Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 57

(Ehicago Sribune FEATURES theater music art MOVIES BRIDGE SOCIAL LIFE FASHIONS THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1963 5 Setion2 On the Aisle Spectacle to Burn, Brilliant Caesar, Tragic Antony and a Fishwife Cleopatra BY CLAUDIA CASSIDY VEN at its most reful- he "avoided the poetic approach from the start, mimed by a gent, tne star system nas ot bnaxespeare, tne satirical of lecherous Bacchus with a mock rarely rivaled and pos- G. B. Shaw," her Cleopatra has Cleopatra at the queen's own sibly never surpassed the that classic range from A to anti-climax of "Cleopatra," the When her voice rises she mis 4-hour extravaganza on which takes vulgarity for power. In millions of dollars, platoons of the bath she might have been Vi X. I i I' 'i: tin )v-fr jt The 'Cleopatra Story Liz's Illnesses Go On; Work on Film Lags Liz Taylor was ill again.

Nagging little problems piled up into mountain-size headaches. It got to be a way of life for tose making "Cleopatra." This is the fifth of a series telling the inside story of the costly picture. BY WALTER ANGER AND JOE HYAMS LONDON, Oct. 12, 1960 Liz still has a low fever, but she hopes to be well in a day or two. I told her the situation that if Sidney Guilaroff, the hairdresser, continued on the picture we would be faced with another expensive hairdressers' walkout.

"I don't want the picture to close down," she said. "I don't want a strike, but I don't want Oliver Messel to do my hair." Messel, who was designing Elizabeth's wardrobe, had said he couldn't prepare her properly as Cleopatra unless he also designed her jewelry, shoes, hairdress, wigs, etc. "Whatever you work out is all right with me," Liz finally conceded. As usual, she couldn't have been nicer. Oct.

14 Heavy frost. Two minutes, 15 seconds of sunshine, 1,000 extras. Liz still ill. Oct. 15 Sir Tom O'Brien called and complained that the union is embarrassed by the deal I made with the hairdressers, but he is happy they are back at work.

I had promised the girls a bonus if they would go back to work anything to get on with the action, and the hell with protocol. Oct- IS feast. He was Cleopatra's lap-dog, who took her orders, skulked in shadow, betrayed his men, and was betrayed. Some of this happened, but not as patly as that. Given so crass a conception, Burton turns something close to an actor's miracle.

There is poetry about the man, a kind of Dylan Thomas Welsh lyricism, and a voice to bring the world of make-believe into focus. In spite of everyUiing the script can think of to minimize the role's stature, his Antony is a great and greatly beloved man fallen, and the silence after him mourns. Here is the enormous difference, not just of talent, but of classic training. When Miss Taylor shouts in what is meant to be tragic betrayal, the emp- talent, and oceans of printer's ink have been squandered in full panoply of Todd-AO holiday. It has spectacle to burn, some of it magnificent, some of it tasteless, rather ludicrous waste.

It has innumerable expert performances by actors of quality, crested by Rex Harrison's brilliantly quizzical Caesar, the best written role in Joseph Mankiewicz's erratic script, and haunted by Richard Burton's tragic Marc Antony, an actor's triumph over a writer's mediocrity. And with a prodigal gesture of futility, all of it is focused on Elizabeth Taylor, hopelessly out of her depth as a fishwife Cleopatra. "CLEOPATRA" Screenplay Joseph L. Mankitwla, Ranald MocOoutall and Sidney Kuchma, based Plvtarch, SMtonias, Appioa and Franter. Produced by Walter Wander and directed by Mr.

