Member)
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It was "Fashionable" to diss CLEOPATRA when it premiered in June 1963. It was the most talk-about film that year, and for years prior. La Scandale, the Liz-n-Dick Affair, overshadowed the film. Joseph L. Manckiewiz was tarred and feathered. Bosley Crowther, an excpetion, praised CLEOPATRA in his N.Y. Times review.
I like this film quite a bit, and have enjoyed watching the DVD for some time, and the laser disc prior to that. I can only imagine this film in blu-ray! Must order soon. Of course, Alex North's score is fantastic. The screenplay is intelligent and literate, perhaps the pace is a bit too stately.
I also like watching the Fox Movietone newsreels of the film's premieres in NY, LA and - DC! Yes, watch Arthur Schleshenger, a President Kennedy advisor, file in, along with Senator Pell (R.I.) and Perle Mesta at the Warner Theater, which still exists, but has long since stopped showing movies.
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