The Plot Thickens – Season 6, Episode 6: "Wildly Successful and Much Maligned"

Podcast: The Plot Thickens by TCM
Host: Ben Mankiewicz
Episode Date: August 21, 2025
Season Theme: The saga of the 1963 epic film Cleopatra and its tumultuous impact on director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, his family, and Hollywood.

Brief Overview

This episode concludes the season-long examination of Cleopatra, one of Hollywood’s most notorious productions. Host Ben Mankiewicz draws on archival materials, family memories, and critical commentary to trace how Cleopatra’s chaotic making, notorious press, and polarized reception changed lives, careers, and the film industry. The episode explores the premiere, reactions, aftermath for the film’s key figures, and the enduring myths versus reality of Cleopatra’s legacy — ultimately centering on the personal and professional fallout for Ben’s uncle, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Episode Breakdown & Key Insights

1. Cleopatra’s High-Stakes Premiere

Timestamps: 00:40–07:09

• Joe Mankiewicz’s Pre-Premiere Nerves: He distracts himself with golf and multiple haircuts (00:40), signaling mounting anxiety.
• “I still feel strongly that Cleopatra could use more running time. The finished product, he said, is a compromise.” — Joe Mankiewicz to Newsday, cited by Ben Mankiewicz (01:36)
• Premiere Night at the Rivoli Theater (1963) was spectacle-driven: streets closed, police supervised, and a Tonight Show broadcast fanned the fervor (02:08–02:29).
• Notably absent: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, both “tied up with projects in London and no doubt sick of the circus” (02:50).
• Audience and Press: No cast had seen the finished film before the premiere; Fox had skipped test screenings (03:38–03:58).
• “No, I think everything connected with Cleopatra is beyond my control at the moment… I feel as though the guillotine were about to drop.” — Joseph L. Mankiewicz, at the premiere (04:39–05:15)

2. Mixed Critical Reception & Immediate Aftermath

Timestamps: 07:10–11:35

• Initial reviews varied: some critics praised the spectacle and Rex Harrison’s Caesar; others lambasted length, script, and performances.
  • “Caesar, played stunningly by Rex Harrison. He is a statesman of manifest wisdom, shrewdness and magnanimity. Mr. Harrison’s faceted performance is the best in the film.” — New York Times, Bosley Crowther (08:15)
  • “Heavy, slow moving, and generally unexciting. Mr. Joseph Mankiewicz is a fine director, but he is neither Shakespeare nor Shaw. Spectacles are bloodless. The script is literate…everything is for the eye, very little for the mind or heart.” — Seymour Peck, quoted (08:58–09:32)
  • Taylor and Burton’s performances received particular scorn: “The trouble with Ms. Taylor seems to be that of immaturity and a lack of vocal authority” (09:47); “Burton…seems all too Welsh for a Roman warrior.”
• Joe is devastated by the backlash, particularly criticism of his screenplay (10:14), and feels the reviews are “professional assassins.” His agent: “When you open the morning paper and you are Joe Mankiewicz…and you read…some terrible review about your writing…it’s not cheerful” (10:53).
• Mankiewicz defends his actors on the Today Show, decrying critics for confusing “the personal antics, personal life of the artist with his work” (11:11).

3. The Fallout: Personal and Professional Impact

Timestamps: 11:36–14:38; 32:18–43:02

• Joe blames Fox studio head Darryl Zanuck for cutting the film from two parts to one (11:24) and laments that much of his work was never seen (11:52).
• Family and colleagues describe his ensuing depression, sense of public humiliation, and creative paralysis:
  • “Joe was pretty much a broken guy after Cleopatra.” — Ben Mankiewicz (13:46)
  • “It took a tremendous amount out of him…he was never again going to be the same man.” — Nick Davis, cousin (13:55)
  • “He wasn’t used to public opprobrium. This felt like a failure to him. And he was also so run down physically as well as psychologically.” — Sydney Stern, biographer (32:28)
  • “He pretty much had a writer’s block for close to 20 years.” — Alex Mankiewicz (36:30)
• Professionally, Mankiewicz manages to direct post-Cleopatra (teleplay, a western, a comedy), but nothing is successful until Sleuth (1972), which is “an unalloyed success” (33:59), earning Oscar nominations. Thereafter, he ceases making films.

4. The Ripple Effect: Others Involved

Timestamps: 15:26–31:15

• Rex Harrison: Career surges via Cleopatra praise, leading to My Fair Lady and an Oscar (16:15). Believes, however, that Caesar was his most satisfying role: “Of all the parts that I’ve played, I’ve enjoyed Caesar the most” (16:37).
• Walter Wanger: After being ousted, writes a tell-all memoir (17:14) that’s “one of the first of its kind” and stirs controversy; still, Wanger suffers deep depression, describing his life as “like a prison cell” (18:12–18:20). Dies five years after the premiere.
• Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton: Marry post-production, enjoy tabloid superstardom, but their marriage is volatile and their films together frequently panned. Taylor’s second Oscar is for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (20:04). Their excess and public image come to overshadow their careers.
  • “There was a kind of vulgarity about it.” — Alex Mankiewicz (21:41)
  • “He himself felt that he had, in a sense, sold his soul to the devil…He saw himself as Faust.” — Alex Mankiewicz on Richard Burton (23:50)
  • Their tumultuous relationship ultimately ends in divorce; Burton dies in 1984, Taylor keeps his final letter (24:11–24:25).