Mankiewici, with music by Aie North, choreography by Hermes Pan, production desisned by John De Cuir. Produced in Todd-AO, with color by De Luxe. Presented by Twentieth Century Fox at the State Lake theater, openint Wednesday, June 26, 1963. THE CAST Cleopatra EHiobarh Taylor Marc Antony Richard Burton Julius Caesar Rex Harrison High Priestess of Pamela Brow Octnvian Octavius Caesar Roddy McOowall Flavius Georte Cole Sosifenes Hume Cronyn Apollodorus Cesare Danavo Brutus Kenneth Haith Germanicus Stephens enormia I so belle Cooler 'Asrlppo Andrew Keir Rufie Martin Landau Ptolemy Richard O'Sullivan onrhanflntr evrpnt for onmionl- tiness is embarrassinc Rodrfv an actress nas suiik TT V. lul Many trace in the waters 1Y calculated expusure.

111 biuie- muuwau, wuu uu uio jjma without a crait, me miracie is uiat gypt ui uciavius vaesor uui nui uie took so long to fall. reality, shouts and merely Whatever the accusations and makes a racket Burton shouts, of the Nile, even with Shakespeare or Shaw to give ballast. The beautiful Miss Taylor, caparisoned in a splendor outshone only by the cleavage, has no such ally. Written and di recriminations after the fact of such a film, no outsider ever and the screen contracts to one man's heartbreak. Perhaps women have less really knows what happened.

The basic strategy of "Cleo- rected by Mr. Mankiewicz, of Elizabeth Taylor spent much time being fitted for the elaborate costumes she wean in "Cleopatra." This is one of the simplest. whom officialdom confides that Patra" apparently made sense. The first half is concerned with u.uiiUiuiM.UuVMWAVAWmM imagination than men. Most of the women here, walk-ons or bit players, would fit better around a bridge table than in ancient Alexandria or Rome.

But many of the men might have been born warriors with catapults, senators in togas, Caesar's dalliance with the young Cleopatra in his search for grain and gold, and how his assassination cut short the dream of empire for their son Business Is 'Out' Caesarion. Marc Antony steps plotters in a palace. Kenneth out only as Caesar's champion, Chicagoans on List for Redwood Outing Haigh's Brutus, so gallantly covered by Antony's cloak, Martin Landau's Rufio, Robert Stephens' Germanicus, Andrew Keir's Agrippa, Cesare Dan-ova's picturesque Apollodorus, George Cole's mute Flavius, Richard O'Sullivan's sulky princeling stroking a white cat these carry conviction. from his shadow. This part goes well on the whole, primarily because of Caesar's dominance and Harrison's amused authority of voice and person, his crisp, wily wit.

The second part strikes real They listed actresses they felt could play Cleopatra: Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Rosanna Podesta, Kim Novak, Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren, and Gina Lollobrigida. We pointed out that our objective is a great picture, and Liz is essential for that. Tension and Reasons Behind It We are all under great tension. Our problems inevitably end up on the front pages. Meanwhile, Liz is still in the clinic.

Dr. Goldman assured me that she will be fine in a few days, but the weather is miserable, which means we can't shoot any exteriors. But since I've had my heart attacks I learned not to get excited the only person I hurt is myself. 8 Liz really had a virus infection. She was dismissed from the clinic this morning.

Nov. 7 An hour wasted over another ridiculous and undignified BY KAY LORING IPS FROM OVER the country will burn care in effigy and trouble. It may originally have pieage noi 10 mm meant to probe the fierce and problems wnen tney gainer ror a ou autumnal blaze destroyed Otherwise, there are fabled 12 to 26 at the famous Bohemian Grove club the redwood and Cleopatra. But palaces, great plazas teeming country of California. Members and guests are quartered in more it got stardust in its eyes and with multitudes, armies in the than 100 camps in the club's beatiful tract.

cheated flagrantly. On screen field, toy fleets ablaze at sea, In talro nn cmesr nnrl rules TITO- tha hlava has Tin Viont nnH tha rvroipc fowAls KaH nnrl hnths detail the boil Liz had. Geddes wants a statemen concernmg successive years. James story falters. Antony, great and the entrance of Cleopatra Elizabeth's "illness," which he described as a "boil on the S.

