Topkapi

Starring: Melina Mercouri Director: Jules Dassin

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Mono - English/French

Additional Release Material:

• Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer

Major Awards:

Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor (1964)

Product Description:

Five years after directing the heist classic RIFIFI, Jules Dassin returns to robbery with TOPKAPI. Again there is a long and daring break-in, as his heroes attempt to steal the priceless Emerald Dagger from the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul, but in contrast to the bleak RIFIFI, the mood in TOPKAPI is one of comedy. Dassin focuses on the bumbling Arthur Simpson (Peter Ustinov), who barely makes a living conning tourists. Arthur thinks he's struck it rich when Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) and her lover Walter (Maximilian Schell) respond to his pitch--not realizing they picked him. They persuade Arthur to drive across the Greek-Turkish border. When the Turkish police find arms in the car, they believe they have uncovered a terrorist plot. They only release Arthur after he agrees to spy for them. Elizabeth and Walter plan their robbery, while Arthur is drawn ever further out of his depth, as he looks for evidence of terrorism. Mercouri and Schell handle the planning; Ustinov, Robert Morley as the eccentric Cedric, and Akim Tamiroff as a dipsomaniac cook, handle the comedy; the Turkish scenery is beautiful, and Manos Hadjidakis contributes a sprightly score--the result is a light and airy comedy.

Plot Synopsis:

A beautiful and sexy thief, who has a penchant for hitting only the finest locations, has her eyes on a rare jewel displayed in Constantinople's Topkapi Museum. But this one won't be easy for her band of experts... especially since they want the help of one Arthur Simpson -- and he doesn't even have a clue that he's become one of the gang.

Plot Keywords:

Action | Classic | Jewels | Recommended | Suspense | Theatrical Release | Thieves

Production Notes:

• TOPKAPI was released on September 17, 1964.
• TOPKAPI was shot on location in and around Istanbul, Turkey.
• Peter Ustinov won a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as Arthur Simpson.
• Joseph Dassin (1938-1980) who plays the role of the gypsy Josef in TOPKAPI was director Jules's son--he also appears in his father's 1960 movie WHEN THE HOT WIND BLOWS. However, in Québec and France he was better known as the pop singer Joe Dassin.
• TOPKAPI was based on British author Eric Ambler's novel THE LIGHT OF DAY--which won the Mystery Writer's of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel in 1964. Ambler (1909-1989) was one of the great crime novelists. He burst onto the literary scene in the late 1930s with six spy novels—including two classics, JOURNEY INTO FEAR and A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS (which became THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS as a movie). At the outbreak of World War II, Ambler joined the Royal Artillery as a private. He was assigned to a combat photographic unit and, by the end of the war, had become a lieutenant colonel--earning an American Bronze Star on the way. Back in civilian life, he did not resume his career as a novelist until JUDGEMENT ON DELTCHEV was published in 1951. Instead, he wrote screenplays for a number of notable British movies—including David Lean's PASSIONATE FRIENDS (1949) and the earlier Titanic movie, Roy Ward Baker's A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (1958). Particularly notable among his many later novels are PASSAGE OF ARMS (1959), DR.FRIGO (1974), and THE SEIGE OF THE VILLA LIPP (1977).

Cast and Crew: