Cleopatra, the young queen of Egypt, meets Julius Caesar — and learns, from the Roman conqueror, how to rule.
In Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), based on George Bernard Shaw’s play, Vivien Leigh plays Cleopatra, who, as a young queen, meets Julius Caesar, played by Claude Rains, when he arrives in Egypt. Caesar, who is amused by her youth and her fear, teaches her to be a queen, and Cleopatra, who grows in confidence, begins to understand power.
Leigh plays Cleopatra with a lightness and a wit that suit Shaw’s dialogue. She is playful and intelligent, and her scenes with Rains, as the older, wiser Caesar, are full of a charming, almost fatherly romance.
Caesar and Cleopatra is a lavish, witty adaptation, and Leigh’s Cleopatra is one of her most delightful performances: a queen learning to rule, played with grace and humour.