Kemper, former ambassador warrlor oeiovea compan- into nome, ube iasi a pnantas- to Brazil will have Joseph E. cago Tribune; Frederick A. ion, is one of the enigmas of magona of Hollywood wonders Magnus as his Nichols, also a tribune execu- umuiy, seen me wwpaua uuimcu uy u3 guest at Mid- tive, and Rush C. Butler, vice era just beyond his crest, at the sphinx. In the end it is a huge a a resident of Alexander and com- decline.

Why, for instance, he and disappointing film with wW PiSr president 01 Alexanaer ana cora fled battle when her ship turned now and then an actor who can rwf pany" ail is bafflement for poet as conjure some of the grandeur, nVth rJntarv AmonS other Chicagoans at for historian. the passion, the decadent glory the club this year will be John But Mankiewicz has easy an- of older Egypt and ancient tv. i beaeuest Also Eliot Warner of the star and swers. Antony was a drunkard Rome. IrOUDlc UreWUlg Wlin Hie lliauiailtc lumpauica.

F. G. Geddes, the adjuster representing Lloyd's of London, is on the set every day. He knows everything that is going on. Whenever anyone doesn't show up, or a horse breaks a leg, or equipment is lost or stolen, Geddes is right on it.

He is savvy enough about movies to be able to suggest scenes we can shoot without Liz, so the picture continues. Diagnosis by Queen's Physician Received a copy of memo from Lord Evans, the queen's physician, who was called in as a consultant by Dr. Goldman. He traced Elizabeth's illness back to an abscess she had three weeks ago. Then she developed what seemed to be a common cold, but it was accompanied by a mild fever which persisted despite treatment with antibiotics.

He cautiously diagnosed it as "a case of infection of doubtful origin." Oct- 20 In the evening went to the theater with Liz and Eddie to see "The Millionairess." Liz is aware that even with the extra time provided by her illness we still aren't organized. She has been around too long not to be aware when a company is muddling and we are muddling. Oct- 21 The doctors think Elizabeth will not be ready for work until Nov. 1. The insurance company wants us to close down.

Spyros Skouras, company president, is in town. Looks like a battle brewing between the insurance companies and Skouras. Skouras saw some of the rushes with Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd. He doesn't think Finch has enough dignity and strength or power to play Caesar. Part of this he blames on Rouben Mamoulian, the director, and me.

He says we don't seem to be handling the cast with enough authority. "I don't care for what I've seen or what I've heard," Skouras said. Mamoulian, naturally, is upset. Oct. 24 Our loss since Sept.

29 has been $121,428 a day. The loss to date: over 2 million dollars. Skouras Cuts Budget and Shooting Schedule Skouras decided to trim the budget to 5 million dollars and readjust the shooting schedule from 95 to 75 days. Oct. 26 Skouras claims I am responsible for the delays because I insisted on having Liz.

"You've ruined us by having that girl in the picture. I wish to hell we'd done it with Joanne Woodward or Susan Hayward we'd be making money now." Oct. 29 Heavy fog makes shooting impossible. We had called 500 extras, and could hardly find them on the set. Liz taken to London clinic.

Talked with the doctors to find out what is really the trouble. One of them told me she has Malta fever a tenacious bug that's as hard to shake as it is to diagnose. "Convalescence is usually tedious at least three months," the doctor said. Nov. 2 The insurance company wants us to recast the picture.

at Midway Will warier camp aiiu be Arthur E. Franklin O'Brien. Orville Tay-S merfield, lor will be joining his long-time former post- friends, Neil McElroy of Cin-m a te gen- cinnati, former secretary of de Wad Fetter Jr. buttocks" during the period Sept. 25 to Sept 29.

Excerpt from my letter to Geddes: On Sept. 26 she again had fittings and at 11 o'clock that night she went to the Dominion theater to see rushes of her tests with her husband, Eddie Fisher, and myself. She laughingly said she had a small boil on one buttock, or something of the sort, but in no way did it impair her from standing for fittings. Nov. 13 Mamoulian called this morning to say his dinner appointment with Liz was called off because she isn't feeling well.

