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Topkapi (1964)

7.0
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Ratings: 7.0/10 from 4,653 users  
Reviews: 70 user | 27 critic

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

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Writers:

(screenplay), (novel)
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Title: Topkapi (1964)

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Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
...
...
Jess Hahn ...
Hans Fisher
Gilles Ségal ...
Giulio the Human Fly
...
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
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Storyline

A small-time con-man with passport problems gets mixed up with a gang of world-class jewelry thieves plotting to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence, suspecting arms smuggling, gets involved, and under pressure the con-man rises to heights he'd never dreamed of. Written by David Carroll <davidc@atom.ansto.gov.au>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

museum | smuggling | theft | dagger | caper | See more »

Taglines:

Let us introduce ourselves ...we're crooks (honest)! See more »


Certificate:

Unrated | See all certifications »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

| | | | |

Release Date:

2 September 1964 (France)  »

Also Known As:

A Topkapi kincse  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Westrex Recording System)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Cited by Mission: Impossible TV series creator Bruce Geller as the inspiration for his own series. See more »

Goofs

When the team members are watching the wrestling matches before the heist, Mercouri's hairstyle changes from shot to shot (pulled back, loose) See more »

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.
See more »

Crazy Credits

At the beginning, the title and the technical credits are shown, but no credit is given to the actors or to the producer-director. However, at the end, [spoiler] we suddenly see the words "There they go again!", and all of the leading actors appear in a snowbound setting, together with their names. Then the names of all of the other actors, together with the name of the producer-director, appear on the screen. [/spoiler] See more »

Connections

Referenced in Mission: Impossible (1996) See more »

Soundtracks

"The Stars and Stripes Forever"
(uncredited) (1896)
Written by John Philip Sousa
Played when Elizabeth steps on Cedric's mock-up of the security platform
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Classic Jewel Heist à la Jean Reno set in Istanbul
14 June 2003 | by (Princeton, Kentucky) – See all my reviews

With beautiful camerawork in Istanbul and Greece and an equally intriguing plot, Jules Dassin brings to the screen a film worthy to be considered alongside his masterpieces "Du rififi chez les hommes" and "Naked City". Peter Ustinov follows up his Oscar-winning performance in "Spartacus" with a second award for best supporting actor, while playing a "schmo"--a lowly, disgraceful, British rogue living in Greece as the self-proclaimed "un-crowned king of the nightlife": Arthur Simon Simpson. Getting involved in much more than he bargained for, Simpson enters a ring of double-crosses as an informer for Turkish Intelligence while still hoping to line his pockets with filthy lucre.

The show, however, is stolen by the seductive, raspy-voiced Elizabeth Lipp, played by Greek beauty Melina Mercouri (who was also in the starring role of Dassin's "Phaedra" two years earlier--as well as "Pote tin Kyriaki" (1960), "La Legge" (1958), and "Celui qui doit mourir" (1957)--and whom the director would marry two years later). The curvy enchantress draws in Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell) and Cedric Page (Robert Morley I), offering them their cut on the biggest heist ever--the theft of the sultan's jewel-encrusted dagger from the Istanbul Museum.

However, there is a problem. The museum is impenetrable, equipped with a state-of-the-art alarm system that requires a strong man to hoist an acrobat from above the museum and slowly lower him into the treasure trove while avoiding security (à la "Mission Impossible" and "Oceans Eleven"). An unattended, even ironic, ending makes this film a classic in the genre as the dénouement keeps the viewer attached to the screen all the way up to the credits.

Not quite the masterpiece of a "Bob le Flambeur" or "Rififi", this film is in the top ten of its genre and is crucial in its intrigue and influence on future heist ("casse") films. Highly enjoyable, with the right balance of humor, suspense and allure (thanks to Melina Mercouri) to establish it as a touchstone in the genre, Dassin's caper is a cinema classic.


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Topkapi-Ocean's Eleven hataya10
Ustinov's acting fender_strat
Silence! post-meridian
Make of car Simpson drives? gyreneaj
Is this the original 'heist hanging by wires'? mmw-2
Topkapi revisited / poor Melina !/Bad Forum!!!!!! ronny-ferrat
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