CLEOPATRA

This astonishingly huge, lavish historical epic broke box-office records. It was a TITANIC-sized success. But the budget and cost overruns were so high that it still did not break even. Heads rolled in Hollywood over CLEOPATRA and it became a catchphrase for bloated filmic spectacles, but all these years later, it's still magnificent to see. Like the pyramids, it is a gaudy monument to bloated egos, and also like the pyramids, it will fill you with wonder at the hugeness of its scale. Elizabeth Taylor, who naturally plays the title character, and Richard Burton, who plays her tragic lover Marc Antony, were the two greatest stars of their age. They could have acted against a painted backdrop and created a box-office sensation, but producer Walter Wanger surrounded his two shining jewels with millions of dollars in sets, locations, props and dancing elephants. It's huge, and hugely vulgar - fortunately, it's also fabulously colorful and entertaining on as grand a scale. Taylor and Burton are magnetic, and their chemistry is palpable. Their famous eyes almost outshine the tens of millions of dollars of fineries and monuments brought in to support them. It is gigantic, grand and monstrous all at once. If you love Hollywood, do not miss it.