London Slog

Summary

The Plot Thickens: London Slog – A Detailed Summary

Episode: London Slog
Release Date: July 17, 2025
Series: Cleopatra (Season 6)
Host: Ben Mankiewicz
Guest: Alex Bankowitz (Daughter of Joe Mankiewicz)

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1. Introduction

In the episode titled "London Slog," host Ben Mankiewicz delves deep into the tumultuous production of the legendary film Cleopatra. Drawing from family stories, personal diaries, and interviews, Ben uncovers the myriad challenges that plagued one of Hollywood's most infamous movie sets. The episode reveals how these struggles not only derailed the film but also profoundly affected his uncle, Joe Mankiewicz.

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2. The Mankiewicz Family Legacy

Ben begins by introducing his family background, highlighting the prominence of his uncle Joe Mankiewicz in Hollywood. Joe, an acclaimed writer and director, had four Oscars displayed proudly on the family fireplace mantle. However, amidst this glory, Cleopatra remained a ghostly absence, a project shrouded in failure within the family’s narrative.

Ben Mankiewicz [00:35]: "My great uncle, my grandfather's brother, lived in a farmhouse in upstate New York... Joe was a seriously big deal in Hollywood during the 1940s and 50s."

Ben's cousin, Alex Bankowitz, Joe's daughter, provides additional insights into their childhood, emphasizing the shadow Cleopatra cast over Joe's legacy.

Alex Bankowitz [01:15]: "Upstairs in the house, there was a corridor lined with posters of all of the movies that he directed... The one poster Joe did not hang was for a movie he directed called Cleopatra."

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3. The Genesis of Cleopatra

Cleopatra was an ambitious project that aimed to be Hollywood's most spectacular epic. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, the film boasted the highest budget in Hollywood history at its inception. However, behind the scenes, the production was marred by a series of unfortunate events.

Ben Mankiewicz [01:46]: "Cleopatra took three years to make... But in the house of Joe Mankiewicz, Cleopatra was a ghost. It did not exist outside of Joe's house, everyone knew about Cleopatra. It was Hollywood's most famous disaster."

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4. Elizabeth Taylor's Pivotal Role

Elizabeth Taylor, already a monumental star by 1963, was pivotal to Cleopatra. Her influence extended beyond her acting prowess; her demanding contract and personal life became central to the film's narrative.

Elizabeth's negotiation tactics set new standards in Hollywood. When confronted by producer Walter Wanger about her casting, she boldly demanded an unprecedented salary and profit share.

Alex Bankowitz [11:23]: "I was getting so sick of it. I really didn't want to do it."

Elizabeth Taylor [11:44]: "Tell him I'll do it for a million dollars and 10% of the absolute gross."

This audacious move not only secured her role but also established her as the first actress to command a guaranteed million dollars for a single film.

Ben Mankiewicz [19:30]: "She did it. Elizabeth Taylor became the first actress to land a guaranteed million dollars for a single movie."

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5. Production Challenges: From Rome to London

Walter Wanger, the producer behind Cleopatra, faced significant hurdles even before filming commenced. The absence of a solid script led to ineffective set designs and continual budget overruns. Efforts to build authentic Egyptian sets first in Los Angeles, then Rome, and finally London proved futile.

Ben Mankiewicz [24:13]: "And we started to build the city the second time in Rome. And that went on for some months... Now build again, this time in a city with the wrong landscape, the wrong history, even the wrong climate."

The decision to relocate production to Pinewood Studios in London introduced a new set of problems, including unfavorable weather conditions and logistical nightmares.

Alex Bankowitz [30:38]: "London turned out to be a terrible choice."

Climate issues were rampant, with incessant rain causing major setbacks. Additionally, efforts to make London resemble ancient Alexandria were met with limited success, further inflating costs and delaying production.

Ben Mankiewicz [31:38]: "Palm trees had been flown in from Hollywood, but the fresh palm leaves had to be shipped from Egypt."

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6. Health Crises and Delays

Elizabeth Taylor's persistent health issues significantly disrupted the filming schedule. Initially dismissed as a common cold, her symptoms worsened, leading to extensive hospitalizations. These health scares not only halted production but also fueled rampant media speculation and rumors.

Ben Mankiewicz [35:11]: "One time she even punctured her esophagus. In London. She was sick for weeks, couldn't work."

Taylor's deteriorating health became a focal point for negative publicity, putting immense pressure on the already strained production team.

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7. Leadership Turmoil and the Entry of Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Amid the chaos, director Reuben Mamoulian became increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress and the continued delays caused by Taylor's absence. His subsequent resignation aggravated the situation, leaving the production in dire need of leadership.

In a pivotal turn, Walter Wanger turned to Joseph L. Mankiewicz—Ben's uncle—to salvage the floundering project. Despite Joe's reservations and reluctance to take on such a colossal task, his appointment marked a critical juncture in the film's troubled journey.

Ben Mankiewicz [43:04]: "He's a past master and a super psychiatrist."

Joe's involvement brought a glimmer of hope, given his esteemed reputation and previous successes. However, the stage was set for a continued saga of challenges.

