Carry On Cleo - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Carry On Cleo or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Carry On Cleo

[chad]

Amanda Barrie was not naked in the asses' milk. She wore red bikini bottoms, which are visible when she climbs out of the bath upon her first meeting with Mark Anthony. She may also tried to stick papers on her intimate areas, but they floated away.

[beth]

The line of dialogue said by Julius Caesar (Kenneth Williams, "Infamy...Infamy.....they've all got it in for me!", became particularly well-known because of this movie. It has been voted as one of the all-time ever funniest one-liner jokes in a movie.

[tamara]

Actor Kenneth Connor appears in drag in this film when he dresses up as a vestal virgin.

[christina]

The famous scene where Cleopatra is unrolled from a carpet was actually performed by double Nikki Van der Zyl doubling for Amanda Barrie who was playing Cleo.

[ava]

The motto "Nihil expector in omnibus" actually translates as "I expect nothing at all." The reason that many have failed to translate it is because Caesar wrongly [but intentionally] says "expectore" which has no meaning in Latin. It is a Latin/English pun/double entendre, like many of the English lines in the movie. It is supposed to be recognized as "No Spitting (expectorate) on the (omni) Bus." There is no need to know the actual Latin to understand it this way, although it is expected that some will be familiar with original. The humor comes from the way the language has changed, changing setting profound into something banal.

[carla]

Barbara Windsor claimed in a TV interview that she was supposed to play Cleopatra, but she refused to wear a black wig for the film. When asked about it, Peter Rogers claimed Barbara was never considered to play Cleopatra.

[frederick]

One of the senators states in the senate that there has been a decline and that he doesn't need to tell the senate what that leads to - a fall! This is a humorous reference to Edward Gibbon's classic book "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

[steve]

The movie poster was one of the Carry On posters that appeared on Royal Mail stamps in 2008 when the series celebrated 50 years.

[elmer]

Actor Jon Pertwee was the only actor that appeared in both this film and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) whilst actress Sally Douglas was the only one who appeared in both Up Pompeii (1971) and Carry on Cleo (1964) with writer Talbot Rothwell also penning both of these.

[jeffrey]

One of the dozen most popular movies at the UK box office for the year of 1965.

[jamie]

As with many "Carry On" films the movie was cut by the BBFC for an 'A' (now PG) certificate. This included the removal of double entendre dialogue lines, including "backward people", "ants in his pants", and referrals to mutes as "having them cut out". Also cut was a shot of Mark Antony (Sidney James) wriggling his legs on top of Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie) and a scene showing the exhausted Antony staggering from her bedroom. Although the latter scene was restored the rest of the cuts still apply to all releases of the film.

[eli]

In the soothsayer's vision, when Caesar says "Is this a dagger I see before me?" he is quoting Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 1.

[nina]

During the movie Jim Dale takes out a number of Romans alone then makes a run for it, Sidney James comes in to catch Kenneth Connor dazed and wielding a sword who then passes out in front of him where Sid then uses the words "What A Carve Up". James and Connor had previously starred in the murder mystery No Place Like Homicide! (1961).

[cassandra]

According to issue 15 of the "Classic Carry On Film Collection" magazine/DVD series, some interior sets in this film were from the play Caligula, and had been supplied by Victor Maddern, who bought them for £155 when the play closed, and loaned them for Carry on Cleo (1964) for £800.

[maureen]

Some of the film's literal English language translations of its foreign language titles were "Ok, Cleo" (Belgium), "So, So Cleopatra" (Denmark), "Stop Your Chariot Cleo" (France), "Way to Go Cleopatra" (Portugal), and "Heroic Suckers in the Country of the Pharaoh" (Greece).

[darrell]

Apparently Richard Burton and Liz Taylor loved the film and would show it at parties that they hosted on their Yacht. . Liz even said it was better than Cleopatra..

[ray]

Most, if not all, the costumes used in the film were those that were scheduled for the Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra film.

[bernice]

The theme music throughout the film starts with the first few bars of the Triumphal March of Radames in Verdi's Aida. Of course, the most famous opera set in Egypt.

[caroline]

Before the last scene, the narrator says that Caesar will have to sell the Senate on "the idea of the wind of change." This is a reference to a famous speech made by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1961.