Cleopatra (1963)

It’s everything they say it is: expensive, opulent, historically inaccurate, self-indulgent and melodramatic eye-candy. Cut down from an eight hour work print it’s a wonder it makes any sense at all, but it does and it’s beautiful. They really don’t make ‘em like this any more (probably because it’s the most expensive movie ever made and almost bankrupt 20th Century Fox). The recent blu-ray delivers a 251 minute cut in stunning 1080p, which may be the longest we’ll ever see commercially unless some new footage turns up.

5 gilded histories out of 5

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

A Tennessee Williams play adapted for film by the director of Cleopatra (1963). It’s an amazingly well-constructed Southern Gothic period piece.
Elizabeth Taylor has a dark secret. Katharine Hepburn is rich and has an agenda. They clash over the truth. Montgomery Clift tries to be the catalyst. It’s almost perfect.

4½ scorching white-hot days out of 5