After the success of his Hitchcock homage "Charade", director Stanley Donen made this very similar comedy-thriller with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren in the lead roles. While Peck and Loren are not quite as suited to this kind of thing as Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, they still make an attractive couple. If you thought "Charade" was complex, you'll find "Arabesque" resembles a hundred shoelaces tangled into an impenetrable knot. The plot is not really meant to be followed - it merely exists as an excuse to stage one dazzling set piece after another.
American scholar David Pollock (Gregory Peck) works at Oxford University and is noted as one of the world's foremost experts in ancient hieroglyphics. He is asked - firstly by oil tycoon Beshraavi (Alan Badel), and later by a Middle Eastern prime minister (Carl Duering) - to decipher a hieroglyphic code that contains details of a sinister espionage plot. Not really a man of action, Pollock suddenly finds himself thrust into the world of international intrigue, where sudden death and double-crosses are never far away. Various factions want to know the secret of the hieroglyphic code, and Pollock finds himself on the run from enemies on all sides. The only person who seems willing to help him is Beshraavi's mistress, Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), but she lies to and crosses him so frequently during their flight that he begins to question whose side she is really on....
"Arabesque" is beautifully shot by Christopher Challis and memorably scored by Henry Mancini. The kaleidoscopic plot throws in everything from James Bond-style humour and villainy to Hitchcock-inspired chase sequences. Utterly derivative and muddled it may be, but no-one seems to mind. Indeed, the fun in "Arabesque" stems from the elegant outfits, the silky smooth villains, the chases and romances, the lavish locales and the touches of humour. Donen marshals proceedings with skillful authority, moving things along at a dizzying pace which helps disguise many of the plot holes. The performances of the handsome leads are adequate throughout, but the villainous support players really steal the movie - Badel, especially, in a role that oozes sinister menace. "Arabesque" is inconsequential, professionally-assembled and effortlessly entertaining stuff. Watch....enjoy....forget.
American scholar David Pollock (Gregory Peck) works at Oxford University and is noted as one of the world's foremost experts in ancient hieroglyphics. He is asked - firstly by oil tycoon Beshraavi (Alan Badel), and later by a Middle Eastern prime minister (Carl Duering) - to decipher a hieroglyphic code that contains details of a sinister espionage plot. Not really a man of action, Pollock suddenly finds himself thrust into the world of international intrigue, where sudden death and double-crosses are never far away. Various factions want to know the secret of the hieroglyphic code, and Pollock finds himself on the run from enemies on all sides. The only person who seems willing to help him is Beshraavi's mistress, Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), but she lies to and crosses him so frequently during their flight that he begins to question whose side she is really on....
"Arabesque" is beautifully shot by Christopher Challis and memorably scored by Henry Mancini. The kaleidoscopic plot throws in everything from James Bond-style humour and villainy to Hitchcock-inspired chase sequences. Utterly derivative and muddled it may be, but no-one seems to mind. Indeed, the fun in "Arabesque" stems from the elegant outfits, the silky smooth villains, the chases and romances, the lavish locales and the touches of humour. Donen marshals proceedings with skillful authority, moving things along at a dizzying pace which helps disguise many of the plot holes. The performances of the handsome leads are adequate throughout, but the villainous support players really steal the movie - Badel, especially, in a role that oozes sinister menace. "Arabesque" is inconsequential, professionally-assembled and effortlessly entertaining stuff. Watch....enjoy....forget.