Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Egypt, captured the imagination of not only his contemporaries - including the regal Julius Caesar and his nephew Augustus. Her controversial personality and legendary beauty has attracted the attention of writers, poets, artists and, of course, scriptwriters and directors for centuries. Over the entire existence of the cinema, the legendary queen was played by more than 50 actresses, but only the most magnificent ones were remembered by the audience.
Teda Bara
One of the very first films about Cleopatra was filmed in 1917. In the role of the great queen, a little movie star Ted Bara appeared before the public. It is she who is considered the first sex symbol of cinema. Unfortunately, after a fire in the New York Museum of Modern Art, the film with the painting was lost and only fragments of it, as well as several advertising photographs of the actress in character, have survived to this day.
Treasure seekers still hope that a 1917 copy of Cleopatra is gathering dust somewhere. This tape is listed in the top ten most wanted films in the world.
Claudette Colbert
The next iconic Cleopatra was the French-American actress Claudette Colbert. She played a beautiful seductress in the 1934 film of the same name. The film was shot in an Art Deco aesthetic and received several Oscar nominations and won one of the statuettes for Best Cinematography.
Vivien Leigh
In 1945, the movie "Caesar and Cleopatra", based on the play by Benrnard Shaw, was released. The main roles in it were played by Vivien Leigh and Claude Raines. Unlike many historical, dramatic and melodramatic films, this film was shot as a sweet romantic comedy. Cleopatra Vivien Leigh is more sweet and flirty than fatal.
The film with Vivien Leigh was the first color film about Cleopatra.
Sophia Loren
Cleopatra performed by Sophia Loren turned out to be just as frivolous. In 1953, she played two roles at once in the film "2 Nights with Cleopatra" - the queen herself and the slave Nyxa, posing as her.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor is perhaps best known for her role as the Queen of Egypt. Few of the movie lovers have not come across her image in the famous dress of gold brocade. In the film "Cleopatra", released in screens in 1963, Elizabeth changed 65 luxurious outfits, which cost a record amount for those times - two hundred thousand dollars. Before that, no one had ever spent so much money on costumes for one character. However, we should pay tribute to the great Taylor, her game is worthy and not such investments.
The film "Cleopatra" with the participation of Elizabeth Taylor is still one of the five most expensive Hollywood films.
Monica Bellucci
In 2002, the French painting "Asterix and Obelix: Acquaintance with Cleopatra" was released. One of the most sophisticated actresses of our time, the Italian Monica Bellucci, starred in the role of the beautiful queen.
Angelina Jolie
The favorite of millions of men, Angelina Jolie, wants to see in the lead role producer Scott Rudin, who bought the rights to film adaptation of Stacy Schiff's book "The Life of Cleopatra". Oddly enough, this idea has opponents who claim that Jolie is "too white" for the queen, in whom African blood flowed. It is surprising that the adherents of the idea of "black Cleopatra" are not displaced either by the great actresses who played the queen, among whom few were darker than Jolie, or by the assurances of historians that, according to the reconstruction, the great beauty for modern taste was too short, too plump and with too rough features. …
