In 1945, Gabriel Pascal produced and directed the filmversion of George Bernard Shaw`s CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, his witty and wordy play. The casting of VIVIEN LEIGH was a successful one, although critics dissected both her and the film with the writer`s approval(Shaw to Pascal: "She`s all wrong. Must I drill her in diction?") Vivien suffered a miscarriage after falling beating the slave and suffered from her first attacks of manic depressions. Tubercoloses was shortly afterwards also diagnosed. However; the production was Britain`s most expensive failure, as Taylor`s CLEOPATRA in 63 - the Worlds greatest financial failure for 20th Century-Fox. VIVIEN LEIGH is at her best playing a kittenish girl who must transform into a reigning queen. Naturally, Leigh does it with great style. Look for Vivien`s look-alike Jean Simmons playing the harp in Vivien`s confrontation scene with her women slaves. No wonder Olivier chose Simmons for his Ophelia i Hamlet 1948. Roger Moore is holding a spear somewhere and Kay Kendall one of the slaves. See my MORE ABOUT ME page about my thoughts of VIVIEN LEIGH
In 1945, Gabriel Pascal produced and directed the filmversion of George Bernard Shaw`s CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, his witty and wordy play. The casting of VIVIEN LEIGH was a successful one, although critics dissected both her and the film with the writer`s approval(Shaw to Pascal: "She`s all wrong. Must I drill her in diction? ") Vivien suffered a miscarriage after falling beating the slave and suffered from her first attacks of manic depressions. Tubercoloses was shortly afterwards also diagnosed. However; the production was Britain`s most expensive failure, as Taylor`s CLEOPATRA in 63 - the Worlds greatest financial failure for 20th Century-Fox. VIVIEN LEIGH is at her best playing a kittenish girl who must transform into a reigning queen. Naturally, Leigh does it with great style. Look for Vivien`s look-alike Jean Simmons playing the harp in Vivien`s confrontation scene with her women slaves. No wonder Olivier chose Simmons for his Ophelia i Hamlet 1948. Roger Moore is holding a spear somewhere and Kay Kendall one of the slaves. See my MORE ABOUT ME page about my thoughts of VIVIEN LEIGH