The port of Alexandria in CLEOPATRA (1963)
This is a full set with a combination matte painting filling in the whole surrounding area including the background and palm trees. It's quite spectacular but it's a set that was hardly used in the film so why make a huge set like this for 7 minutes or so of a 4 hour film? Seems wasteful. But I like waterfront sets like this one. There' is one waterfront set in CAESAR & CLEOPATRA (1945) but it's not as elaborate as this one.
I love this panning shot of the port of Alexandria early on in CLEOPATRA, and the great music score with it, and wondered now they achieved it, while knowing its a mix of set and matte. Nice to see Oliver Stone attempted a kind of hommage in his Alexandria sequences with Anthony Hopkins in ALEXANDER.
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