Story of international intrigue involving a university professor, an Arab prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics. Mild mannered American David Pollock, a professor of ancient hieroglyphics at Oxford, has been hired by Middle Eastern shipping magnate, Nejim Beshraavi, to decode a hieroglyphic written cipher, of which he has the original. What Beshraavi is unaware of is that David only took the job as a favor to Middle Eastern Prime Minister Hassan Jena, who David admires. David just met Jena for the first time on his clandestine visit to London prior to his official visit to sign a business treaty with the British government in two days' time. Jena tells him that what Beshraavi is asking him to do involves some plot orchestrated by Beshraavi, a countryman of Jena's, against his government. For Jena's security, David is not to disclose to anyone that he is doing this job for Jena, that he has even met Jena, or that Jena is already in London. This job also entails some personal risk to David's life as Beshraavi is not averse to killing to achieve whatever his goal. As David progresses on his task, he is approached by Yasmin Azir, the beautiful owner of the house where Beshraavi is staying and where David is doing the work, she who is Beshraavi's lover. She provides information which suggests that his task is more dangerous than it appears on the surface, as there are more players beyond Beshraavi interested in the cipher and its message, they who will also kill as needed to achieve their goal. However, David, who initially takes her information at face value, begins to have doubts if she is truly working in his best interest. This has to be the worst garbage Peck ever came up in. This crap has more holes in it than a block of Kraft swiss cheese. How did a college professor mix it up with a hitman capable of breaking a door down with his bare hands? How did he survive being rolled from a moving van on an expressway? How did he manage to keep from being killed by 2 groups of savage murderers who had every chance in the world to do so? That one's easy - I've never seen a more goofy, inept bunch of ham handed, grinning morons in my life. This bilge could have been the prototype for the 007 series, except that bilge had already been birthed. And the attempt at humor! Pathetic! As is the case with most spy films, the plot was a confusing mess: the dialogue was childish, the script was a total joke, and the performances were sheer amateurtown. A pack of skunks couldn't create a bigger stink: which is typical of a British production. This has got to be one of the most beautifully photographed movies ever made. Stanley Donen really knows how to use the camera, shooting through chandeliers, using double mirrors for endless reflections, using ordinary objects to highlight the extraordinary–this movie is so wonderfully cinematic that the lack of a serious plot is almost negligible. Not to mention the presence of Gregory Peck, the beautiful Sophia Loren as well as the Henry Mancini score and the titles by Maurice Binder only add to the icing on the cake! "Pierre Marton" (yeah, we all know it's Peter Stone)'s script is sparklingly quotable and provides great fun and great entertainment–just don't think too hard about the plot when you're watching this. "Arabesque" should set the standard in cinematic beauty and it's a shame that this movie isn't more widely shown or known about. Just what happened to that song "We've Loved Before" that was composed for this film?
Brexar replied
355 weeks ago