I called Liz's apartment at the Dorchester. A woman's voice whispered, "Mrs. Fisher will call back later." Late in the afternoon a reporter called to say Liz had been taken to the clinic on a stretcher. I called Eddie at the clinic. He was too upset to talk other than to say Liz is under sedation and Lord Evans, Dr.

Goldman, and a neurologist are in attendance. Eddie phoned back weeping and frightened. He called Dr. Rex Kennamer in Hollywood who is flying right over. Dr.

Goldman called to say Liz is much better. "Probably an infected tooth," he said. Nov. 17 Eddie took Liz home from the clinic. We can do nothing until she is well enough to work.

We told the workers thru loudspeakers we were shutting down. Tomorrow: Strife on the set and a director quits. Copyrieht 1963: Walter Wonqer Joe Hyoms eral: H. F. fense, and u.

LBidiej u. ivii-gour president of the Cincinnati and Suburban Bell Telephone company, at the Woof camp. Among politicos expected at the club is Gov. Rockefeller. Johnson of Johnson Wax company, and Robert Hosmer Morse Jr.

of Palm Beach, formerly of Chicago. Wade Fetzer Jr. and William -bp1 A. Patterson of the Owl's Nest Debuts Today camp will have H. Norris Love, The Ja ese garden on the manufacturing company presi- ndg junior James dent, and Dr George Kidera, Glencoe home the medical director of United Air- for debuts of hnes, respectively as guests, twin daughters, which will take Othei -guests at toat camp wiU dance tod include J.

Howard W(, pres Julia wiu wear a dent and publisher of The Chi- ilk Jock and Miss Wife Dies; Friends Fall to Call AR LOUISE: It's almost a year now since I lost my dear wife. Our 30 years of wedded life were happy and 'Cleo 5 Debut a Social Letdown BY WILLIAM LEONARD wonderful ones and our friends were countless. But now the picture has completely changed. Our good friends don't drop in any more. They scarcely ever phone.

I loved and respected them in the same way my wife did. They surely must know I am very lonesome and heartbroken. Do they realize that a man experiences such feelings or is this becoming a world where sympathy is reserved for women only? Confused Chicago Dear Confused: This is your first year of bereavement and it is only natural that your feelings still are sensitive and your loneliness still acute. And I fear It's true that buffeted and braised by the tug and pull of life today, people don't continue giving sympathy and support over a period of time as they did when neighborliness was more accepted. I think it's too bad and I think they should.

But this is not a problem unique to either sex. It also can be a widow's lot. THE CHICAGO premiere of stepped under a huge floral "Cleopatra" was a lot big- arch said to include no less Pamela Ferry will wear the same style dress in yellow. Spring and summer flowers will be abundant later in the evening, at the supper dance in the Saddle and Cycle club where Miss Blakely Fetridge and Miss Louise Ingersoll are to be presented. Miss Fetridge will wear a pale pink satin dress with a shocking pink train to match the skirt of Miss Ingersoll's evening gown which will have a green and white embroidered bodice.

The buds' parents, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Fetridge and Mrs. Stephen L.

Ingersoll, will receive with them. ger financially than it was was here? Now that was really something!" Mimi Benzell declared this was the fourth "premiere" of "Cleopatra" to which she had been invited, and that she has still to see the movie. She stepped out of a limousine, took her bow, and went back to work, singing in a Loop hotel. socially. The advance ticket sale and the receipts for the opening night benefit were the largest in history, but the approximately 1,500 innocent bystanders who crowded against one another in front of the State-Lake theater were obviously disappointed that, instead of seeing Liz Taylor or Richard Burton, they saw such glamorous folk as Charles Car-pentier, secretary of state, and He Loves Woman 20 Yean Older kEAR LOUISE: I am writing for friends who won't marry unless they feel marriage is fair to both of them and to than 10,000 red and white carnations.

