Impressively costly flop

And everyone should own the biggest flop of all time. By today's standards, Cleopatra would cost in excess of $250 million, which puts Titanic's $200 million into perspective.

For their money, the studio that went bust making it got Liz Taylor and Richard Burton indulging in the world's most famous off-screen dalliance since Fatty Arbuckle and a Coke bottle, Rex Harrison as Caesar and a plotline that kept stopping to allow the viewer to gawp at the cash spend.

You don't get that on TV, Doris. It lasts a monster 248 mins, and the three-disc DVD comes with another six hours of extras. But all was not in vain. Cleopatra's sets were recycled to make Carry On Cleo.

Verrdict: S'andsome.