The multi-million dollar film extravaganza
Cleopatra was too convenient a target for Britain's "
Carry On" funsters to ignore. The plot of Carry on Cleo, if one can discern a plot amidst the sight gags and outrageous puns, involves the attempts by a bungling slave (
Kenneth Connor) to rescue Julius Caesar (Kenneth Williams) from assassination. Instigators of the plot are Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie) and Mark Anthony (
Sidney James), who comport themselves like a couple of Liverpool pub owners. The best bit involves Mark Anthony's "beheading" of the legendary asp. Filmed on a tight 160,000 pound budget and utilizing leftover sets from the Taylor/Burton epic, Carry On Cleo's reputation rests chiefly on a legal brouhaha involving its advertising artwork, which was deliberately patterned after the ads for the "real"
Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide