Serpent of the Nile

Hollywood's love affair with Cleopatra is as strong as the ones she had with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony - and just as doomed.

As for "Serpent of the Nile", maybe only lovers of bad movies could sit through it today, and for them there is much to enjoy. However it's fascinating to see a star like Raymond Burr before he became famous on television.

"Serpent of the Nile" starts with the death of Caesar, which allows Mark Antony (Raymond Burr) to follow his destiny to Egypt and Cleopatra. Fair-skinned Rhonda Fleming is a glamorous Cleopatra, although the makeup department didn't even bother to remove the cap off the bronzing cream in the pursuit of ethnic authenticity.

Along the way, Antony spares the life of Lucilius (William Lundigan), a Roman officer who becomes a friend. However, Lucilius has had history with Cleopatra and has the inside running although she does take up with Mark Antony. Eventually Antony loses his grip, giving himself over to pleasure.

After a falling out of buddies, Lucilius joins Antony's rival, Octavian, who arrives to stop the nonsense in Egypt. Finally, Antony falls on his sword while Cleopatra heads for the basket with the asp.

"Serpent" is flat looking and stagy. That's probably because much of the film looks as though it was shot in director William Castle's office where they just pushed the furniture aside and hung a curtain on the wall - the film uses a lot of curtains.

The film opens out in a few scenes, and does come to life in the big dance number. The movie doesn't seem to have taxed the research department too much except where they apparently discovered that the Ancient Egyptians were partial to scantly-clad dancing girls. In fact researchers on all Cleopatra pictures come to the same conclusion, although I can't remember ever seeing hieroglyphics that depicted things quite that way.

The dance sequence in "Serpent" seems to owe more to Las Vegas than Luxor and is a bit of an eye-opener, especially for a 1953 movie. Julie Newmar cut loose clad in gold paint and not much else - the rest of the movie has a hard time matching a performance like that.

The audacity of the whole thing is reason enough to give the film a viewing. Although it's not a send-up, in some ways it could give "Carry on Cleo" a run for its money.

In this modestly budgeted and seldom seen version of the story, Rhonda Fleming stands out as the most luscious incarnation of the notorious title queen to date, with the possible exception of Linda Cristal. The film's glorious color makes up for its less than lavish sets, and the brisk pace of the action is a refreshing contrast to the longer, lumbering version. Lundigan makes a handsome if unwilling Roman lover, Burr is an adequate Antony, but Fox is a laughable Octavius who acts more like he came from Rome, N.Y. (Too bad Roddy McDowall wasn't cast in this one.) Altogether an entertaining entry in the Cleopatra sagas.

Before he found his niche directing Horror films, Castle tried his hand at all kinds of genres: these included Noirs, Westerns and, most surprisingly, Epics; for the record, I should be catching up with some of his efforts in this vein throughout the Easter period. Made for cheapie producer Sam Katzman, this looks amazingly handsome under the circumstances (for which sets and costumes from Columbia's concurrent "A" spectacle, SALOME', were recycled!) – though the film's modest pedigree is evident in the way battle scenes are depicted via montages, while a general disregard for authentic detail exposes its sheer commercial nature (notably the over-lit Roman tents).

The narrative obviously deals with familiar events and historical figures: indeed, it begins with the aftermath of Julius Caesar's assassination. With this in mind, the script works its way around the fact that Cleopatra alternated between romances with Caesar and Mark Antony by having Brutus' fictional lieutenant (who, following the latter's suicide, manages to win Antony's confidence!) replacing Caesar! Curiously enough, the story thus far would be presented again during that same year in the adaptation of Shakespeare's play about the Roman leader/dictator! Anyway, while Rhonda Fleming is tolerable as the Egyptian Queen (though trading her usual redhead look for a long dark wig!), the film nearly collapses under the weight of central miscasting with respect to her two co-stars: would you believe Raymond Burr (appropriately brooding though he may be) as Mark Antony?!; William Lundigan, then, makes for an utterly wooden Roman officer – who, being the more handsome, is predictably (but unhistorically) favored by Cleopatra (even from the time he served under Caesar himself!), yet is almost instantly given the cold shoulder by him for what she has done to Antony i.e. causing his falling-out with Augustus Caesar!

I have watched a number of films revolving around these characters (yet another followed this viewing) but, of course, Castle's entry would not pass muster (crucially, perhaps, it did not prove quite as enjoyably bad as I had been led to believe!) alongside the two most renowned renditions: Cecil B. De Mille's impressive 1934 version – from which this actually 'recreates' the early barge sequence – and the notorious, but undeniably worthwhile, 1963 mega-budgeted fiasco.

This is really a poor man's "Cleopatra" but there are lessons in politics in it: The imaginary Lucilius character shows that opportunism does pay:changing sides every ten minutes leads him to a glorious happy end,brother in arms with Octavius, whereas Cleopatra and Mark Antony commit suicide (which anyone past infancy already knew).

If terrorism does not pay (the murder attempt) ,at least we learn that Cleopatra's people are starving ,and that gives Lucilius a good reason to rebel against this tyranny (and to ease his conscience)for very little:he knows (and so do we) that in Rome,everyone lives in the lap of luxury!

In fact,Mark Antony nursed a viper in his bosom ,and it was not the queen of Egypt.

Now I know my medication is making me hallucinate!!

I'd swear I just saw a Technicolor movie with William Castle's name on it as director that begins with Raymond Burr as Mark Antony declaiming Shakespeare, Rhonda Fleming in the title role wearing green eye shadow and Jean Louis, and Julie Newmar dancing in nothing but a bikini and gold paint!