The Crusades (1935)

The Crusades (1935) is an American historical adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and originally released by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Loretta Young as Berengaria of Navarre and Henry Wilcoxon as Richard I Lionheart of England. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Victor Milner) as well as for Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival in 1935.


British postcard in the Colourgraph Series, London, no. C 248. Photo: Paramount. Henry Wilcoxon in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935).


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 1 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon as Richard Lionheart and Loretta Young as Berengeria in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The wedding of Richard and Berengaria.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 2 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The encounter.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 3 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon and Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Underneath the balcony of Berengaria.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 4 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. C. Henry Gordon as King Philip of France and Henry Wilcoxon as Richard Lionheart in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The council.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 5 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon as Richard Lionheart in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Richard receives bad news from his homeland.

A man of action but little thought

The screenplay for The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935) was written by Harold Lamb, Waldemar Young and Dudley Nichols. They took many of the film's elements and main characters from the Third Crusade (1190-1192), which was prompted by the Saracen capture of Jerusalem and the crusader states in the Holy Land in 1187. The character of Richard the Lionheart, King of England (Henry Wilcoxon), is a man of action but little thought.

A hermit from Jerusalem (C. Aubrey Smith) arrives in Europe and starts gathering support for a Crusade. The hermit convinces a number of European rulers to travel to Jerusalem in order to bring the Holy City into Christian hands. Richard enlists in order to avoid an arranged betrothal to the King of France's sister, Princess Alice of France (Katherine DeMille), but is followed by the Countess on the Crusade.

A plot is laid against Richard's life by his brother Prince John (Ramsay Hill) and Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat (Joseph Schildkraut). En route to the war, Richard meets Berengaria, Princess of Navarre (Loretta Young). In order to get food for his men, Richard reluctantly marries her in exchange for her father's cattle and grain. Berengaria is forced to accompany Richard to the Holy Land.

During the Crusaders' attempts to get past the walls of Acre, the allies assemble in a conference, but in disarray. Richard receives word that his brother John has seized the throne of England. Richard's ally, Philip II of France, is enraged at Richard's rejection of his sister Alice, but Richard defies Philip and the other troubled allies by proclaiming Berengaria Queen of England.

The Christian leaders meet in parley with the Muslim Sultan and leader Saladin (Ian Keith). Saladin is struck by Berengaria's beauty and bravery in supporting her husband. However, he rejects any truce with the Crusaders, and declares that the arrogant Richard will "never pass the gates of Jerusalem."


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no 6. of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Katherine DeMille as Princess Alice of France, Henry Wilcoxon and Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount Pictures 1935). Caption: The dilemma.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no 7. of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon and Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount Pictures 1935). Caption: Wedding night.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 8 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Scene from The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). The taking of St. Jean d'Acre.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 9 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The getaway of Berengaria.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 10 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The Infanta as sentry.

Spreading a political or cultural agenda

Berengaria is fearful that her presence in camp is causing disloyalty among Richard's allies, in particular the powerful French King Philip (C. Henry Gordon), and may harm their holy quest. Seeking death, she enters no man's land between the lines, only to be wounded and captured by the forces of Saladin. The hermit, the Christian "holy man" who had preached the Crusade, also is captured. Saladin escapes the siege, and after finding Berengaria wounded, brings her to Jerusalem to care for her, with admiration and growing affection. Not knowing this Richard and the Crusaders storm Acre to save the Queen of England.

The internal plot against Richard's life is hatched by Conrad and disloyal soldiers. Conrad reveals his plot to Saladin, expecting to be rewarded. Appalled by Conrad's treachery, Saladin orders Conrad to be immediately executed. Berengaria offers herself to Saladin if he will intervene and save Richard's life. Saladin sends a few of his soldiers to warn Richard who is searching the battlefield at night for the body of a friend. Conrad's men attack Richard but are defeated by Saladin's soldiers who take the English King to Saladin.

Richard and Saladin agree to a truce and the gates of Jerusalem are opened to all Christians with the exception of Richard, in keeping with Saladin's earlier promise. After losing his kingship, his wife and the opportunity to see the Holy City, Richard prays for the first time, asking God for him to be reunited with his wife. Richard encounters Berengaria on her way to the Holy City. He admits his mistakes and Berengaria tells him that Saladin has freed her along with the other Christian captives. Berengaria proceeds alone toward Jerusalem to visit the Holy City and promises to return to him.

Lorraine K. Stock writes in 'Hollywood in the Holy Land', in her chapter 'Now Starring in the Third Crusade' that Crusading films have been used by European and American countries to spread a political or cultural agenda. One way in which this is done is through the main Crusading "heroes" such as Richard the Lionheart and the main antagonist Saladin. Many films have used the relationship between Richard I and Saladin.

In The Crusades the relationship between Richard I and Saladin is connected not only by the conflict of the Crusade but "an improbable, if entertaining, erotic triangle" with Berengaria of Navarre. Stock notes that this relationship and the events which occur can be seen as a reaction to events after the First World War and especially America's isolationism. For example, Richard the Lionheart at first does not want to get married, so he goes on the Crusade despite showing signs of not being religious. Berengaria can also be seen as a "medieval League of Nations" when negotiations between Saladin and Richard I occur at the end of the film.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 11 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. C. Aubrey Smith as the Hermit and Loretta Young as Berengaria in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The Hermit and Berengaria cautious.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 12 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Loretta Young as Berengaria and Ian Keith as Saladin in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Berengaria and Saladin .


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 13 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Joseph Schildkraut as Conrad, marquis of Montferrat and Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The traitor Montferrat.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 14 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Ian Keith (right) as Saladin in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The notice.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 15 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Richard saved.

The good and noble side of the Muslims

The main concern for such films as The Crusades is the way Muslims and Crusaders are portrayed. Throughout the film, Lorraine K. Stock notes that there are negative portrayals of Saladin and the Muslims. For instance Stock notes that the Crusaders are all dressed in mail armour with the cross upon their chests, while Saladin and the Saracens are dressed mainly in "flowing robes of luxury fabrics" and "silken sashes".

The Saracens are shown as oriental but also "exotically feminized" according to Stock. Another scene has the Saracens shoot a Crusader messenger, who demands the surrender of the city, with one of them wearing a helmet with devil horns upon it. There are other moments in which the Europeans mention devilry or call Muslims infidels. Stock says director Cecil B. DeMille established "the stereotypes of Richard and Saladin that subsequent films would repeat…".

However, Saladin is also depicted as an honourable man. In 'Islam, Muslims and Arabs in the Popular Hollywood Cinema', Anton K. Kozlovic writes "The Crusades was not as enthusiastically received in the West as DeMille would have liked, probably because it showed the good and noble side of the Muslims and contrasted it with the darker deeds of Christianity".

Saladin in the film refuses to help assassinate Richard I and in fact sends out help to prevent Richard from being killed by the treacherous other Europeans. Anton K. Kozlovic also notes that when Saladin offers peace to the "foes of Islam", Richard responds by drawing his sword "and saying 'We are going to slaughter you!'". Anton K. Kozlovic sees Cecil B. DeMille's The Crusades (1935) as a challenge to the stereotypical norm and negative picture painted of Muslims in Crusader films specifically.

Hal Erickson finally in his review at AllMovie: "In the film's most memorable scene, the fundamental difference between the boorish Richard and the cultured Saladin is demonstrated when the Saracen ruler delicately cleaves Berengaria's silk scarf in twain with his gleaming sword. It took a great deal of nerve to depict the film's hero as a thuggish brute and the nominal villain as the most sympathetic character in the story, but DeMille gets away with it in The Crusades, and still has time left over to deliver his usual quota of thrills, pageantry, convoluted history and campy dialogue. And yes, that is Ann Sheridan as a Christian captive in the opening scenes."


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 16 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon and Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Richard before Saladin.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 17 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Richard breaks his sword.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 18 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Scene from The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The March to Jerusalem.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 19 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Scene from The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: Before the Walls of Jerusalem.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 20 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The Sorrow of Richard.


Spanish collectors card, Series 2, no. 21 of 21. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Henry Wilcoxon and Loretta Young in The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935). Caption: The Triumph of Faith and Love.

