{"id":38807,"date":"2017-05-03T09:26:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T16:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=38807"},"modified":"2020-12-28T14:25:42","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T21:25:42","slug":"topkapi-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=38807","title":{"rendered":"Topkapi (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to have it &#8212; it has to be mine.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Poster-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-38808\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Poster-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA nymphomaniac, jewel-obsessed thief (Melina Mercouri) enlists the help of her former lover (Maximilian Schell) in pulling together a crew &#8212; including a mechanical genius (Robert Morley), a mute &#8220;human fly&#8221; (Gilles Segal), a muscleman (Jess Hahn), and a driver (Peter Ustinov) &#8212; to steal the emeralds on a dagger in Turkey&#8217;s Topkapi Palace. When bumbling Ustinov is captured by Turkish government officials, he becomes a double-agent &#8212; but whose side will he eventually land on?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Heist<\/li>\n<li>Jules Dassin Films<\/li>\n<li>Maximilian Schell Films<\/li>\n<li>Peter Ustinov Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Morley Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nJules Dassin&#8217;s playfully comedic re-visioning of his earlier heist masterpiece <em>Rififi<\/em> (1955) was this colorful but oddly uninvolving adventure flick, starring Dassin&#8217;s real-life wife (Melina Mercouri). The problem with light-hearted caper flicks is that there&#8217;s no gravitas: we know the protagonists won&#8217;t suffer serious harm, so the main fun is in watching their antics. To that end, I find neither Mercouri nor Ustinov particularly appealing or amusing &#8212; however, the final heist sequence is inspirational and well worth a watch, and the cinematography throughout is solid. Be forewarned that the ending is especially abrupt and unsatisfying.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The fun, colorful opening titles<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Opening.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Opening.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"470\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Opening.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Opening-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Opening-300x196.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Henri Alekan&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"470\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38811\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Cinematography-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Cinematography-300x196.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The impressively filmed heist sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Heist.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Heist.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"470\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Heist.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Heist-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Topkapi-Heist-300x196.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though of course fans of heist flicks will certainly want to check it out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0058672\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=EE05E7DF1739E377BC4052DFBF66838F679EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/25736\/topkapi#articles-reviews?articleId=66960\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4627topk.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=2062&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to have it &#8212; it has to be mine.&#8221; Synopsis: A nymphomaniac, jewel-obsessed thief (Melina Mercouri) enlists the help of her former lover (Maximilian Schell) in pulling together a crew &#8212; including a mechanical genius (Robert Morley), a mute &#8220;human fly&#8221; (Gilles Segal), a muscleman (Jess Hahn), and a driver (Peter Ustinov) &#8212; to steal the emeralds on a dagger in Turkey&#8217;s Topkapi Palace. When bumbling Ustinov is captured by Turkish government officials, he becomes a double-agent &#8212;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=38807\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38807"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60234,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38807\/revisions\/60234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}