Cleopatra IS Elizabeth Taylor

"Liz was a great star, perhaps the greatest. No matter the film, no matter the role, you simply cannot take your eyes off Elizabeth Taylor. Yes, she is beautiful, yes those violet eyes are unique and transcendent, but there is something more, something intangible, an incandescent glow that can’t be properly described. There is a fire behind her eyes that always know more than they admit, a passion, a secret that can only be shared with us, the audience. Cleopatra dies when she is not on screen. We simply do not care about anyone else. The film is called Cleopatra for a reason! No one else could have played her at the time...Cleopatra IS Elizabeth Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor is Cleopatra" (abridged and adapted from Cineaste)