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8. Conclusion: The Lasting Impact on Joe Mankiewicz

The episode culminates by reflecting on the profound personal toll Cleopatra took on Joe Mankiewicz. The relentless stress, failed ambitions, and the eventual collapse of the production left Joe altered, a man burdened by the weight of a project that spiraled beyond control.

Alex Bankowitz [04:18]: "I think it destroyed something crucial in Joe Mankiewicz."

Through heartfelt anecdotes and historical analysis, Ben and Alex paint a vivid picture of a man whose legacy was irrevocably intertwined with the rise and fall of Cleopatra.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Ben Mankiewicz [04:14]: "I think the film ruined him."
• Alex Bankowitz [05:08]: "I don't want to recall any of Cleopatra. It just sent me into a tremendous depression."
• Ben Mankiewicz [07:40]: "His writing is hard to read, though. After 10 or 15 minutes, you start to be able to decipher Joe Mankiewicz's ease here."
• Alex Bankowitz [44:03]: "She didn't win, but she considered it her best performance and she gave credit to Suddenly Last Summer's director, Joe Mankiewicz."

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Closing Thoughts

"London Slog" offers an intimate and comprehensive exploration of one of Hollywood's most storied productions. Through personal narratives and meticulous research, Ben Mankiewicz not only sheds light on the operational failures of Cleopatra but also poignantly portrays their lasting effects on those involved, particularly his uncle Joe. This episode serves as both a cautionary tale and a tribute to the complexities of filmmaking and familial legacies.

Transcript

[Ben Mankiewicz]

On WhatsApp, no one can see or.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Hear your personal messages.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this.

[Alex Bankowitz]

So whether you're sharing the streaming password.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

In the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Please note, this podcast series contains mentions of suicide and domestic violence.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

My great uncle, my grandfather's brother, lived in a farmhouse in upstate New York, about an hour from the city. Joe made movies, wrote and directed them. I was young when he was still alive, but I do remember one thing clearly, his four Oscars sitting out on his fireplace mantle. Joe was a seriously big deal in Hollywood during the 1940s and 50s.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Hello.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Hello, cousin.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Hello, cousin.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Alex Bankowitz is Joe's daughter.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Good to see you.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

You as well. Where are you? Alex is my age. She grew up in that farmhouse with the Oscars and with other reminders of Joe's movies.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Upstairs in the house, there was a corridor lined with posters of all of the movies that he directed. And he directed 20 films and there were 19 posters, right?

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Yeah. The one poster Joe did not hang was for a movie he directed called Cleopatra.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Cleopatra was the Voldemort of my childhood. I mean, it was truly, you know, the thing that shall not be named.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Cleopatra took three years to make. It starred Elizabeth Taylor, the most famous actress in the world. It paid my uncle a staggering amount of money. Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra in 1963, when the movie came out, it set a record for the biggest budget in Hollywood history. But in the house of Joe Mankiewicz, Cleopatra was a ghost. It did not exist outside of Joe's house, everyone knew about Cleopatra. It was Hollywood's most famous disaster. Everything that could go wrong on a movie set did go wrong on Cleopatra.

[Alex Bankowitz]

It destroyed careers and marriages, even by the most outrageous Hollywood standards. Frankly, they were all mad. They were mad. They spent thousands and thousands of dollars on wigs for the Roman centurions. But you couldn't see the wigs because they were all wearing helmets. They're betting the studio on Cleopatra.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Cleopatra became known as the nail in the coffin of old Hollywood, the movie that bankrupted 20th Century Fox, the movie that made paparazzi a household word, the movie that launched a torrid love affair.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Richard and I fell in love on the set of Cleopatra. The conduct of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is a public outrage and highly detrimental to the public morals of the youth of our nation on their best days. Madonna or Tom Cruise has never seen the kind of attention that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got. The Cuban Missile Crisis was knocked off the front page by Burton and Taylor and other offensive weapons.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Cleopatra was also a big deal in my family. My grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, Joe's older brother, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane. In my family, the saying went like this. Herman wrote the greatest movie of all time, and Joe made the worst movie of all time. But is that really true? Is Cleopatra the worst movie of all time? And even if it is, why did it impact Joe the way it did? So many people say my uncle was never the same after Cleopatra. I think the film ruined him.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I think it destroyed something crucial in Joe Mankiewicz.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Joe was pretty much a broken guy after Cleopatra.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I began to see that Joe was even then, slightly changed man from the Joe that I'd known. And of all the films I think he made in his whole long, distinguished career, this film I think he regarded as the greatest tragedy of them all. He was mortified by the final product. On your knees. And to the day he died, was really upset about it.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Here's Joe back in 1972, talking to a biographer.

