Antony and Cleopatra (1972) - Charlton Heston - 11/20/18

[oildude]

Antony and Cleopatra (1972), directed by and starring Charlton Heston, is coming to Blu-ray from Twilight Time on November 20, 2018. This will be a limited edition of 3000 copies. THIS RELEASE IS REGION A LOCKED.

From IMDb...After the murder of her lover Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor: Octavius.

Directed by Charlton Heston, who had two theatrical director efforts in his career. He is best known for his starring roles in Ben-Hur, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, The Ten Commandments, Major Dundee, Khartoum, and many more.

Starring Charlton Heston, Hildegard Neil, Eric Porter, and Fernando Rey.

Music by John Scott (North Dallas Forty, Wake in Fright, The People That Time Forgot, Trog, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes, Yor the Hunter from the Future, and many more)

[ddwall]

Twilight Time is getting there share of my Blu-ray budget this year.

[solaris72]

Supposedly the existing DVD is cut by something like 14 minutes. Hope TT releases the full version!

[Blu2u]

Originally Posted by ddwall

Twilight Time is getting there share of my Blu-ray budget this year.

Twilight time is getting there. Share of my Blu-ray budget this year.

I'm also glad that Charlton Heston's other film roles are mentioned. I've never heard of him or her.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Another Todd-AO 35 film gets a release.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by solaris72

Supposedly the existing DVD is cut by something like 14 minutes. Hope TT releases the full version!

The overture ran a whopping nine and a half minutes and wasn't on the DVD, so that accounts for a big chunk of that.

[solaris72]

Originally Posted by Aclea

The overture ran a whopping nine and a half minutes and wasn't on the DVD, so that accounts for a big chunk of that.

Wow. Was the overture on the VHS? That's where the compared running time comes from. One reviewer said that a lot of the cuts they noticed were Cleopatra's dialogue.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by solaris72

Wow. Was the overture on the VHS? That's where the compared running time comes from. One reviewer said that a lot of the cuts they noticed were Cleopatra's dialogue.

I interviewed John Scott back in the mid-90s, and he seemed to think it was only used in the West End roadshow presentation of the film:

John Scott - Antony and Cleopatra (1972) - Overtüre - YouTube

I don't know about any VHS release, though the cruddy German pan-and-scan DVD of dubious provenance that was the only way to see it for years didn't just drop the overture but was taken from a print missing about 45 minutes, while the Spanish DVD was a two hour version.

It is possible that the cuts to Cleo's dialogue might be referring to cuts from the play - which is truncated for the film even at roadshow length and rarely performed on stage uncut - rather than to the film itself.

[gates70]

In for this one

[solaris72]

Originally Posted by Aclea

It is possible that the cuts to Cleo's dialogue might be referring to cuts from the play - which is truncated for the film even at roadshow length and rarely performed on stage uncut - rather than to the film itself.

This review is specific about claiming not cuts from play to film but from film version to film version.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by solaris72

This review is specific about claiming not cuts from play to film but from film version to film version.

He also says he's going from memory of seeing it in 1972 (39 years before writing the review) and multiple readings of the play. He also notes that the intermission music was cut, which brings it pretty much up to the 160 minute running every other source has for its UK premiere.

[oildude]

Pre-order date: Wednesday, November 7th at 4 pm EST

Where to buy (or pre-order):

• Twilight Time website: http://www.twilighttimemovies.com

• Screen Archives Entertainment: http://www.screenarchives.com

Special Features: Isolated Music Track (with optional Overture and Exit Music) / Audio Commentary with Film Historians Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer, and Paul Scrabo / The Making of Antony and Cleopatra with Filmmaker Fraser C. Heston / Original Theatrical Trailer

[oildude]

FYI from Twilight Time's web site, the upcoming November release of Charlton Heston's Antony and Cleopatra is Region A locked. Pre-orders begin this Wednesday. November 7, at 4 pm.

Region Code: Region A (Americas, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, SE Asia)

This is one of only a handful of TT releases that are locked. I have added this information in the first post.

[Doctor Jack]

I wonder how fast this will go. I want it, but I’ve never seen it and $35 for a blind buy is a lot for me.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by Aclea

I interviewed John Scott back in the mid-90s, and he seemed to think it was only used in the West End roadshow presentation of the film:

John Scott - Antony and Cleopatra (1972) - Overtüre - YouTube

I don't know about any VHS release, though the cruddy German pan-and-scan DVD of dubious provenance that was the only way to see it for years didn't just drop the overture but was taken from a print missing about 45 minutes, while the Spanish DVD was a two hour version.

It is possible that the cuts to Cleo's dialogue might be referring to cuts from the play - which is truncated for the film even at roadshow length and rarely performed on stage uncut - rather than to the film itself.

That stereo track sounds great. It's a shame the disc is mono, which leads me to believe there may not have been anything else, and any 6-track may have been one of those rumored to be all mono.

I know there are some Brits posting here (Douglas R) that may have seen this in the U.K. in 1972, and can confirm any runtime and 6-track details.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

I wonder how fast this will go. I want it, but I’ve never seen it and $35 for a blind buy is a lot for me.

Oh, I'm sure it'll stick around long enough for you to get it on sale for far less than $35.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by yellowcakeuf6

That stereo track sounds great. It's a shame the disc is mono, which leads me to believe there may not have been anything else, and any 6-track may have been one of those rumored to be all mono.

I know there are some Brits posting here (Douglas R) that may have seen this in the U.K. in 1972, and can confirm any runtime and 6-track details.

It was fairly common at the time for music to be recorded in stereo with one eye to an LP release but laid on the film in mono. It definitely had a 70mm release at the long-gone Astoria Charing Cross Road, but the only ads I could find online are too small to read what's written under the 70mm billing. But either way it's true 6-track stereo presentations for 70mm films weren't always proper stereo mixes in that era.

To confuse matters on the running time, the BBFC's website, which lists the running time of films submitted to them (including overtures, etc in that running time), mistakenly has it listed with the credits from the 1974 Richard Johnson-Janet Suzman TV version (which they certified for video release but never got any theatrical release) and cites the running time for Heston's theatrical feature as 160:10, but then confuses the issue by adding the Johnson version's VHS running time as 158:57.

http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/antony-and-cleopatra-1971

The theatrical rating is definitely Heston's film because the UK distributor, Folio Films, is listed and the submission date chimes with a 1972 release. The video rating is definitely the Johnson version because the distributor is cited as Precision Video, who released that version in the UK, while Heston's film never got a UK video release in the post-Video Recordings Act era. There's also no way a 160-minute film would have a near-identical running time with PAL VHS speedup or that it would have gone from an AA rating (no-one under 14 admitted) to a U certificate (any age admitted) in an era of massively increased censorship (1985, the height of the 'Video Nasties' scare and legislation which would see films like Clash of the Titans go from A certificates in cinemas to 15 certificates on video).

I'd guess that the TT version is uncut and that since it offers the option to play with and without the overture and exit music, the 148-minute running time cited is for the latter (which appears to be how the film was released to local cinemas in the UK). So, 148 minutes of picture and 12 minutes of overture/exit music.

[ArnoldLayne56]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

I wonder how fast this will go. I want it, but I’ve never seen it and $35 for a blind buy is a lot for me.

$22.46 now at TT

[ArnoldLayne56]

Originally Posted by ArnoldLayne56

$22.46 now at TT

Funny now I just received my final TT shipment, including this title for $13.06 including shipping 😺