Source: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Henry Wilcoxon

British actor Henry Wilcoxon (1905-1984) was best known as a leading man in Cleopatra (1934) and many other Cecil B. DeMille epics. He also served as DeMille's associate producer on his later films.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 963. Photo: Paramount. Henry Wilcoxon in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


British Real Photograph postcard, no. 110. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Ill from malnutrition and neglect

Harry Frederick Wilcoxon was born on 8 September 1905 in Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies. His father was English-born Robert Stanley 'Tan' Wilcoxon, manager of the Colonial Bank in Jamaica and his mother, Lurline Mignonette Nunes, was a Jamaican amateur theatre actress, descendant of a wealthy Spanish merchant family. His older brother was Robert 'Owen' Wilcoxon.

Henry had a difficult childhood. His mother disappeared suddenly and mysteriously when he was about a year old, and his father took him and Owen to England with the intention that his own mother Ann would take care of them. But, because his mother was too frail to care for the children, they were first sent to a foster home, where they became ill from malnutrition and neglect and they were moved on to an orphanage. There, Harry suffered from rickets, and Owen developed a stutter and had epileptic fits. They were rescued from the orphanage to a new foster home.

After several years Harry's father 'Tan', with his new wife Rosamond took the children home with them to Bridgetown, Barbados, where they were educated. Harry and Owen became known as 'Biff' and 'Bang' due to their fighting skills gained in amateur boxing. After completing his education, Wilcoxon was employed by Joseph Rank, the father of J. Arthur Rank, before working for Bond Street tailors Pope and Bradshaw. While working for the tailors, Wilcoxon applied for a visa to work as a chauffeur in the United States, but upon seeing his application refused, turned to boxing and then to acting.

His first stage performance was a supporting role in an adaptation of the novel 'The 100th Chance', by Ethel M. Dell, in 1927 at Blackpool. Wilcoxon joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre the next year and toured for several years.

He found critical success playing Captain Cook in a production of Rudolph Besier's 'The Barretts of Wimpole Street' at the London Queen's Theatre alongside Cedric Hardwicke. In 1932, He played at the Queen's Theatre in Sir Barry Jackson's production of Beverley Nichols' novel 'Evensong' alongside Edith Evans.


Dutch postcard. Photo: Paramount. Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra and Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


Dutch postcard. Photo: Paramount. Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).

The man-hungry Queen of Egypt

In 1931, Harry Wilcoxon made his screen debut as Larry Tindale in The Perfect Lady (Frederick J. Jackson, Milton Rosmer, 1931), followed by a role opposite Heather Angel in Self Made Lady (George King, 1932), alongside Louis Hayward. In 1932, he appeared in The Flying Squad (F.W. Kraemer, 1932), a sound remake of a 1929 silent film based on the novel by Edgar Wallace. Altogether he made eight films in Britain till 1934.

In 1933, a talent scout for Paramount Pictures arranged a screen test which came to the attention of producer-director Cecil B. DeMille in Hollywood. He cast Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934) opposite Claudette Colbert as the man-hungry Queen of Egypt. Harry was renamed by DeMille for the role and from then on he was Henry Wilcoxon.

He was next given the lead role of Richard the Lionhearted in DeMille's big-budget spectacle The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935) opposite Loretta Young. That film, however, was a financial failure, losing more than $700,000. After the lack of success of The Crusades, Wilcoxon's career stalled. He starred in a number of B-films, like The President's Mystery (Phil Rosen, 1936) and Prison Nurse (James Cruze, 1938) for Republic Pictures, and he portrayed the supporting role of Maj. Duncan Heyward in the commercially successful Last of the Mohicans (George B. Seitz, 1936) starring Randolph Scott.

Wilcoxon himself called 'his worst acting job' Mysterious Mr. Moto (Norman Foster, 1938) featuring Peter Lorre. That year, he also played in If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938) with Ronald Colman, and featured in Five of a Kind (Herbert I. Leeds, 1938) with the Dionne quintuplets. In Great Britain, Wilcoxon appeared as Captain Hardy in Lady Hamilton (Alexander Korda, 1941), alongside Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

When America entered the World War II in December 1941, Wilcoxon enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. He served with the Coast Guard until 1946, gaining the rank of Lieutenant. During his period of service, he had three films released in 1942, among them Mrs. Miniver (William Wyler, 1942), which received considerable public acclaim, as well as six Academy Awards. Wilcoxon, in his role as the vicar, re-wrote the key sermon with director William Wyler. The speech made such an impact that it was used in essence by President Roosevelt as a morale builder.