[Alex Bankowitz]

No one will ever believe the conditions under which this film was made. I've never given an interview about it.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

He then refused to say anything more about the movie.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I don't want to recall any of Cleopatra. It just sent me into a tremendous depression.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

What the hell for? And now here I am dredging it up, years after Joe's death. I'm not sure he'd be pleased about this podcast, but I have questions I'd like answers to. And there are a lot of myths I'm not sure are true. Fact is, I didn't really know my Uncle Joe. He died when I was 25. But most of my interactions with him had been on the phone when he called my dad. I remember playing in his yard with Alex. He had a dog and pipe tobacco. He always smelled like pipe tobacco. I also knew he was really important in the family, but honestly, Joe scared me a bit. I talked with Alex about this. I don't know whether I ever would have been close to your dad if I'd had the opportunity. I mean, I knew there was something appealing about him, mostly because my dad liked him so much. I was intimidated by him, and I was trying to, for the purposes of this, figure out what it was, because it's not like he scolded me. And I think it was this sense that, like, it was his manner of speaking. I felt as if I had stumbled into a meeting of classics professors at Cambridge and I hadn't done any of the summer reading.

[Alex Bankowitz]

But that's simply not true, Ben. I mean, if you listen to the way he speaks, the content of what he was saying, perhaps, but actually the way he spoke was surprisingly accessible. I mean, surprisingly kind of non erudite. I think that there's a myth that has sprung up around dead that wasn't really the reality of who he was.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

To help me better understand my Uncle Joe and what happened to him, Alex gave me Joe's diaries from the Cleopatra years. I'm looking at them right now. There's four of them, one for each year 1961 through 64. They're appointment books, they're Hermes, they're very nice. He pretty much logged what he did every day and wrote down a lot about how he felt about things, too.

[Alex Bankowitz]

They were private dialys. They were not written with sort of like an angle that would make him seem more perceptive or better than, you know, the. The event.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

His writing is hard to read, though. After 10 or 15 minutes, you. You start to be able to decipher Joe Mankowitz ease here. On February 4, he writes, Smoked the Pipe of Peace with E. Taylor, obviously Elizabeth Taylor, and she blew smoke over the telephone to Fox producers. Then he writes, dinner among the dog turds with Elizabeth and Eddie. Elizabeth Taylor had her dogs with her at her hotel. I like how he writes Smoked the pipe of Peace.

[Alex Bankowitz]

They were almost like sort of. I think they were for sanity on some reason too, because, I mean, there was so much madness going on with the production and it was more like, you almost want a candid camera there going. Did anyone just see that? He was almost writing it down going, you know, if you find my body cold in the morning because I've just. I've collapsed. He was bearing witness.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Here's an entry from Sunday, October 29th of 61. Harrison incapable of remembering his lines. I used every psychiatric approach this side of shock treatment. He documents when he eats dinner alone, which was often, it seems, in part because he's been talking and making decisions all day. Through these diaries, as well as old interviews with actors and crew members who were on set with Joe, and then my own conversations with historians and people in my family, I'm going to try to figure out what happened on this famous film set. I want to understand what my uncle was thinking along the way to see if he really did change and if so, how Joe might not have been ready to Talk about Cleopatra. But I am from Turner Classic Movies. I'm your host, Ben Mankiewicz. This is season six of the Plot Thickens, a podcast about the movies and the people who make them. This season, Cleopatra. How an epic production pushed my uncle Joe Mankiewicz to his breaking point. This is episode one. London slogan. One night in the summer of 1959, Elizabeth Taylor decided to take a bath. She was staying in her regular room at her favorite London hotel, the Dorchester. The bathroom was covered in custom pink marble that she picked out for a hotel room, and they put it in for her. Liz was exhausted. She was filming a movie called Suddenly last Summer. She'd spent a long day on set. A bath was just what she needed. She'd barely started to soak when the phone rang in the other room. Her husband answered it. On the line was Walter Wanger. Wanger was a big time Hollywood producer. He was making a new movie for 20th Century Fox called Cleopatra. He'd been hounding Elizabeth to play the lead, calling her again and again.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I was getting so sick of it. I really didn't want to do it.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Wanger had sent her a rough draft of the script. He really wanted her to like it.

[Alex Bankowitz]

The first script was terrible.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

In an A and E documentary, Liz remembers wanting Wanger to stop calling. So she came up with a ridiculous offer.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And I said, yeah, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars and 10% of the absolute gross. Which was absurd, and I meant it to be absurd.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Elizabeth Taylor told this story many times. Details would occasionally change.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I was in the bathtub and I yelled the figure out through the door to my assistant.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

But two details stayed consistent. First, she's always in the bath. And second, her offer is always the same.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Tell them I'll do it for a million dollars and 10% of the absolute growth. No actress had ever been paid a million dollars for one movie before.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Patrick Humphries wrote a book about Cleopatra, the movie. He says, back in 1959, a million dollars was an outrageous salary. Liz was only paid half of that for Suddenly Last Summer.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And she figured that they said there's no way on God's earth we're going to pay $1 million. Oh, great. Fantastic.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Liz Taylor had grown up on film sets. She started making movies when she was nine. She was popular as a child actor, as a teen star, and as an adult. She starred in Hollywood blockbusters. National Velvet, Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Eventually, she'd win two Oscars for Best Actress. When Walter Wanger interrupted her bath, Liz was only 27, but already the biggest movie star in the world. And she knew her value. She understood that once you start imagining Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, nobody else would do.

[Alex Bankowitz]

She was stunning. You know, she had that combination of bone structure and luminescent skin and beautiful coloring. Dark hair, pale skin.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

This is film historian Nancy Schoenberger.

