History Film / Cleopatra

* AdaptationalAgeLift: Agrippa is played as being similar in age to Julius Ceaser and already an experienced officer, rather than a childhood friend of Octavian.

* DisabledLoveInterest: Phoebus, Cleopatra's blind poet.

* DeadManWriting: Cleopatra sends a message with her request to Octavius after her capture. It reads simply [[spoiler:that she asks to be buried next to Antony. Octavius immediately realized what she must be doing and sends his guard to stop her, but they are too late.]]

* NoLoveForTheWicked: Octavian. Even though the other main characters are as scheming and ruthless as he is, they do have PetTheDog moments, mostly in the manner of EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Cesar and Cleopatra love their son, Antony and Cleopatra love each other, and all of them feel warmth towards certain servants and companions. Octavian, on the other hand, is extremely economic with affection of any kind.

* SissyVillain: Octavian, of the seemingly asexual variety.

* TheAlcoholic: In the second part of the movie, there is hardly a scene where Mark Antony is not drinking.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Brutus is shown in a very sympathetic light. Likewise, the fact that Caesar is painted to have openly sought Imperial titles vindicates and justifies TheConspiracy where earlier accounts at least kept things ambiguous (as it was in history).
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** Octavian, perhaps the most successful ruler in Roman history, is portrayed as an [[SissyVillain effeminate wimp]] and a two-faced schemer with delusions of grandeur.
** Agrippa. Portrayed as a former Lieutenant of Caesar and then Octavian's Flunky.

''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American {{epic|movie}} historical film directed by Creator/JosephLMankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald [=MacDougall=] and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by [[Literature/ParallelLives Plutarch]], Suetonius and Appian.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Cleopatra knows her role.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Cleopatra tries this several times to varying degrees of success. Caesar sees through it more often than not, but he becomes impressed with her cunningness. It works better on Antony, who is definitely not her intellectual equal.

** Agrippa. Portrayed as a former Lieutenant of Ceaser and then Octavian's Flunky.
* IdiotBall: For reasons that are never quite explained. Anthony goes out of his way to antagonise Ceaser's Admiral, Agrippa. With Ceaser dead, Agrippa goes over to Octavian providing the future emperor with a highly experienced naval and land commander.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Sosigenes arrives in Rome to negotiate peace at the exact wrong moment. [[spoiler:Octavius is standing with the symbolic war spear in front of a crowd howling for Antony’s blood. When Sosigenes shows up, he finds the perfect spot to put the spear and buries it directly in his chest.]]

* RecliningReigner: Cleopatra and Caesar be argued as the {{Trope Codifier}}s.

* ShownTheirWork: The film, although no stranger to HollywoodHistory, is remarkably respectful of Classic sources. Many colourful and dramatic episodes (Cleopatra rolled in a carpet, Caesar killed near Pompey's monument, Mark Antony covering Brutus' body with a cloak) are directly lifted from Suetonius, Plutarch, and other ancient writers. Many historical events, place-names and figures are mentioned in the movie, raising its educational value.