Arabesque

Swell! Arabesque is directed by Stanley Donen and collectively adapted by Julian Mitchell, Stanley Price and Pierre Marton from Gordon Cotler's novel The Cypher. It stars Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel, John Merivale and Harold Kasket. A Panavision/Technicolor production with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Christopher Challis. Hieroglyphics expert David Pollock (Peck) is thrust into a world of shifty political intrigue involving a Middle Eastern Prime Minister, a beautiful spy and a sinister rich businessman. There's quite a bit wrong with Arabesque, with white actors made up as Arabs, a scatter-gun plot, weak finale, a barely threatening villain and Peck is no action hero! Yet if you can just run with it, to enjoy being in the company of the stars? Then there's fun to be had here. Part comedy, part thriller mystery, Arabesque zips along at a decent clip and Donen inserts memorable scenes along the way. From a wonderful shower sequence to chase me perils at a Zoo and a building site, there's truly a great will of spirit involved in the production. Donen also at times chooses to shoot the movie through a kaleidoscopic prism, and uses canted angles to accentuate David Pollock's confusion. These are nice touches, as is Mancini's Eastern flavoured musical arrangement. Peck may be no action hero type actor but his sense of fun here, and his all round classy charm, makes it very easy to root for him. Loren looks fabulous, a real sex-bomb pouting away with a glint in her eye. Not all of the Christian Dior costumes suit her character, but Loren, herself seemingly having a great old time of it, comes through the picture with flying colours. Elsewhere the performances are merely adequate, with Badel's villain coming off like a weak Peter Sellers clone! So a mixed bag for sure and the shadow of Donen's wonderful Charade three years earlier looms large at times, but it's an enjoyable enough ride while it lasts. 7/10

This is quite an enjoyable romantic thriller that brings out the best in both Gregory Peck - as the hapless academic and Sophia Loren as the duplicitous girlfriend of our baddie Alan Badel. The premiss is a shade too convoluted - the professor is recruited to help track down and decipher an hieroglyphic scroll that may prevent the assassination of a Middle Eastern Prime Minister. There are loads of red herrings and a pithily paced dialogue - that reminded me of one of the better episodes of "The Man from UNCLE" - to help keep us amused as he navigates the waters of international political intrigue; and manages to fall in love a bit too. It's not the most original storyline you'll ever watch, but there is much more for Loren to get her teeth into; and though Badel overacts shockingly as "Beshraavi" - there is still plenty of clues and counter-clues to bamboozle the best of us!