[Alex Bankowitz]

She was famous for her, quote unquote, double row of eyelashes, her violet eyes. They weren't really violet, they were probably blue gray, but they reflected whatever she was wearing. So her beauty was genuine and much was made of it throughout her whole life. What most people probably remember her for at that time was as a wanton hussy. She seemed to go through husbands like most people went through pairs of socks.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Elizabeth married for the first time at 18 years old. Less than a decade later, she'd been divorced twice and widowed once. Her latest husband, Eddie Fisher, her fourth, left his wife to be with Elizabeth, and his wife was nearly as famous as Liz. Eddie was married to America's sweetheart, actress Debbie Reynolds. They had two kids, one of them named Carrie Fisher. The press painted Liz as a homewrecker. It was a worldwide scandal. Years later, Eddie Fisher recorded a memoir titled Been There, Done that.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Everywhere Elizabeth went, photographers followed, and everything we did was reported as. Debbie and I once had been the poster couple for wholesome family values. Elizabeth and I might have been on a wanted poster as moral outlaws.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The husband who picked up the phone while Liz was soaking in the bathtub, that was Eddie. Through the bathroom door, Liz told Eddie what to say to Walter Wanger.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Tell him I'll do it for a million dollars and 10% of the absolute growth.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Eddie relayed the figure to Wanger.

[Alex Bankowitz]

After a brief pause to let that sink in, he said, I'll get back to you.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Truth is, Walter Wanger didn't need Elizabeth Taylor. He had other options, cheaper options, too. Actresses who were under contract at 20th Century Fox, Joan Collins, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot. But Wanger couldn't get Elizabeth Taylor out of his head. Everything about her screamed Cleopatra. Her love life, her queen bee behavior, even her scandals. Wanger knew moviegoers still loved Liz, even if newspapers vilified her.

[Alex Bankowitz]

There's a great difference between the public's point of view and the point of view of the man who writes the headline on the big circulation job.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

There's something you need to understand about Walter Wanger. He and Liz could have shared tips on how to survive a public scandal. Matthew Bernstein wrote a book about Wanger. He says Wanger came to Hollywood in the 1920s as a production executive at Paramount. Unlike a lot of producers at the time, Wanger was a college graduate. Erudite, well read, handsome too.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Walter Wanger was this really snappy dresser. Savile Row suits. He always had the handkerchief in his pocket. You know, he wore spats, he wore derbies, he had the striped trousers.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Wanger had a long, successful run in Hollywood. A run that ended abruptly in December 1951. That's when he found out his wife, the actress Joan Bennett, was having an affair with her agent. He tracked the two of them to an open air parking lot in downtown Los Angeles. Then Wanger shot the agent, a guy named Jennings Lang shot him in the groin. Lang recovered. Wanger went to jail for a few.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Months and later on he joked, he said, everyone complains about agents. I'm the only one who did something about them.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

When Wanger got out, his career was in ruins. Eventually, though, he started making movies again, building back his reputation. He had long wanted to make a movie about Cleopatra. By the late 50s, Wanger realized the time was right. Epics were all the rage in Hollywood. The industry called them sword and sandal pictures, movies like Ben Hur and Spartacus. Wanger believed a movie about Cleopatra could put him back on top. So he took the idea to 20th Century Fox.

[Alex Bankowitz]

The pitch was that this would be a big budget, spectacular film. This is a movie that'll mesmerize the viewer through its elaborate sets and costumes and Elizabeth Taylor in the lead.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Fox gave Wanger a three million dollar budget. So when Elizabeth Taylor told him she wanted one million for the movie, Wanger realized that was a third of his budget. He immediately went to work convincing the studio he needed more money.

[Alex Bankowitz]

You know, the Fox executives are outraged by this million dollar salary idea, but they were desperate for films and they want films that'll make money. So they want this film.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Fox quickly bulked up the budget to 4 million and agreed to Elizabeth Taylor's $1 million payday. Walter Wanger called his new leading lady. According to Elizabeth, when she heard the news, she was still in the bathtub.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And Eddie came back and said through the door, he said, okay, it's a deal. I just screamed and dove under the water inhaling more water because I was laughing so hard.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

She did it. Elizabeth Taylor became the first actress to land a guaranteed million dollars for a single movie.

[Alex Bankowitz]

The motion picture casting achievement of the year is about to become a recorded fact. The Hollywood signing of the exotic Elizabeth for the most exotic role in her career. And the role Cleopatra, the most fascinating woman of history. Who exclaimed, there's beggary in the love that can be reckoned. Once they've got Taylor signed up, they actually stage a fake contract signing. They wanted the publicity. If they're going to spend a million on a star, let's, let's get some photos. So they actually staged a false contract signing on the Fox lot. What a role. And Liz is the gal to do it justice.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The publicity stunt worked. Newspapers ate it up. The Hollywood Reporter wrote, Liz Taylor's asping price is 1 million smackers. What fox didn't see coming was Elizabeth Taylor's business savvy. Liz signed her fake contract, then spent the next nine months negotiating, adding more perks and stipulations to her deal. She knew at this point she had real leverage. The studio had already announced her as Cleopatra. So she milked Fox for all she could get. Among her perks, two penthouses on location, a Rolls Royce with chauffeur, first class airfare for her entire family and her agent, and $3,000 a week just for living expenses. That's all. On top of her million dollar salary, Walter Wanger had found his Cleopatra. Now he needed a director. Matthew Bernstein says Wanger had one in mind, someone he'd worked with before. Are you ready for this, Alfred Hitchcock?

