A Queen for Caesar

5/29/2023

I wonder if Elizabeth Taylor watched this before she took on the role played here by Pascale Petit one year later? I can't think she would have gained much from the rather wooden effort presented of this most enigmatic of women from history. Sharing the throne with her brother "Ptolemy" (an enthusiastic Corrado Pani) has proved just too awkward for all and so the scheming Theodotus (Ennio Balbo) plots a regime change. This forces our heroine and her protector Apollodorus (Franco Volpi) to take urgent action that sees her end up in the camp of Pompeii (Akim Tamiroff) who has some scheming of his own to do to outwit Caesar (Gordon Scott). Were the acting just a bit more natural and better, this wouldn't be half bad. Effort has been made on the look of the film. The sets and the costumes are