5. Debunking the Cleopatra Myths

Timestamps: 26:32–28:08

• Did Cleopatra bankrupt Fox? False. By 1966, with TV rights sold, the movie turned a profit—largely due to Spiros Skouras’s exhibition prowess (26:45).
• Was it a cinematic disaster? False. Despite bad press, it was 1963’s top box office hit, collected nine Oscar nominations, and won four.
• Was it “the movie that destroyed a studio”? False. It served as a “bridge movie,” and Fox survived, in part due to subsequent hits (notably The Sound of Music).

6. The End of Old Hollywood / Rise of a New Era

Timestamps: 28:19–30:20

• “I think Cleopatra was one of the nails into the coffin of the old Hollywood.” — Patrick Humphreys (28:19)
• The Cleopatra debacle signaled the end of the studio system and birth of New Hollywood: smaller, grittier films for a new generation, e.g., Bonnie & Clyde, Easy Rider, The Graduate (28:32–29:19).
• Closing image: Liz Taylor, symbol of the old guard, awarding Best Picture to Midnight Cowboy—an X-rated, new wave film (29:58–30:20).

7. Personal Reflection and Epiphany

Timestamps: 34:35–44:25

• Joe’s final years: A family man, still haunted by professional disappointment, suffering from writer’s block, feeling pressure from his father’s legacy (portrait of Franz Mankiewicz in his study as a symbol of the family’s complex relationship with Hollywood).
• Late-life realization (epiphany) brings inner peace:
  • “I’ve done well with my life. I’ve made some really good films. I’ve touched a lot of people with them. I’ve done well.” — Joseph L. Mankiewicz, as recalled by daughter Alex (42:05)
  • “The tragedy would have been, had he been dead, without that realization. And just such a clear example of how you have to make peace with yourself.” — Alex Mankiewicz (44:10)
• Legacy: Obituaries focus on Joe as “one of Hollywood’s most literate and intelligent filmmakers,” not just on Cleopatra (43:02).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Attribution & Timestamps)

• On losing creative control:
  “No, I think everything connected with Cleopatra is beyond my control at the moment… I feel as though the guillotine were about to drop.” — Joe Mankiewicz at premiere (05:06)
• On criticism:
  “Joe called the critics professional assassins. The guillotine had dropped…” — Ben Mankiewicz (10:14)
• Wanger’s despair:
  “My mind is like a lot of mush. Good God. In two years, if I’m not dead, I’ll be 70 years old. How ridiculous can a human comedy be?” — Walter Wanger diary, read by Alex Mankiewicz (18:20)
• On the industry shift:
  “I think Cleopatra was one of the nails into the coffin of the old Hollywood.” — Patrick Humphreys (28:19)
• On self-acceptance:
  “I’ve made some really good films. I’ve touched a lot of people with them. I’ve done well.” — Joseph L. Mankiewicz, recollected by Alex (42:05)
• Clarifying Cleopatra’s legacy:
  “Wildly successful and much maligned.” — Roddy McDowell on Cleopatra (39:31)
• Alex on the Mankiewicz inheritance:
  “That portrait looked down upon Dad every day of his working life… watching over his work or non-work.” — Alex Mankiewicz on Franz’s portrait (40:08)
• On public and private life:
  “Elizabeth used to have a kind of private veil that she put on in public…” — Richard Burton reminiscing on Elizabeth Taylor (22:58)

The Episode's Language & Tone

Throughout, Ben Mankiewicz blends personal warmth, wry humor, and candid sadness. Family interviews bring an intimate, conversational feel; critical and industry perspectives are woven with context and reasoned skepticism.

Useful Segment Timestamps

• Joe’s pre-premiere jitters: 00:40–01:30
• The chaotic premiere: 02:00–05:15
• Immediate reactions and reviews: 07:09–10:53
• Joe’s on-air defense: 11:11–11:35
• Taylor/Burton tabloid aftermath: 19:18–24:25
• Industry shift and Cleopatra myths: 26:32–30:20
• Joe’s late-life realization: 41:08–42:45
• Episode closing reflections: 43:02–44:25

Final Thoughts

This moving finale of The Plot Thickens: Cleopatra reframes one of Hollywood’s most infamous “failures” not just as a debacle, but as a testament to creative ambition, human frailty, and survival in an industry—and family—beset by titanic expectations. The episode underscores that history’s judgment is mutable and that peace sometimes comes not from accolades, but from personal reckoning.

For anyone interested in Hollywood history, artistic ambition, family legacy, and the true story behind a mythic movie, this episode offers a nuanced, revelatory ending to a remarkable podcast season.