[Alex Bankowitz]

Oh, let's have Hitchcock make an elaborate spectacle film. You know, that would be new, that would be innovative. And Hitchcock said no. It was a very, very good call on Hitchcock's part.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The main problem with finding a director, no screenplay, or at least not a good one. None of the staff writers at Fox had delivered the action packed epic Wanger had in mind. And it is hard to land a director without a story. But Wanger didn't consider the script a priority, a decision that would haunt him and the production. Instead, Wanger focused on the Egyptian sets. He wanted stunning scenery built at the Fox lot in Los Angeles. Massive replicas of ancient Rome and Egypt. White stone columns, 40ft tall, marble floored palaces. Wanger hired John de Cure, a legendary production designer. Decuer was known as Hollywood's Da Vinci. Nominated for 11 Oscars, he won three. He designed sets for four decades. Everything from the King and I in 1956 to Ghostbusters in 1984. Problem was, John de Cure was flying blind Without a finished script. He had no blueprint for what to build. He was interviewed about Cleopatra years later in a restaurant.

[Alex Bankowitz]

We tried to build the city of Alexandria five times, and that's a story in itself. Five times that enormous set.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox was growing impatient. There were all these sets going up and no director. Author Patrick Humphries said they stopped waiting for Wanger and hired a director who'd worked at the studio before, Reuben Mamoulian.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Reuben Mamoulian was a successful old school Hollywood director. He'd made some very good films. Films were spectacle in, so it was felt to be a safe pair of hands for Cleopatra. I don't think his heart was ever in it. Reading interviews with him, Monarchy saw it as a know a job, a bit of a chore.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

John de Cure was on the Fox lot attempting to build one of his epic Egyptian sets when he met Reuben Mamoulian for the first time.

[Alex Bankowitz]

One day that big black car came out there with Walter and his beautiful little. But out stepped Ruben Mamulian. And Ruben came over and he said, what are you doing here? And I said, we're building the city of Alexandria. And he said, you're building it in the wrong place. And that was the beginning. The next day we were on a plane going to Egypt.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Mamouyan wanted to shoot on location in Egypt. 20th Century Fox came around to the idea because Hollywood was about to shut down. The Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild were headed for a strike led by that noted union leader, SAG president Ronald Reagan.

[Alex Bankowitz]

But let me say that a contract covering all of the working conditions and the rates of pay in an industry such as ours, you give a little and you get a little.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Nobody knew how long the strike would last. To Fox executives, planning an overseas shoot seemed like a smart move. The sets on the Fox lot were scrapped. Reuben Mamoulian and John de Cure spent the spring visiting locations in Europe and the Middle East. Wanger started to get antsy. He wrote in his diary. Reuben, who was supposed to be gone a week, stayed six.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And after surveying all the great antiquities, Reuben decided that it should be made in Egypt and in Rome. And we started to build the city the second time in Rome. And that went on for some months. We had the plans and the great temples were going up. We were extending the lakes for the galleys and all and. And we would talk about the story.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Bear in mind, there was still no screenplay. Mamoulian flew back to Los Angeles to work on the script. De Cure stayed in Rome overseeing construction and I imagine enjoying wine and Caciopep. That suddenly came to a halt. Fox sent an urgent wire to De Cure. It said, stop building in Rome. Cleopatra will now be shot in a new location. Not Hollywood, not Egypt, not Rome. There's an old saying, I've Said it, you've said it. Hindsight is 20 20. Looking back at this moment, with 2020 hindsight, it's possible to say this was the beginning, the beginning of the series of mishaps that would turn Cleopatra into, at the time, the most expensive movie ever made. The lack of a script, building sets in Hollywood, then scrapping them, building in Rome, tossing those sets too. Now build again, this time in a city with the wrong landscape, the wrong history, even the wrong climate. Fox decided it was a good idea to film Cleopatra in London.

[Alex Bankowitz]

It's Alexandria at Pinewood.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Specifically, at a London studio called Pinewood. It was, in fact, all for Cleopatra.

[Alex Bankowitz]

As splendid and realistic a background as such an epic film demanded and still demands. Misfortune, however, overtook the making of Cleopatra.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Misfortune hardly describes what happened. That's next. After the break with the Venmo debit card. You can Venmo everything. Your favorite band's merch. You can Venmo this or their next show. You can Venmo that. Visit Venmo me debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp bank and a pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Card may be used everywhere. MasterCard is accepted. Venmo purchase restrictions apply. Jack Daniels is proudly served in fine establishments, questionable joints, and everywhere in between. So no matter where you go in every bar, you'll always know someone by name. Jack Jack and Coke.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Shot of Jack. Jack Daniels, please.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Right away.

