Unravelling Cleopatra: a production history

Langley, M (2023) Unravelling Cleopatra: a production history. PhD thesis, Bath Spa University.

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Abstract

Using a wealth of extant and previously unreferenced evidence, this critical history reconstructs, examines, and interrogates Fox’s production of Cleopatra (Mankiewicz, 1963, Fox) from 1958-1966. The absence to date of an objective critical account means that for 60 years Cleopatra has acquired near-mythical status as one of Hollywood’s biggest flops, obscuring its pivotal role in the shift from the classical to the modern Hollywood system, and the impact of that shift upon Cleopatra’s production and subsequent reception. The critical history at the heart of this research considers how key events and decisions informed Cleopatra’s reaction to, and impact on, the economic and ideological shifts changing America’s mainstream film industry as all Hollywood sought to find a new way of working. This study therefore considers a pivotal moment in Hollywood’s conversion from the Classical to the Modern Studio System.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Keywords:	film production, studio system, film industry, film criticism, historical films, 1960s, Hollywood, box office
Divisions:	Bath School of Art, Film and Media
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.17870/bathspa.00015901
Date Deposited:	07 Dec 2023 17:11
Last Modified:	07 Dec 2023 17:38
URI / Page ID:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/15901

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