Serpent of the Nile

"The Serpent of the Nile" is a historical, adventure film made in 1953. The film starred Rhonda Fleming, Raymond Burr, William Lundigan and Michael Fox. The film was produced by Sam Katzman and directed by William Castle. It was shot in Technicolor and lasted 81 minutes.

The film opens in 44 BC, just after the assassination of Julius Caesar, and tells the story of the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra (Fleming) and her relationship with the Roman general Mark Anthony (Burr) from that time until their mutual suicide in 31 BC. It also stars William Lundigan as "Lucilius" and Michael Fox as Octavius.

The film has a painfully low budget. One sequence depicts a chariot racing through the sands of Egypt towards a sand dune in the distance, behind which looms a pyramid. It is extremely obvious that this composition is a matte shot: the pyramid in the background is a superimposed painting, with the sand dune concealing the join between the live action and the matte. We therefore sense that this camera shot will end before the chariot reaches the dune ... and this is precisely the case. Elsewhere in the film, Rhonda Fleming as Cleopatra is clearly wearing a "bullet bra" of the style that was fashionable in the 1950s.

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*imdb title | id=0046298 | title=The Serpent of the Nile