Sunday 16 October 2011

Egypt in the C20: At the Movies

The first of this sequence of  'Egypt at the Movies' focuses on the  feature 'Cleopatra' starring Helen Gardner.



Released on the 13th November 1912 it was the first production of the independent production company 'Helen Gardner Productions'. Helen Gardner was the first actress to establish her own production company as well, mainly though her role as Cleopatra, as being the first film "Vamp".


As an actress Helen Gardner appeared in 62 films between 1910 and 1924 and out of these around 18 are known to still survive, at least in part.

Luckily one of these is Cleopatra and you can really get a sense of her appeal.


Her style is the very epitome of late 'Edwardian' glamour with its heady exoticism and sexuality.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Death on the Nile: Images of Egypt

Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.

With the novel being set in Egypt the front covers can give us plenty of insight into images of Egypt in the twentieth century. Some of the covers, of course, are nothing to do with Egypt - instead focusing on the glamorous woman or the image of Poirot himself. The cover from 1978 is a tie in to the movie starting Peter Ustinov as Hercule and the gorgeous David Niven as Colonel Race. 


1937


1949


1958

1960

1963


1978


1986


2004

2007