Cleopatra Through the Ages

Screen Queen
Taylor's Cleopatra, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, was the most expensive movie production ever mounted up to that time. The cost, $44 million (the equivalent of $295 million in 2007 dollars) almost bankrupt the studio. Though audiences were alienated by the film's four-hour length, Taylor's portrayal of a ravishing, imperious queen tossed about by the volatility of her love remains the most common visual reference of Cleopatra to this day.

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