[Alex Bankowitz]

That's what makes Jack Jack.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Please drink responsibly.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Responsibility.org Jack Daniels and old number seven are registered trademarks.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Copyright 2025 Jack Daniels. Tennessee Whiskey. 40, alcohol by volume 80 proof. Elizabeth Taylor hated working in London. A movie she was in called Suddenly Last Summer was shot there. And she was sick much of the time. Chills, fever, headaches. But from Fox's perspective, London had much to offer. Pinewood Studios was just outside London in Buckinghamshire. There was a huge water tank they could use to film ocean scenes. Pinewood also had large sound stages. And perhaps most importantly for the studio, it had a financial incentive to film in London. Matthew Bernstein says Fox banked a lot of money in England from films they'd produced there.

[Alex Bankowitz]

If they shot the film in London, they had access to those funds. So it was an economic decision, obviously, to shoot a movie about Alexandria, Egypt, in London.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

John De Cure abandoned the sets in Rome and started all over again for the third time at Pinewood. He was clearly a man of infinite patience. On a spring day in 1960, De Cure was asked to pick up director Reuben Mamoulian from the London airport.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And Ruben, of course, was very surprised to see me, huh, In London, because he'd left me in Rome building Alexandria. And so as we rode back to London, you'll have to come out and see what we're doing in the set. He corrected me. He said, you mean when we get to Rome? He said. I said, no, here in London, Alexandria is going up. What? He said, did the driver stop the car? He said, john, did I hear you right? He said, you're building Alexandria here in London? I said, that's right. And he leaned over the fence, he stood by that speedway and he was sick for over 15 minutes. I took him by the hospital and instead of taking him to the hotel, he just turned absolutely green.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Mamouan was horrified for two reasons. First, nobody from the studio told him they were moving production to London. And second, I don't know if you.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Know Buckinghamshire, but it's a long way from the Mediterranean.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

London turned out to be a terrible choice.

[Alex Bankowitz]

What goes wrong in England? It'd be shorter to say, what goes wrong goes right in England. There are so many problems. The script isn't set. The weather was a huge problem. September can be nice, but it's the beginning of autumn and it started raining. There was a tank was built with a million gallons of water to represent the harbor of Alexandria that started overflowing because of the heavy torrential rain. The set for the palace at Alexandria is just enormous. It was too big for the soundstages. It really needed to be built outdoors, but the weather didn't work for that. Ah, the wine of Samos. Whenever a word was spoken, you could see the vapor coming out of the actors mouths. One of the executive producers said, we'd called 500 extras and could hardly find them on the set in the fog, rain, mud and slush on a good day, which again, didn't suggest a Mediterranean climate.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Eddie Fisher said it wasn't just the climate. London obviously did not look like Egypt.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Palm trees had been flown in from Hollywood, but the fresh palm leaves had to be shipped from Egypt.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

And then there were the seagulls.

[Alex Bankowitz]

They had a problem with seagulls getting in the frame and making too much noise. So someone decided to buy thousands of rotting fish and laid a trail of them to lure the seagulls away from the set.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher landed in London to start work on Cleopatra on September 8, 1960. Photographers were waiting at the airport yelling, liz, Liz. Elizabeth smiled at the cameras and walked calmly to her Rolls Royce. She wore white gloves, a paisley scarf and a long wool coat. Eddie said Liz was always sensitive to.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Cold, almost from the day we arrived in London. Elizabeth was sick. She ran a slight fever and none of the doctors we consulted could figure out what was causing it.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

At first, everyone assumed it was merely a cold, but it wouldn't go away. England's top doctors paid house calls, including the Queen's personal physician. None of them could figure out what was wrong with her. Production on Cleopatra had been gearing up for Liz's arrival. They hadn't been able to shoot much without her. But Liz remained in bed at the hotel. Reuben Mamoulian had to improvise.

[Alex Bankowitz]

As you know, Ms. Taylor has not been well, so we've been trying to get everything we can that does not include her.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

This is Mamoulian talking to journalists in 1960.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And you're now basically waiting on her? Yes, basically waiting on her. However, we have not stopped shooting. You know, there's done quite a few scenes without her. Well, you know, the French say, you see, on the pass, I, I, I refuse to believe that because I'm so excited about this film and so is everybody that's working on it, that to me there will be a solution. My hunch is that there will be one and we'll finish it. But supposing your hunch isn't correct and there isn't a solution, what will happen to the set? Well, then Alexandria, which has come to existence after 2000 years, will go into oblivion again.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Mamoolian shot what he could, mostly wide shots, crowd scenes, wardrobe tests. He tried to stay calm, but he wasn't the one dealing directly with Elizabeth Taylor. That fell to the producer, Walter Wanger.

[Alex Bankowitz]

How does this sound? I haven't used this in so long. I'm not certain that it's going to work or not.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Wanger recorded the notes he kept during the making of Cleopatra. Here's an example of the kind of calls he was getting from Liz's entourage.

[Alex Bankowitz]

At 8 o', clock, Eddie calls. Liz can't work on account of her legs, which have been troubling her. They've swollen up in terrible shape. I was very much worried about the leg injury because I was afraid it might affect her heart.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

During her lifetime, Elizabeth was hospitalized more than 70 times. She had leg problems, heart problems, spinal problems, eye problems, lung problems. One time she even punctured her esophagus. In London. She had a cold, a fever and a sore throat and it wouldn't go away. She was sick for weeks, couldn't work. The newspapers printed all the rumors. She put herself on a crash diet or she was pregnant again with child number four. Or she didn't like the script for Cleopatra and was faking the whole thing. Even Eddie wasn't sure what was happening.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I was beginning to wonder if the real cause of her illness was her desire for painkilling pills. She'd be popping pills and drinking most of the day. I discovered she was getting prescriptions for sedatives and painkillers from several different doctors. None of the doctors knew about what her other doctors were prescribing. Her headaches got worse and she needed large doses of Demerol to fight the pain. She was eating Demerol like candy. The most I could do was be there in case, just in case.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The other possibility that Elizabeth was really quite sick. In mid November, more than two months after her arrival in London, Elizabeth complained of a toothache. They called in a dentist who pulled an infected tooth. After that, she improved. Her fever went away and the headaches cleared up. That lasted only a few days. On November 13, 1960, Elizabeth Taylor's fever spiked. She was burning up and was rushed to the hospital.

[Alex Bankowitz]

The doctors decided she was suffering from something called meningism.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Meningism is an old diagnosis. You don't hear about it anymore. It's similar to meningitis. Causes fever, headaches and stiffness. The doctors suspected she got it from the infected tooth. Liz was treated and released and reporters made sure everyone knew it.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Good news from the London clinic and here's evidence of it. Eddie Fisher arriving to escort his beautiful wife as she left the hospital. There has been widespread sympathy for Liz Taylor over her illness. Now interest in her recovery reached a climax. This is what happens.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The media had been camped out at her hotel. Now they waited outside the hospital.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Not exactly the moment to pose for pictures. But the cameras were there by the score to record the scene. And we got a glimpse of Liz as she drove happily away with Eddie.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Liz and Eddie may have been happy, but executives at Fox were anxious. Before she left, the doctors told Elizabeth she couldn't work for several more months.

[Alex Bankowitz]

The picture was now completely shut down.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The studio was frantic and frantic studio executives rarely make smart decisions. That's coming up after the break. Are you ready to dairy for your mind this summer? Melt away your dairy free expectations with so delicious dairy free frozen desserts. Enjoy mind blowing flavors like salted caramel cluster chocolate cookies and cream cookie dough and more. For over 35 years, so delicious has been cranking up the flavor with show stopping products that are 100% dairy free, certified vegan by vegan action, and are so unbelievably creamy, your taste buds will do a double take. Dairy free your mind. Visit sodeliciousdairyfree.com hey, guys, it's Ceedee Lamb, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. I'm partnering with Abercrombie this season to tell you all about their viral denim. All you need to know is denim should fit like this. My jeans need to check a lot of boxes fit first, trend second. They need to go with whatever I'm feeling and Abercrombie Denim has it down.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Whether I'm throwing on a tee or.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Putting the whole fit together. Shop Abercrombie Denim in the app online and in store. By the end of November, production on Cleopatra had sputtered, then stopped.

[Alex Bankowitz]

So after eight weeks filming in England through fog and rain, they had eight minutes of exposed film that they could.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Use, none of which featured Elizabeth Taylor writer Patrick Humphries.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Again, those eight minutes of film are believed to have cost somewhere in the region of $7 million. Now, those are 1960 prices. That's the cost of at least, you know, half a dozen Hollywood films. That was the point where the studio should have said, look, you know, it's just not working. Let's pull the plug on it and write it off. But they looked at the and said, we can't just write off $7 million. No, no, we'll, we'll close the production down here and we'll work something out.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

There's another big reason Fox didn't shut down the production. Elizabeth Taylor. As far as the press was concerned, Liz was Cleopatra. She was the whole movie. And now that she was sick, the public suddenly felt bad for her. All the press coverage made Cleopatra one of the most talked about movies in years. The studio had to give Liz the time she needed to recover or face a backlash. But the director, Reuben Mamoulian, was done waiting. He offered his resignation. It was a bit of a bluff, a power play to get more creative control, but it backfired. Fox accepted Mamoulian's resignation. They stuck with Liz and dumped the director. Here's John De Cure.

[Alex Bankowitz]

It was a great shock to Ruben. It was a great shock to all of us because we were so deep into this thing. We had a train that was going, a tremendous, expensive thing that at this point had already cost more than the entire production should have cost. And we hadn't started yet. Huh?

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Walter Wanger gathered a small group, including John de Cure. Their job was to find Mamoulian's replacement. Not easy. The script Mamoulian had been using was a mess. It had been written and rewritten several times, and still nobody liked it. Collectively, they decided Cleopatra needed a writer slash director, someone who could craft a story and had experience behind the camera. 65 years ago, that combination was rare.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Well, you go down the list and you take all the great directors in 1960, huh? And you can do the same thing yourself right at this moment, and you'll see that you have to scratch all the names because they can't sit down and write a script.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

One name fit the bill. Joseph L Mankiewicz, my great uncle. Arguably the hottest writer, director in Hollywood at the time. Wanger had worked with Joe before. He thought if anyone could wrestle Cleopatra under control, it was Joe.

