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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1960s
    Movies - 1960s Movies - T 1 Min Read

    Topkapi (1964)

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    In this spoof of his own intricate heist classic Rififi (1955), Jules Dassin pioneered one of the most popular subgenres of the 1960s, the comic crime caper.

    Deliciously scripted by one-time Ealing alumnus Monja Danischewsky (from Eric Ambler’s novel The Light of Day) the film combines sparkling dialogue with moments of unbearable tension, most notably during the prolonged heist on Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace in a bid to purloin a priceless emerald dagger.

    The band of misfits hired by criminal mastermind Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) and expert thief Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell) are effectively played, but it is the showy performance of Peter Ustinov as Arthur Simpson, a cheap and unsuccessful conman, that caught the eye and earned him a best supporting actor Oscar.

    topkapi_003

    Elizabeth Lipp
    Melina Mercouri
    Arthur Simon Simpson
    Peter Ustinov
    Walter Harper
    Maximilian Schell
    Cedric Page
    Robert Morley
    Geven
    Akim Tamiroff
    Giulio
    Gilles Ségal
    Hans Fischer
    Jess Hahn
    Harback
    Titos Vandis
    Major Tufan
    Ege Ernart
    First Shadow
    Senih Orkan
    Second Shadow
    Ahmet Danyal Topatan

    Director
    Jules Dassin

    Video

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