Mistakes in CLEOPATRA

CLEOPATRA (1963) was a massive undertaking so it's not surprising to find mistakes or anachronisms throughout the long epic. Here are just a few I noticed.

When Cleopatra arrives in Rome, you can see the shadows from the scaffolding of the set on the black sphinx. The Arch was also built 300 years after Cleopatra so this scene is historically incorrect.

You can see the bikini tan line on Violeta Montenegro.

Above & below: When Cleopatra is rolled out of the carpet (obviously a stuntman with massive feet), she's wearing sandals but Taylor is seen walking in tiny high heels in the following shot.

Above & below: the shield Richard Burton is holding is lightweight and very pliable. Aluminum? It looks flimsy and fake. They most likely used a lightweight shield because lifting a shield made of real metal would have been tiring when doing or repeating different takes. Also, Burton is looking at his soldiers in the wrong direction between angles.

Elizabeth Taylor was operated on during the filming of the epic production after she developed a case of near fatal pneumonia. The scar is from a tracheotomy, and though not her fault, the irregular appearance of the scar creates issues with continuity: in one scene it's visible and then it's not in the next scene. Because of this, it's easy to determine which scenes were shot prior to the emergency operation.