Topkapi (1964)

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

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:

Six weeks after the release of Topkapi, a similar, real-life heist took place at a New York City museum. Although 22 gems were stolen, they were recovered within 48 hours.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the agent (in glasses) is marking a photograph with red texter, several extra lines appear on the photograph without him having drawn them.

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)

Lots of fun and thrills in this colourful tongue in cheek heist adventure.

Jules Dassin directed the classic hard-boiled 'Rififi' in the mid-50s. Ten years later he's at the heist genre again, but 'Topkapi' is a very different kind of movie. Gone is the realism and darkness of 'Rififi', which influenced many subsequent crime thrillers. Instead we have a good old fashioned adventure, which is quite tongue in cheek and very colourful and fun. The eclectic ensemble cast are all very good - Dassin's wife Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley, and especially a knockout performance from Peter Ustinov, an actor I usually have little time for. The robbery sequence was "borrowed" thirty years later by Brian De Palma for 'Mission Impossible', but 'Topkapi' is the better of the two movies by far.