Kirpianuscus
after more than a half of century, important remains the cast. the story reminds others from the Cold War, the intrigue is the same like others films about secrets, espionage and innocent victims. but Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck are good ingredients for memories about a seductive woman, a professor and a long pieces of complicated puzzle. and this is the motif, the basic motif, for not ignore a story who gives the chance to the actors to do a beautiful work. and to remember the atmosphere of a Hollywood more interested by real seductive subjects.
LeonLouisRicci
An Odd Title draws attention to this bit of Fluff from Director Stanley Donen as He Followed Up the Enormous Success of the Similar "Charade" (1964), this time it's Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren.1966 was a Time of Hollywood in Flux being Swept up in Cultural and Political Turmoil. "The Times They Were a Changin" and hardly Anyone or Anything was Untouched. The Studio System and the Star System was No Exception. Perhaps Embodying the entrenched Old School, Peck and Loren Deliver what was Expected. Charm and Class.Putting People in Seats as They Tended, both were Professionals. Peck Shows a bit of Strain in the Comedy Bits but does manage to Pull it Off. Loren's Acting Ability matched Her Stunning Glamour and She Fares somewhat Better.Director Donen Experiments Wildly here and there with Psychedelic Visuals and Montage and that is a Good Thing because it Adds some Flare to the Convoluted Plot. Drawing Inspiration from Hitchcock, James Bond, and His Own "Charade", Donen was a Good enough Artist to make most of it Fanciful and Fresh but some of the Stale Parts are Unwelcome.It's Heady at times and Not All of the Wise Cracking Works, but like the Film as a whole, there is Enough to Enjoy to keep it from Failing if Not all together Succeeding Either. Worth a Watch for Fans of the Stars and a Look-See at Old Hollywood testing the New Pop-Culture with Mixed Results.
Uriah43
"Professor David Pollock" (Gregory Peck) is an expert on ancient hieroglyphics and while teaching in London is approached by a man named "Maj. Sylvester Pennington Sloane" (John Merivale) to meet with his boss who is a Middle Eastern shipping magnate by the name of "Nejim Beshraavi" (Alan Badel). Essentially, Beshraavi wants Professor Pollock to interpret some ancient Hittite hieroglyphics which were written on a small piece of paper. At first Professor Pollock refuses but when asked personally by Arab Prime Minister "Hassan Jena" (Carl Duering) reconsiders and then accepts Beshraavi invitation to meet him at his house. It's there that he also makes the acquaintance of Beshraavi's mistress, "Yasmin Azir" (Sophia Loren) who then proceeds to get him involved in one extremely dangerous scenario after another. Now rather than reveal any more of this film and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a fairly decent espionage thriller for the most part. I especially liked the performances of both Gregory Peck and the lovely Sophia Loren. Having said that, although I really liked some of the humorous quips tossed around by Gregory Peck, others seemed to really fall flat and weakened the overall effect. In any case, I liked this movie and rate it as slightly above average.
ringfire211
After the success of CHARADE in 1963 Stanley Donen followed it up with another romantic comedy/spy caper called ARABESQUE. And I really enjoyed it. OK, so it's not quite as good or as witty as CHARADE (which I gave a 9/10) but it's a very solid follow-up. Some of the camera angles/tricks in this one (courtesy of cinematographer Christopher Challis - who also shot A SHOT IN THE DARK) are simply amazing!!! They give the film a certain psychedelic feel/quality to it which is very reflective of the times - mid-to-late 60s. Plus the score is by the great Henry Mancini. And Maurice Binder (who did the titles for the Bond films) does the title sequence here. Both Mancini and Binder also worked on CHARADE. And I gotta say that you'll never see a hotter Sophia Loren than in this flick. It's impossible for a woman to look any hotter than Sophia in this one!! That alone is reason enough for checking this movie out! It was also fairly interesting to see the typically no-nonsense Gregory Peck in a comedy role but I thought he handled himself quite well here. He obviously wasn't as good as Cary Grant was in CHARADE (Grant is a natural with this material) but he was better than I would have imagined him to be. Plus I really enjoyed Alan Badel as the villain - he has a falcon for a pet/weapon. He really looked like Peter Sellers for some reason. Oh and it has a creepy opening at the eye doctor's office. I won't spoil it for anyone. Let's just say that I will definitely think of this film the next time I go to see the eye doctor. It's as unsettling as the dentist scene in MARATHON MAN.
AD
