Talented American director and choreographer Stanley Donen directed the famous thriller movie “Arabesque” , and it was released in 1966. Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren played the title characters in this movie. The story of this movie loosely based on G. Cotler’s novel “The Cypher” and later the script re-wrote by J. Mitchell, Stanley Price and Peter Stone. The story of this movie revolves around a language professor and his attempt of deciphering a code. Stanley Donen directed some brilliant movies such as Charade, Bedazzled and funny Face. Most of his movies are musical, although he directed some intense and highly entertaining thriller movies like Arabesque and Charade.
TITLE CHARACTERS
Gregory Peck plays the role of Professor David Pollock (An exchange American Professor in Oxford University who is also expert in ancient hieroglyphics)
Sophia Loren plays the role of Yasmin Azir(A beautiful mysterious Arabian girl, who also tries to decipher the code.)
Alan Badel plays the role Nejim Beshraavi(A rich and powerful Arabian Businessman, who is currently trying to plot against the current Arab Prime Minister.)
PLOT SYNOPSIS
American professor David Pollock currently works in Oxford University as an exchange and gets himself involved in a difficult situation. He is trying to decipher a code to help the Arabian Prime Minister.In the process, he met a beautiful and mysterious Arab girl Yasmin Azir, he was often confused whether to trust her or not.
So the story tells us, how Professor Pollock able to decipher the code and get to know about the conspiracy against Arabian Prime minister. This movie has a very interesting and engaging plot-line with superb performances by the lead characters.
MY PERSONAL THOUGHT
Arabesque is a highly entertaining thriller movie, packed with comedy, intense fighting sequences and brilliant acting. Director Stanley Donen is mostly famous for his musical movies and earned many prestigious awards for his superb works. He gave a lot of
effort and time directing this thriller movie. Legendary Alfred Hitchcock was widely famous for his brilliant thriller and suspense movies during that time, and it was not an easy job for Mr. Stanley to direct a well-received and successful thriller movie. Even so, he did a grand job here. He also produced this movie as well. He took two brilliant actors to perform in the title roles in this movie. He gave them excellent dialogues, interesting and enjoyable roles and most of all a unique storyline.Legendary actor Gregory Peck does not require a formal introduction. I started watching his films after watching Roman holiday. He is supremely talented and has his own unique style. In this movie, he played the role of Professor David Pollock. Mr. Pollock is single American exchange professor and currently takes classes in Oxford University. He is expert in ancient Arabic hieroglyphics and very sharp. He is funny, kind hearted and logical. I really appreciate that director gave Gregory Peck full attention on-screen. He got witty one-liners and great sequences in this movie. G. Peck’s immaculate facial expression, sarcastic activities and bold personality in this movie made his character more interesting and enjoyable.
Highly talented and gorgeous Sophia Loren played the role of a mysterious Arabia girl Yasmin Azir. Yasmin is very charming, persuasive and mostly unpredictable. Professor met Yasmin in her house while helping an Arab tycoon to decipher the code. Yasmin is very convincing and able to influence others very easily with her charismatic beauty. She did an awesome job in the role of an Arabian girl. She was highly praised world-wide for this role. She got the very trendy costumes, witty dialogues and superb background in this movie. I am really amazed to see her captivating performance in this movie. No wonder, American Film Institute (AFI) mentioned about this movie while ranking her as one of the greatest screen legends. I mean it was a 1966 movie, but when you see Sophia Loren in this movie, you feel like watching a recent actress with fashionable dress and fancy shoes and jewellery. She is bold in her dress-up and dialogues yet it looks classy and suits her perfectly. The way she played the role of an Arabian girl with fancy Middle East accent is really appreciable.
Alan Badel played the character of Mr. Beshraavi. Mr. Alan is a famous English actor and widely famous for his unique and richly - crafted voice. He looks elegant on screen with his trendy suits. He is an excellent choice for the character of Mr. Nazim Beshraavi. He is very rich and powerful personality, and he was clearly able to give a clear impression to the viewers that, he can do everything. Alan Badel portrayed the character of Mr. Beshraavi superbly, and I really enjoyed his acting.
~REFERENCE OF VARIOUS CULTURES~
There are accurate references of various cultures in this movie. This movie was set up in London, but most of the central characters are Muslim and Arab. Professor Pollock, the protagonist of this movie is an American and trying to adjust with English culture. Actually, both Yasmin and Professor Pollock were trying to adjust with English culture and often did some weird and funny stuff on-screen. I find it very amusing and enjoyable.
In one scene, both Yasmin and Professor Pollock were in disguise and trying to have a secret meeting in a race-course, and acted like all weird but funny.
Yasmin Azir: Well, well if it is not Mr. Dillingham? Professor David Pollock : By Jove, it’s actually Lady Hetherington-Cartwright. Yasmin Azir : Don’t overdo it. Professor David Pollock : I didn’t know you could.
