Legions of the Nile

This movie popped up recently on FOX movie channel with the opening credits letter-boxed to 2:35 and the rest full frame. It's a shame it's cropped but you don't feel like you're missing image most of the time. There aren't any obvious "talking noses" on each side of the full frame cropping at least. The opening ten minutes are pretty poor with bar room brawls and other unfunny comedy. But once Marc Anthony appears it all gets much better. It's nicely produced and well acted and portrays Cleopatra as, well frankly, as kind of a slut that men don't notice until after they have fallen in love with her. The production design is well done there aren't a lot of huge cities portrayed but what is shown is well done, including a brief nicely done shot of the famous lighthouse at Alexandra. Unlike some Italian films of this genre there are no supernatural elements. There are some impressive "thousands of men on horses" scenes and Cleopatra rides around in a chariot pulled by at least 10 horses. But one let down in that when the actual battle scenes arrive they are done on a pretty small scale and end very quickly. Blame the second unit director for this I suppose. It tends to be large scale set ups to a battle that then shows 5 or 10 guys and lasts a minute and a half. There is however some good smaller scale fight scenes so maybe budget prevented more large scale, either way it's disappointing. It also must be said that what I saws, the Full frame American version, has a number of fast fade outs some of which pretty obviously seem to reveal material edited out of the film. Again though it's well acted and has a few surprises, you can complain there should be more "real" character action rather than one that basically focuses on fiction buddies who happen to be part of large events. But there are many other films that take the same sort of approach to real events and characters. Cameron's TITANIC takes this same approach. So fans of this genre check it out but be a little prepared to be let down in the action department.

This film takes place during the time when "Octavian" (Alfredo Mayo) ruled the western part of the Roman Empire in Rome while "Marc Antony" (Georges Marchal) and "Cleopatra" (Linda Crystal) ruled the eastern half of the empire from the city of Alexandria in Egypt. It's during this time that Cleopatra dons a disguise and happens to meet a Greek gladiator named "Curridio" (Ettore Manni) with whom she falls in love with. Yet even though Cleopatra doesn't initially reveal her identity to him it soon becomes apparent that Curridio isn't necessarily who he pretends to be either. To further complicate things, an Egyptian slave girl by the name of "Marianne" (Maria Mahor) also falls in love with Curridio which changes the overall dynamic in more ways than one. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I enjoyed the presence of Linda Crystal who performed in an excellent manner. Unfortunately, the director (Vittorio Cottafavi) seemed confused on whether he was making a drama or an action film which eventually resulted in a rather uneven final product. That being said, I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.

The problem with this movie for English speaking viewers is that the English Language version was cut and then dubbed in an appallingly slipshod way. If you refer to the original Italian or French versions, you find that the dialogue is much more profound and intentionally comedic in places. Most of this was steamrollered over with bland lip-fitting inanities in the US version. At one point, Curridius stuffs a bunch of grapes into a slave-trader's face to shut him up, and in the original version, comments to his friends that people will just think he's drunk. The US dialogue has Curridius saying "Did you see his face when I offered him the two talents?" Don't blame Cottafavi for that, please.

The reason the French and Italians love Cottafavi is that they are seeing his movies as intended, not butchered to fit a TV screen, and dubbed with nonsensical dialogue.

Also, don't forget that this was the movie that 20th Century Fox bought for a million from its producers, so they could put it on the shelf, and make sure it wouldn't interfere with the blockbuster release of its own Elizabeth-Taylor-starring CLEOPATRA. Maybe when they eventually put it out on Television, they intentionally had it badly dubbed just so you wouldn't like it.

I've seen "Le Legioni di Cleopatra" in a restored print in the original Italian language.

If you want a history lesson you should not see this film (and the same applies to Hollywood movies), but the main historical facts are superficially presented (the details concerning the characters are, of course, fantasy) in it.

Mark Antony (Georges Marchal) is in Alexandria (Egypt) with his lover Cleopatra (Linda Cristal), the queen of Egypt. They rule the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Octavian (Alfredo Mayo) rules the western part of the Roman Empire. He lands with his troops in Egypt. Octavian's forces are superior, but Mark Antony with the help of his allies may still be a force to reckon with. The battle that will decide who will rule the Roman Empire looms ahead.

And Cleopatra! Her beauty is legendary. She conquered Marc Antony's heart and lives in a palace. Her legions keep watch over it. No one is admitted entrance without her permission. No one in the outside world is allowed to see her face. But at nights Cleopatra goes out in the streets, disguised in simple clothes, to dance in taverns! She just wants to leave the seclusion of her palace, meet people, and maybe, love.

Meanwhile, Octavian sends one of his officers (Ettore Manni), the handsome Curridio (a friend of Mark Antony) to Alexandria to see how things stand and talk Mark Antony into surrendering.

"Le Legioni di Cleopatra" may be (as many Italian epic films) a low budget production, but it's highly entertaining - tavern brawls, dances, battles, pretty girls.... The story is well told, with good comic, dramatic and romantic moments.

All in all, the film is very colorful - it's not only easy on the eyes and mind, but sometimes it's surprisingly serious and moving (that is, if you turn off your critical brain and let yourself flow with the film).

The European Community asked of 15 filmmakers of 15 countries that each one should choose a film of his/her country to be restored. Gianni Amelio, representing Italy, chose "Le Legioni di Cleopatra".

Legions Of The Nile casts Linda Cristal a year before she made her mark in John Wayne's The Alamo as Cleopatra in this low budget saga of Antony And Cleopatra. The story is told from the perspective of Ettore Manni a young centurion who Octavian has sent to Mark Antony played by Georges Marechal into surrendering peacefully. This of course is after the Battle of Actium.

In this story Cleo has a double life. Someone in Italian cinema might have read the story of Caliph Haroun Al-Raschid known to go out among his people incognito at night to get a feeling for public opinion in Bagdad. Cristal gets tired of all the worship by day, she wants a little fun so she goes out at night. On one of her romps she meets Manni, but of course for better or worse her fate is tied to Marechal.

This ain't Liz Taylor's or Claudette Colbert's Cleo, but not too bad.