Though physically transformed in a superb restoration, the tally stands. Part One: Caesar & Cleopatra, squeaks by w/ a nice assist via its exotic Egyptian decor and especially from Rex Harrison’s tremendous confidence & self-propulsion as Caesar. He can hardly speak without making his fellows look like rank amateurs. Part Two: Anthony & Cleopatra is unwatchable. Scripter/helmer Joe Mankiewicz bit off more than anyone could chew and his mounting exhaustion is palpable. Even the sets lose their lux. The few stabs at action are grim & unconvincing, Richard Burton shouts his lines in a failed attempt to supply tension & energy and Liz Taylor, the pic’s raison d’etre, is helplessly miscast. When she walks, she sashays like a stripper, when she raises her voice, she sounds like a fishmonger’s wife, and rather than showing us Cleo’s infinite variety, she displays infinite weight fluctuation.
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