[Alex Bankowitz]

He's a past master and a super psychiatrist.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

A super psychiatrist. I think that's a compliment.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And extremely clever. Although he himself is disturbed and quite unhappy.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Disturbed and quite unhappy.

[Alex Bankowitz]

And it couldn't have been a more complicated situation.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Yeah, it was clearly a complicated production. But Wanger was convinced that Joe, this unhappy, disturbed super psychiatrist, could handle it. There was another big reason to hire Joe.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Congratulations to those five talented ladies nominated for best Performance by an actress.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

A few months before she started work on Cleopatra, Liz Taylor was at the Oscars, nominated for Best Actress and Elizabeth.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Taylor for Suddenly last Summer.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

She didn't win, but she considered it her best performance and she gave credit to Suddenly Last Summer's director, Joe Mankiewicz. After that, Liz thought the world of Joe, which is important because her contract contained a stipulation. She had director approval, meaning it was Liz who got to decide who would direct Cleopatra. She heard the studio was considering Joe Mankiewicz, and she approved. At the start of 1961, my Uncle Joe was in the Bahamas, on a private island owned by the actor Hume Cronin and his wife, Jessica Tandy. I looked in Joe's diary. This is what he wrote on January 6, 1961, after lunch. My first try at goggles, snorkels and fins. Both liked and disliked it. In general, I find myself in accord with Will Nixon, Hume's native foreman. I got no agreement with anything under the water. Enjoyed most watching the beauty of the water and enjoying the touch of the breeze on my body. Then Joe adds this. Bugs, bugs, bugs. Other than the bugs sounds pretty nice. And Joe seems relaxed. He was also writing, working on a screenplay for his next movie. While he was lounging about the island, Joe got a call from one of his agents, Charlie Feldman. Charlie wanted to talk about Cleopatra. Here's my Uncle Joe.

[Alex Bankowitz]

That's when Charlie Feldman sent me to come to New York. And a whole big thing about, will I take over this sick picture that goes down when I take over? Because Elizabeth wouldn't work with anybody else.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Joe was more than hesitant. This did not sound like a Joe Mankiewicz movie. He'd never made an epic. He even said, why would I want to make Cleopatra? I wouldn't even go see Cleopatra. Plus, Joe knew it was a troubled production. Hell, everyone in Hollywood knew it. Still, Joe flew to New York to meet his agent.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Charlie said, look, here's a chance to make the only capital gains you'll make in your whole life. And Charlie's phrase was, hold your nose for 10 weeks and get it over with. And I said to myself, why shouldn't I do that once? It just take something that is deliberately going to make me a lot of money. Forgive. It's only going to take 10 weeks.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

It's only going to take 10 weeks. This I find hard to believe. I doubt any of them believed Cleopatra could be shot and wrapped in 10 weeks. Fox made Joe a tantalizing offer. If Joe would write and direct Cleopatra, they'd buy his production company for $3 million. Joe would get half of that 1.5 million. That was more money than my uncle had ever seen.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I didn't hold a gun to my head. That gave me a hell of a lot of money. Then it was an act of hoardam.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

An act of whoredom. Joe said, you're the second director that's.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Been on this film.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

When Joe gave his first press conference about Cleopatra, a reporter asked him if he was superstitious about taking over the movie. Joe said he wasn't worried.

[Alex Bankowitz]

Of course, I may be wrong in not being superstitious. This may be the sequel to the Tutankhamun curse. But anyway, if I'm around in a month or two, you can always know whether it is in fact, cursed or not.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Maybe Joe should have been a little more superstitious, because 10 days later, March 4, 1961, Elizabeth Taylor collapsed in her hotel.

[Alex Bankowitz]

I was blue and I wasn't breathing. And they carried me out on a stretcher through the Oliver Messo banquet room.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Just as she seemed to be on the mend, Elizabeth Taylor was suddenly fighting for her life. That's next week on the Plot Thickens. Angela Caron is our director of podcasts. Story editor is Rob Rosenthal. Jakob Friedman is our senior producer. Script writing by Jacob Friedman, Natalia Winkelman and Angela Caron. Research and fact checking by the indispensable James Sheridan. Audio editing and sound design by Mike Vulgaris Mixing by Glenn Matullo Production support from Liz Winter, Allison Fire, Matthew Ownby, Julie Bettone, Emma Morris, Jordan Chips, Nicole Hill and David Corwin at Patches. Thanks to our legal team, Jon Renau and Kristin Hassell, the following TCM staffers help us get the word out about our podcast. So thank you to Alina Novik, Katie Daniels, David Byrne, Diana Bosch, Caroline Wigmore, Michelle Height and Stephanie Tames. Our executive producer is Charlie Tabish. And a special thank you to the archivists at the American Film Institute, the Wisconsin center for Film and Theater Research, and Boston University. We could not make these podcasts without the work of archivists around the country. Special thanks to my family, especially my cousins Alex Mankiewicz and Nick Davis. I regret that I never got to interview my cousins Tom and Chris Mankiewicz. They died before we started production. Thomas Avery of Tune Welders composed our theme music. I'm your host, Ben Mankiewicz. Thanks for listening. See you next time.