Every Time Hollywood Re-Used Expensive Props

74. Carry On Cleo’s Sets

Also Appears In: Cleopatra
Estimated Savings: $50,000-$80,000*

Cleopatra was one of Elizabeth Taylor’s most famous movies. The venerable actress played an Egyptian leader at the height of her reign. Some of the sets for Cleopatra ended up unused and abandoned, as the poor health of Taylor shut Cleopatra’s set down for long periods of time.

The abandoned sets did eventually get used in the 1964 movie Carry on Cleo. The historical films were shot on these unused Cleopatra sets, which were transported to Cinecitta in Rome, Italy for filming. The film Carry on Cleo was also about Cleopatra’s reign, so the sets didn’t require much, if any, tweaking to work.