Serpent of the Nile (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
Rhonda Fleming stars as Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, in William Castle's amusingly absurd, low-budget, campy & trashy 1953 Technicolor biopic 'Serpent of the Nile', with Raymond Burr unexpectedly co-starring as her main object of lust, Mark Antony. Set in 44 BC, Julius Caesar has been assassinated by plotters, senators Brutus & Cassius, who accused him of being a dictator. To this, a plethora of politicians & generals comprised of Mark Antony, Lepidus & Octavius Augustus (Michael Fox) step-in to control Rome & seek to avenge Caesar's untimely death.
Lepidus now oversees Africa, Octavius rules over Hispania, & Mark Antony in charge of Egypt & the Orient. From her palace in Alexandria, the cunning & beautiful Egyptian Queen Cleopatra wants to rule Egypt by defeating her brother Ptolomeo & sister Arsinoe ... but she needs the power of Rome to make this happen; as well as continue the succession on her child Cesarion, the out-of-wedlock child of Cleopatra & Julius Caesar. When Caesar's possible successor Mark Antony arrives in Egypt along with his army commandant + a high ranking Roman general, Lucinius (William Lundigan), she seduces the conquering hero {lavishing him with praise, feasts, riches, carnal favors}, but also his general in order to gain back her kingdom.
Lucinius warns Mark Antony that Cleopatra is out for herself. And to that, she tried to first seduce, then kill Lucinius for this. Cleopatra convinces Mark Antony to form an alliance with her to fight Octavian for the all-powerful throne in Rome. Lucinius escapes to Rome to warn Octavius & co. And from there, a tragic love story with fateful wartime consequences unfolds.
Oh, boy. This movie simply isn't any good. Sure, there are isolated, individual elements that impress; a performance here, a strain of music there, a well-staged battle sequence, etc. But on the whole, 'Serpent of the Nile' is simply a woeful endeavor with phony matte painting sets, some grotesquely opulent interiors, & wooden actors trying desperately to infuse passion into the script, at hand. A similar film from the same year, Rita Hayworth's Salome, was infinitely better and, a good deal of those castaway sets were used for this film, ha. The sand dunes of Egypt, the pyramid: all phony-looking. I found it humorous, but there isn't any quality, there.
Rhonda Fleming is gorgeous, as always; replete with intense green eye shadow & wigs. Not sure I jive with the 1950s-style 'bullet bra' that the wardrobe dept. put her in; or for all the bikini-clad dancers, for that matter -- none of that existed in 44 BC. Fleming's career is a head-scratcher, for me. She did great in great films as a supporting player, but whenever she was a headliner, the movie was usually crap. She was a bright, intelligent, lovely actress who - though wildly popular, and who had the acting chops - was always given subpar projects to star in. Also in the cast is Jean Byron, Michael Ansara, Conrad Wolfe, Jean Easton, and Julie Newmar evocatively dancing in a bikini & gold paint! See the film for that, if not the overall quality.
Lepidus now oversees Africa, Octavius rules over Hispania, & Mark Antony in charge of Egypt & the Orient. From her palace in Alexandria, the cunning & beautiful Egyptian Queen Cleopatra wants to rule Egypt by defeating her brother Ptolomeo & sister Arsinoe ... but she needs the power of Rome to make this happen; as well as continue the succession on her child Cesarion, the out-of-wedlock child of Cleopatra & Julius Caesar. When Caesar's possible successor Mark Antony arrives in Egypt along with his army commandant + a high ranking Roman general, Lucinius (William Lundigan), she seduces the conquering hero {lavishing him with praise, feasts, riches, carnal favors}, but also his general in order to gain back her kingdom.
Lucinius warns Mark Antony that Cleopatra is out for herself. And to that, she tried to first seduce, then kill Lucinius for this. Cleopatra convinces Mark Antony to form an alliance with her to fight Octavian for the all-powerful throne in Rome. Lucinius escapes to Rome to warn Octavius & co. And from there, a tragic love story with fateful wartime consequences unfolds.
Oh, boy. This movie simply isn't any good. Sure, there are isolated, individual elements that impress; a performance here, a strain of music there, a well-staged battle sequence, etc. But on the whole, 'Serpent of the Nile' is simply a woeful endeavor with phony matte painting sets, some grotesquely opulent interiors, & wooden actors trying desperately to infuse passion into the script, at hand. A similar film from the same year, Rita Hayworth's Salome, was infinitely better and, a good deal of those castaway sets were used for this film, ha. The sand dunes of Egypt, the pyramid: all phony-looking. I found it humorous, but there isn't any quality, there.
Rhonda Fleming is gorgeous, as always; replete with intense green eye shadow & wigs. Not sure I jive with the 1950s-style 'bullet bra' that the wardrobe dept. put her in; or for all the bikini-clad dancers, for that matter -- none of that existed in 44 BC. Fleming's career is a head-scratcher, for me. She did great in great films as a supporting player, but whenever she was a headliner, the movie was usually crap. She was a bright, intelligent, lovely actress who - though wildly popular, and who had the acting chops - was always given subpar projects to star in. Also in the cast is Jean Byron, Michael Ansara, Conrad Wolfe, Jean Easton, and Julie Newmar evocatively dancing in a bikini & gold paint! See the film for that, if not the overall quality.