Then they trod a red carpet into the theater, where tickets for the opening night, a benefit for La Rabida rheumatic heart research center and hospital, cost up to $25 apiece. About $35,000 was raised for the first night. Greatest applause went for Forrest Tucker, an accomplished taker of bows in spotlights and a current singing star in a north side hotel's floor show. The proprietor of a Cuban restaurant on Wrells street wore an exotic beard, an inscrutable expression, and a mysterious turban, and was interviewed at length by persons with notebooks and microphones, and other persons with nothing more than curiosity. A lady asked: "Remember when The girl at the counter in the lobby reluctantly admitted they don't have pop corn for this show.

"We usually do," she said, "but not for a movie like this." The price of candy bars, she added, had not gone up. Grant Wonders, the box office man, said the advance sale was about $200,000, and thought the top ticket price of $4 was about the biggest in Chicago film history. "Cleopatra" cost 40 or 50 million dollars to make, The Buzz A Chicago couple who traditionally celebrate their wedding anniversary with a "blast" are having to revise their plans drastically this year. When asked to entertain their church group, they agreed without checking the date. It was only later when they were reminded "of course, you won't serve any-) thing alcoholic" that they realized their anniversary and the party fell on the same date.

So, this year anniversary toasts, will be in fruit punch and tea! Birth News Elizabeth Pickman Cochrane arrived Monday in Passavant hospitalt She is the third child and second daughter of the junior Alexander L. Cochranes Virginia Lunding of Lake depending on which story you Queen Elizabeth of England read. her child by a previous marriage. The man is 25, tho he looks 35. He is mature and sensible; has never been married, and works hard, so he could support a wife and child.

But he has had much heartache and trouble. His parents were divorced, he was raised in an orphans' home, his mother later killed herself, and two girls jilted him. The woman is kind and understanding. She is a divorcee with a son, 9. She's a teacher with more education than the man has and, tho she looks younger, she is 45.

Can a marriage succeed if a man is 20 years younger than a woman? She feels it isn't fair to him but he insists that age is not an issue. They share many interests, he is wonderful with her son, and they are in love. What is your opinion? Wonderinc South Dakota Dear Wondering: An age gap of 20 years isn't a Berlin wall that can't be breached. But it needs a lot of thought, especially on the part of the man. In some marriages, children are considered vital.

If he should want a family of his own, this could be a problem. Both have been burdened with personal woe. Sometimes a bond of mutual suffering can make people think they have more in common than they really do. Sympathy CAN be mistaken for love. And if your friend is the motherly type, her compassion for his "heartache" could be an affair of the heart that doesn't necessarily lead to marriage.

Hugh Hefner, publisher charged with printing an obscene magazine. There was an exciting rumor that Liz was in the 39 club, atop the new United of America building down the block, but careful investigation proved that, tho there were many beautiful brunettes there, none of them even remotely resembled Mrs. Eddie Fisher. No one ever had said she was in town to begin with, but the faithful huddled in State street clung to their wishful thinking until after curtain time. Three searchlights did their best to pierce the sky although it was broad daylight.

A series of limousines, disgorging television announcers, acts from local night clubs and summer theaters, politicians and other celebrities, drew up in front of the marquee, and had their doors opened by lackeys in red waist-coats, top hats, white breeches, and high black boots. The arrivals heard their names called aloud over an amplifying system as they jLierorti (7ari6 TjrMONIQUE TtTUSIC piped out of an J.fX orange tree and vision peeking from a set of old books are specialities of leading Paris decorator, Andre Faye. The gimmickry of concealing TV, radio, and hi-fi installations to harmonize with period interiors is not new, but no one has taken the art as far as Andre Faye at 14 faubourg Saint Honore. His 50 craftsmen recreate period pieces of furniture measured in French museums using exactly the techniques with which the originals were made. Even the wood is usually a century old, but the glue is a modern naval formula devised to stand up to heat generated in powerful electronic circuits.

-TIHgiHMilHilHi 1 tairtl TIIIIWIII aMIIMl MilllMIIlMt i- niif Itil The only answer to the parking problem is to make cars that stack like shopping carts. Glosow's Gloom busters After four days in the clinic, Liz was taken home by her husband, Eddie Fisher. This new illness caused mak- ing of "Cleopatra" to be abandoned temporarily..