Cleopatra (1963 film) other commitments and were replaced by Rex Harrison and Richard Burton, as Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony respectively. During filming, Taylor met Burton and the two began an adulterous affair; the scandal made headlines worldwide, since both were married to others, and brought bad publicity to the already troubled production. Mankiewicz was later fired during the editing phase, only to be rehired to reshoot the opening battle scenes in Spain. The cut of the film which Mankiewicz screened for the studio was six hours long. This was cut to four hours for its initial premiere, but the studio demanded (over
Caesar and Cleopatra (play) counter-attack by Egyptian forces arriving via ship and by way of the Heptastadion (a stone causeway spanning the five miles of open water between the mainland and Pharos Island). The sentinel's vigil is interrupted by Ftatateeta (Cleopatra's nurse) and Apollodorus the Sicilian (a patrician amateur of the arts), accompanied by a retinue of porters carrying a bale of carpets, from which Cleopatra is to select a gift appropriate for Caesar. Cleopatra emerges from the palace, shows little interest in the carpets, and expresses a desire to visit Caesar at the lighthouse. The sentinel tells her she is a prisoner and