They were trying to act like a local English citizen and end up being silly. I really enjoyed it.In another scene, where Professor was trying to flirt with beautiful Yasmin, then Mr. Beshravi warned him strongly.
Mr. Nejim Beshraavi : Mr. Pollock some Bedouins are in the habits of saying to their guests, “All that I possess is yours”. I am not one of them.
Here, Mr. Beshraavi clearly states his disliking and warned Professor Pollock. I really like how the Director referred to different things about different cultures politely and accurately.
~HUMOUR AND WITTY DIALOGUES~
I personally think dialogues are one of the strongest points of this movie. All of them well executed and placed in right places for right characters. Especially both Yasmin and Professor Pollock got the best dialogues. Professor Pollock is very sarcastic, quick-witted but also a thoughtful person. He often finds himself in awkward positions and remarks these situations with funny dialogues. When Yasmin Azir first
Pictures of Arabesque (DVD)
Movie poster of Arabesque.
met Professor Pollock, she playfully asked him to fix her dress. Yasmin was wearing a black night- gown and looking absolutely gorgeous. Yasmin Azir : Can you Manage? Professor Pollock : Well, I ... .. I always tremble when I am happy..!! I take it you are a house-guest here. Yasmin Azir : Why do you take that? Professor Pollock : One does not arrive for high tea dressed up in a nightie.
Here, Professor Pollock was stunned to see the beautiful Yasmin Azir for the first time and remarked her appearance in a sarcastic way. I absolutely love the way Professor Pollock expresses his feelings. He is really an entertaining character. In another sequence, when Professor Pollock met with Mr. Beshraavi(A wealthy and powerful Arabian Person) for the first time, he saw a dangerous-looking bird there. Mr. Beshraavi informed him that, it is a rare Peregrine Falcon and very loyal to his master. Mr. Beshraavi called this bird Hassan Jena after current Arab prime minister. Then He offered Professor some food.
Mr. Beshraavi: Take a date, Mr. Pollock, as a gesture of friendship. I’m a very Arabian Arab I am afraid. (That bird made some strange noise.) Professor David Pollock: (took a date and offered it to the bird) friends? Mr. Beshraavi: Flesh, Mr. Pollock. He eats only flesh. Professor David Pollock : I thought he looked at it wistfully. Mr. Beshraavi : It must have been your fingers.
I really enjoyed the witty reply from Mr. Beshraavi. Here, he out-witted Professor Pollock easily.
VIEWERS RECEPTION and AWARDS :
This movie was received mainly positive by both critics and audience. Currently, it has a rating of 6.6/10 in IMDB voted by more than two thousand viewers. It was also well-received in another website RottenTomatoes as well.
Movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW82UTqYW1Q IMDB rating: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060121/ RottenTomatoes Rating: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/arabesque/
This movie also nominated for three categories in BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards and won one award for excellent cinematography. This movie also got few other prestigious award nominations.
DIRECTION AND CINEMATOGRAPHY
The story of this movie mostly sets in London. Director S. Donen spent a lot of money on costumes and movie sets. But it looks awesome and classy. Especially, Sophia Loren got the most expensive outfits in this movie. All the fighting sequences are very well executed and look very proficient and believable. Director took the best performers to act in the title roles in this movie. Both Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck did an awesome job as on-screen couple and their acting looks very much classy and professional. This is certainly one of the best performances given by Sophia Loren on-screen.
FINAL THOUGHT AND RECOMMENDATION
This is a classic spy-thriller movie and two brilliant actors performed in the title role in this movie. The story-line is very fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable. There is always continuity in the story-line, and it looks genuine. This movie is only one and half hour long. I really enjoyed watching this movie, so I highly recommend it. You can get the DVD of this movie from Amazon .co.uk and it will cost you only £4 with free postage using super saver delivery. Otherwise you rent this movie from any rental store, but I would recommend you to buy the DVD and trust me, it’s worth every single penny.
Thank you very much for reading my review. It is highly appreciated.
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Martin Brest - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Marcia Gay Harden, Jake Weber, Claire Forlani, Jeffrey Tambor
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
This is one I've not seen, but it sounds rather good.
torr 03.11.2009 23:57
Alas, I am old enough to remember this film from when it first appeared. First class review.
sarima 28.10.2009 18:11
I had never heard of this movie before but sounds really interesting and I do have love for sofia loren (platonic!!) your movie reviews are really good!
Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren star in this high speed, high-class tale of Middle Eastern ... more
intrigue set in London. Produced and directed by Stanley Donen, this breezy, romantic thrill casts Peck as an Oxford professor of languages hired by a mysterious A...
Gregory Peck stars as hieroglyphics expert Professor David Pollock in this hugely ... more
enjoyable tongue-in-cheek espionage-thriller. Sophia Loren stars alongside as the beautiful but suspect Yasmin Asir the lover of Pollock's employer. David Pollock's ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Arabesque [DVD] [1966]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78488940.jpg "Arabesque [DVD] [1966]")
exceptional by (63%):
very helpful by (38%):
