The Cleopatra Files: Selected Documents from the Spyros P. Skouras Archive

The most extravagant film production in history, "Cleopatra" (1963) broke multiple records in expenditure, shooting length, footage, and artistic indulgence. It marked the birth of star-driven film making and ushered in the age of blockbuster movies. Swerving between tragic accidents and shocking unprofessionalism, it soon became a noose around the neck of a historic Hollywood studio. For the first time the story of the production becomes available through original documents in the archive of Spyros P. Skouras, the man who transformed "Cleopatra" from an artistic vision into a global phenomenon.