Topkapi (1964)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Monja Danischewsky (screenplay)
Eric Ambler (novel)

Release Date:

17 September 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

(where the jewels were!)

Plot:

Caper film about the theft of a jeweled dagger from an Istanbul museum.

Plot Keywords:

Museum | Istanbul | Dagger | Smuggling | Caper

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Melina Mercouri	...	Elizabeth Lipp
Peter Ustinov	...	Arthur Simon Simpson
Maximilian Schell	...	Walter Harper
Robert Morley	...	Cedric Page
Jess Hahn	...	Hans Fisher
Gilles Ségal	...	Giulio the Human Fly
Akim Tamiroff	...	Gerven the Cook
Titos Vandis	...	Harback (as Titos Wandis)
Ege Ernart	...	Maj. Ali Tufan
Senih Orkan	...	First Shadow
Ahmet Danyal Topatan	...	Second Shadow
Joseph Dassin	...	Josef
Despo Diamantidou	...	Voula
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bedri Çavusoglu	...	Police officer (uncredited)
Amy Dalby	...	Nanny (uncredited)
Jules Dassin	...	Turkish cop (uncredited)

Directed by
Jules Dassin

Writing credits
Monja Danischewsky		(screenplay)
Eric Ambler		(novel "The Light of Day")

Produced by
Jules Dassin	....	producer
Roger Dwyre	....	associate producer
Lee Katz	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Manos Hatzidakis		(as Manos Hadjidakis)

Cinematography by
Henri Alekan		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Roger Dwyre

Makeup Department
Amato Garbini	....	makeup artist

Production Management
André Cultet	....	production manager (as Andre Cultet)
Claude Hauser	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ali Cakus	....	second assistant director
Joseph Dassin	....	second assistant director
Stepan Melikyan	....	second assistant director
Tom Pevsner	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jacques Douy	....	assistant sets
Max Douy	....	sets
André Labussière	....	set dresser (as Andre Labussiere)

Sound Department
William Robert Sivel	....	sound engineer (as William Sivel)

Visual Effects by
Jean Fouchet	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Brun	....	camera operator: second unit
René Chabal	....	assistant camera (as Rene Chabal)
Gilbert Chain	....	camera operator
Roger Corbeau	....	still photographer
Max Lechevallier	....	assistant camera
Raymond Picon-Borel	....	camera operator: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Theoni V. Aldredge	....	costumes (as Denny Vachlioti)

Editorial Department
Patrick Clement-Bayard	....	assistant editor
Johnny Dwyre	....	assistant editor
Daniele Grimberg	....	assistant editor (as Danielle Grimberg)

Other crew
Jean Fouchet	....	title designer: main titles
Lucie Lichtig	....	script

Production Companies

• Filmways Pictures (as Filmways)

Distributors

• United Artists (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1968) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• United Artists (1964) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (????) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Turkish | German | Greek | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Ireland:G | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Istanbul, Turkey

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

Cited by "Mission: Impossible" (1966) TV series creator Bruce Geller as the inspiration for his own series.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Elizabeth returns to her seat at the wrestling match, Hans (who previously injured both hands) passes her a magazine in an unbandaged hand. A few minutes later both his hands are again heavily bandaged.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Elizabeth Lipp: It can be done! That's the way it can be done! Aaah... oh, excuse me; I've just had a great idea - something I've been looking for a long time... a very long time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

A fascinating guide to the jewel of the Dardanelles...

Melina Mercouri introduces herself as a thief who doesn't hide the way she feels about the most wonderful emeralds… She wants to rob a dagger encrusted with fascinating gemstones…

One of her potential partners is her former lover Maximilian Schell, a very distinguished crook who fights at his best when he fights in a corner… Schell wants to pick his crew from amateurs with no police records, and strike the most protected fortress…

Peter Ustinov won his first Best Supporting Oscar for his amusing performance as the clever middle-aged 'nobody' who could have gone far but he always plays for small stakes…

Ustinov is the victim of circumstances, caught at the Turkish border with a riffle and six grenades… For that, his mission is to spy on the spies, and report to the Turkish security everything he overhears-no matter how trivial it may seem to him… The police gives him a chance to prove that he is not a terrorist… He accepts to work with them…

With a funny toy man who proposes to get into the palace museum without touching the floor; a mute acrobat who talks with his whole body; a mad muscle man who hates a drunken cook; a showman with no problems at the customs border; plus Islamic mosques; ancient streets; colorful bazaars; oiled wrestlers; talented belly dancers; and fable roofs; "Topkapi" overlooks both the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus, offering bright moments with a final suspense sequence in the 'Rififi' manner…