Antony and Cleopatra

"Antony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare" (that's the full on screen title, folks) carries a 1983 copyright but at least one source claimed that it was completed in 1981, yet saw no theatrical release so far as I know (shot on videotape rather than film), and a British telecast on Oct. 5, 1984 though obviously PBS would have provided its natural home in the US, now easily available on DVD though still quite obscure. Casting must have proved problematic, small screen actors like Anthony Geary, Nichelle Nichols, and Water Koenig in support of the two leads, Lynn Redgrave as Cleopatra, a bit long in the tooth but okay, and Timothy Dalton as Marc Antony, a fine choice if somewhat ill at ease. Like Charlton Heston's 1972 feature adaptation, this clocks in at about 3 hours and doesn't measure up to other versions, the videotape quality and stage settings no match for genuine film excitement. The most notable surprise among the performers is the presence of John Carradine (apparently reading from cue cards), longtime purveyor of the Bard since his teens yet rarely cast in such roles on screen, mostly the stage. In 1943 he even started his own theatrical group, John Carradine and His Shakespeare Players, traveling the West Coast in triumphant presentations of "Othello," "The Merchant of Venice," and finally "Hamlet," his fervent wish to reach Broadway by the spring of 1944 to celebrate the birthday of his late friend John Barrymore. Alas, financial woes put a premature end to his greatest dream, exhibitors noting the huge box office but deciding that the Carradine name just wasn't enough of a draw to earn their support. Here billed 4th as the Soothsayer, he offers sage advice to Nichelle Nichols' Charmian and Kim Miyori's Iras, their palms read if not their faces, and is later seen opposite Dalton's Antony, favorably comparing his prowess to that of rival Octavius Caesar (Anthony Geary). Two sequences adding up to 4 1/2 minutes out of three bloated hours, but truly the last opportunity to see a lifelong Shakespearean receive a measure of respect near the end of his life (he gave all his sons the same advice about acting: "if you can do Shakespeare, you can do anything!").

I will admit I was disappointed with this film adaptation, when I watched it as I am studying Antony and Cleoptra for English at school. Though to be fair, Antony and Cleopatra is a very complicated play, but for me despite some good moments, this didn't work for me. It is faithful to Shakespeare's play, however there were some scenes that just fell flat; Antony and Cleopatra's reconciliation came across as unintentionally funny rather than heart-rending, and the whipping of the messenger Thydias could have been such an effective scene, sadly it wasn't. The sets and costumes weren't lavish enough, Cleopatra's dresses were nice to look at, if rather simple, but Antony looked as though he was a poor person for most of the production, and Octavious Caesar's costumes just didn't show off his character. And the sets looked rather amateurish for my liking. The performances were variable. I wasn't fond of Timothy Dalton as Antony, he looked the part, but I didn't feel his heart was in it, and when Antony loses his dignity and honour, I felt Dalton overdid it here. Aquitting herself much better is Lynn Redgrave as Cleopatra, true I didn't think she was vivacious enough, but she did have some excellent delivery, and mostly she was bang on target with her character. Sadly, most of her scenes weren't as effective as they could have been, but that wasn't Redgrave's fault, the maids were very static, and throughout I found the direction unusually sluggish. The worst performance was easily Antony Geary as Caesar, he wasn't right for the part at all. Ceasar is cold, calculating and authoritative, and Geary as far as I was concerned didn't do any of those things in his performance, and I found Sharon Barr bland as Octavia. Barrie Ingham however was superb as Enobarbus, he brought a sense of loyalty and poignancy to his part, and that was highly appreciative. Walter Koenig relishes his role as Pompey. Finally, the camera work was okay, a little rough in places. Overall, disappointing. The version with Janet Suzman was better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Although there are good performances by Lynn Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Barrie Ingham & Earl Boen, on the other hand you have Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer from "General Hospital") dreadful as Caesar & Walter Koenig (Chekhov from "Star Trek") mangling Pompey the pirate. And the blonde bimbo playing Octavia is bland & unemotional. They don't belong in a Shakespeare play & should keep their day jobs! Nichelle Nichols does OK as Charmian. Costumes are adequate, but camera editing is not very smooth. Also missing is some strong passion or chemistry between the 2 leads. Saw this tonight on public TV. This is a play that Kenneth Branagh should consider directing for the big screen & casting himself as Antony...

Timothy Dalton and Lynn Redgrave offer fine work in this adaptation of Shakespeare's Drama.Although production values for this live on tape adaptation are below par the acting for the most part is fine. Barrie Ingham as Enobarbus offers the finest performance in the play. Always a strong character actor this (along with Pellinore in "Camelot"(1982))is one of his most brilliant portrayals. Walter Koenig also scores as the rebelious Pompey,showing for the first time that he is a much better actor than "Star Trek" allowed. some of the supporting players are dreadful however.In particular Anthony Geary as Octavius Ceasar. Why they cast this man in Shakespeare is beyond me. Overall its a decent adaptation of a play that deserves a more detailed treatment.

About 29 minutes into the second tape, the video play deviated from the written play somewhat. For the video compared to 4:14:119, 4:14:121, and 4:14:133, Antony calls not Diomed but another name--probably Sileucus. Also the actor of Sileucus was used, so it seems that this "error" was more than just mis-speaking by Timothy Dolton. I found this alteration peculiar as well as distracting. The change in the video play shook my confidence in an otherwise impressive performance