Upon his return from war service, Wilcoxon picked up with Cecil B. DeMille with Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), starring Gary Cooper. After starring as Sir Lancelot in the musical version of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Tay Garnett, 1949) with Bing Crosby in the title role, he featured in DeMille's Samson and Delilah (Cecil B. DeMille, 1949).

Wilcoxon returned to England to feature in The Miniver Story (H.C. Potter, 1950), a sequel to the multi-Oscar-winning Mrs. Miniver (1942) in which he reprised his role as the vicar opposite Greer Garson. In the late 1940s, young actors and actresses came to Wilcoxon and wife Joan Woodbury and asked them to form a play-reading group which in 1951 became the Wilcoxon Players.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 961. Photo: Paramount. Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony and Gertrude Michael as Caesar's wife Calpurnia in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 962. Photo: Paramount. Claudette Colbert and Henry Wilcoxon in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).

The World's Greatest Showman

Henry Wilcoxon played a small but important part as FBI Agent Gregory in DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (Cecil B. DeMille, 1952), on which he also served as Associate Producer. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1952. He also acted as associate producer on, and acted as Pentaur, the pharaoh's captain of the guards, in DeMille's remake of his own The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956).

Wilcoxon was sole producer on The Buccaneer (Anthony Quinn, 1958), a remake of DeMille's 1938 effort, which DeMille only supervised due to his declining health while his then son-in-law Anthony Quinn directed. After DeMille died, Wilcoxon worked on a film based on the life of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, which DeMille had left unrealised, and was also ultimately abandoned.

After a relatively inactive period, Wilcoxon appeared with Charlton Heston in The War Lord (Franklin Schaffner, 1965). He was co-producer on the TV tribute The World's Greatest Showman: The Legend of Cecil B. DeMille (1963). At the opening of the DeMille Theatre in New York, he produced another short film.

In the last two decades of his life, he worked sporadically and accepted minor acting roles in TV shows including The Big Valley (1965), I Spy (1966), It Takes a Thief (1968), Gunsmoke (1970), Lassie (1973), Cagney & Lacey (1982), and Private Benjamin (1982). He also appeared in a few films films like F.I.S.T (Norman Jewison, 1978), starring Sylvester Stallone.

He had a memorable turn as the golf-obsessed Bishop Pickering, struck by lightning, in the slapstick comedy Caddyshack (Harold Ramis, 1980) with Bill Murray as his caddy. His final film was Sweet Sixteen - Blutiges Inferno (Jim Sotos, 1983).

By loaning money from his early film acting, Wilcoxon assisted his brother Owen to establish himself in 1931 as a partner in the Vale Motor Company in London, and for a short time he showed a personal interest in the development of their sports car, the Vale Special.

At that time his girlfriend was a London-based American stage actress Carol Goodner. Wilcoxon married 19-year-old actress Sheila Garrett in 1936, but they divorced a year later. In 1938 he married his second wife, 23-years-old actress Joan Woodbury. They had three daughters: Wendy Joan Robert Wilcoxon (born 1939), Heather Ann Wilcoxon (1947) and Cecilia Dawn 'CiCi' Wilcoxon (1950). The couple divorced in 1969. Henry Wilcoxon passed away in 1984 in Los Angeles. He was 78 years old and had been ill with cancer.


British postcard in the Colourgraph Series, no. C248. Photo: Paramount. Henry Wilcoxon as King Richard in the period piece The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935).


British postcard in the Picturegoer series, London, no. 863. Photo: Paramount.

Sources: The New York Times, The Scott Rollins Film and TV Trivia Blog, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Cleopatra (1934)

After his historical epic Sign of the Cross (1932), Cecil B. DeMille directed another ancient spectacle, Cleopatra (1934). His new star Claudette Colbert, fresh from her donkey milk bath in Sign of The Cross, played the politically shrewd, man-hungry queen of Egypt. In 48 BC, Cleopatra, facing palace revolt, welcomes the arrival of Julius Caesar (Warren William) as a way of solidifying her power under Rome. When Caesar, whom she has led astray, is killed, she transfers her affections to Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) and dazzles him on a lavish barge. The film got five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and Victor Milner won the award for Best Cinematography.



Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony and Gertrude Michael as Caesar's wife Calpurnia. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 961. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Cleopatra (Cecil B. deMille, 1934).


Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra and Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 962. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


Henri Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 963. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


Warren William as Julius Caesar. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 965. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).

Deadly and fascinating

Wikipedia: "On July 1, 1934, the Motion Picture Production Code began to be rigidly enforced and expanded by Joseph Breen had just taken effect. Talkie films made before that date are generally referred to as Pre-Code films. However, DeMille was able to get away with using more risque imagery than he would be able to do in his later productions. He opens the film with an apparently naked, but strategically lit slave girl holding up an incense burner in each hand as the title appears on screen."

Ron Oliver at IMDb: "Claudette Colbert is perfectly cast in the title role - deadly & fascinating, it's almost like watching a desert viper act. Exhibiting mega star wattage in arguably her best role, Colbert is one of the legendary actresses who could hold her own without being swallowed by the lavish costumes & sets which fill her every scene."

John O'Grady at IMDb: "Colbert is admittedly somewhat miscast (her face is altogether Parisienne), but she handles the part with considerable charm. Warren William, usually a very limited actor, is as good a Caesar as I have seen on film, commanding and uncomfortable by turns; while Henry Wilcoxon is the definitive Mark Antony, laughing, brawling, swaggering, crude and brooding. C. Aubrey Smith as Enobarbus, the last of the hardcore Roman republicans, is perfect. Victor Milner's cinematography is superb, if old-fashioned. There is one magnificent pullback shot aboard Cleopatra's barge, with more and more stuff entering the frame, which as pure cinema is worth more than all four hours of the Liz Taylor version for my money."

Tim Dirks at AMC Filmsite: "Unarguably, the Paramount Studios film is campy, grandiose and unreal and ludicrous historically - filled with DeMille's usual mixture of sin and sex. Sexually-suggestive costumes adorn most of the female characters."

Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "To emphasize the "contemporary" nature of the film, DeMille adds little modernistic touches throughout: The architecture of Egypt and Rome has a distinctly art-deco look; a matron at a social gathering clucks "Poor Calpurnia...well, the wife is always the last to know"; and, after Caesar's funeral, Mark Anthony is chided by an associate for "all that 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen' business!" Cleopatra's barge scene and her suicide from the bite of a snake marked two of the most memorable sequences in DeMille's career. Remarkably, for all the enormous sets and elaborate costumes, Cleopatra came in at a budget of $750,000 -- almost $40 million less than the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor remake."

Mario Gauci at IMDb: "The film features a number of great scenes: Caesar's murder (partly filmed in a POV (point of view) shot), following which is a delicious jibe at Antony's famous oratory during Caesar's funeral as envisioned by Shakespeare; the long - and justly celebrated - barge sequence, in which Antony (intent on teaching Cleopatra, whom he blames for Caesar's death, a lesson) ends up being completely won over by her wiles; Cleopatra's own death scene is simply but most effectively filmed."

Wikipedia: "The film is also memorable for the sumptuous art deco look of its sets (by Hans Dreier) and costumes (by Travis Banton), the atmospheric music composed and conducted by Rudolph George Kopp, and for DeMille's legendary set piece of Cleopatra's seduction of Antony, which takes place on Cleopatra's barge."

Robert Reynolds at IMDb: "This movie is a typical DeMille PRODUCTION, with all the strengths-gorgeous sets, costumes and a sort of grandeur to all the proceedings-as well as the weaknesses-the lavishness often comes at the expense of things like the story, acting and plot. There's no question that it's beautiful (although, interestingly enough, none of it's five nominations for Academy Awards was for Interior Decoration.)"


Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony. Dutch postcard, promoting a visit to the American epic Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934). Photo: Paramount.


Dutch postcard, promoting a visit to the American epic Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934). Photo: Paramount. Credited on the card are Claudette Colbert (Cleopatra), Henry Wilcoxon (Marc Anthony) and Warren William (Julius Caesar). However, the guy on the right on this card is not Wilcoxon but Cleopatra's rival Pothinos (Leonard Mudie).


Dutch postcard. Photo: Paramount. Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra and Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Anthony in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Tim Dirks (AMC Filmsite), Wikipedia and IMDb.