Why read Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood?

Book cover of Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood: How One Film Almost Sunk the Studios

Book description

There had been stars before. There had been films prior to Cleopatra. But in all the cynical, greedy, magical, histrionic history of the movies, there had never been a combination like that of Elizabeth Taylor and Cleopatra.

Other films may have taken more money, won more awards or attracted better…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Spencer Leigh

Author

A tense, incident-packed, brilliantly researched account of the making of the epic 1963 film, Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It received mammoth publicity for all the wrong reasons, mainly because of their lavish affair, Burton’s drinking, and Taylor’s illnesses.

Cleopatra was seen as more about them than the Queen of the Nile. Some great stories about the rest of the cast too (notably Rex Harrison) and you can tell that Patrick Humphries loves telling these tales. I even want to see the film again and I never thought I’d write those words!

From Spencer's 3 favorite reads in 2023.