Cleopatra Quotes

(on Joseph L. Mankiewicz) "Letter to Three Wives" and "All About Eve" were marvelous films. I thought that the last good film he made was "Five Fingers," because personally I have not seen a Mankiewicz film that appeared to be well-directed since then. For instance, "Cleopatra" was a hideous film but nevertheless you could see that it had some good, well-written scenes and the director had not served the writer well.

The studio system collapsed only when Elizabeth Taylor charged $1 million for Cleopatra.

Cable from Laurence Olivier to Richard Burton at the height of the Cleopatra (1963) scandal: "Make up your mind, dear heart. Do you want to be a great actor or a household word?" Burton replied: "Both."

When asked why he refused to see his performance in Cleopatra (1963): "Well, I don`t want to kill myself."

(About being hired to play Marc Antony opposite Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963)): "Well, I suppose I must don a breastplate once more to play opposite Miss Tits."

(on Joseph L. Mankiewicz) "Letter to Three Wives" and "All About Eve" were marvelous films. I thought that the last good film he made was "Five Fingers," because personally I have not seen a Mankiewicz film that appeared to be well-directed since then. For instance, "Cleopatra" was a hideous film but nevertheless you could see that it had some good, well-written scenes and the director had not served the writer well.

There is a certain kind of respect for authenticity today that there wasn`t back in the days when they did `Cleopatra,` where everything looked like a giant motel. People want to have it be authentic in the look, and authentic in the way people behave.