The Man from Cairo (1953) User Reviews

Amazingly familiar and unanimated

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 20 July 2008]

George Raft is an ex-G.I. who is wandering the world. He just happens into Algeria at the same time an old friend is investigating the theft of French government gold. When the friend is killed, Raft is pulled into the investigation and his life is suddenly hanging by a thread. So it's up to tough-guy Raft to clear himself for the murder and get to the bottom of the theft.

Years before, George Raft made BACKGROUND TO DANGER. Now a decade later, he's made a film that is very similar. Unfortunately, in the meantime, he's gotten 10 years older AND 10 years more wooden in his performance. It was amazing to see how unanimated and dull he'd become in the meantime--with very little energy or emotion--like he's just walking through the role. He talks a lot but doesn't do all that much--possibly due to the script or possibly because he's obviously too old to play the action hero. Sadly, all the supporting actors are pretty forgettable, too--forcing Raft to shoulder the entire turgid film.

The bottom line is that this film isn't all that original (having seen several similar films) and it's not particularly fun or interesting--though it's not a bad film. Worth seeing only if you have relatively low expectations.

Lovely Heroine, Lovely Photography, Lively Villain, Lusterless Hero

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 9 August 2008]

While Film Noir continues to ride high as flavor of the month, a number of minor offerings from the "B" market such as Man from Cairo are beginning to surface on DVD. Admittedly, this movie is must viewing for fans of Gianna Maria Canale (counting me), but is somewhat heavy going for everyone else. Irene Papas admirers will be disappointed by the brevity of her role; and although Leon Lenoir plays a major part in the action (with lots of close-ups), his voice is obviously dubbed. Only smartly tailored Massimo Serato comes across in flying style, although Angelo Dessy has his moment. True, the confused is-she-good, is-she-bad affair does come to a slap-up action finale, even if the actual unmasking is somewhat weak.

Alas, George Raft makes a tired, bored and boring hero. But the dull plot is wrapped up in lustrous black-and-white photography by Mario Albertelli who handled one of my favorite movies, Rossini (1942).

''He Took A Desperate Chance For A Fortune In Gold-And A Beautiful Woman!''

[phillindholm · 5/10 · 14 May 2012]

Well, that's the way this low-budget crime drama was promoted. Starring Screen Heavy George Raft (well past his prime) and filmed abroad in 1953, it was just an attempt by prolific B-movie producer Robert Lippert to exploit Raft's familiar name. Here, he is cast as a vacationer heading to Algeirs, for no reason in particular. There, he runs into considerable danger due to a case of mistaken identity. He is thought to be an agent investigating a gold theft that happened during the war. At times, it seems that almost everybody he runs into has had some connection to the robbery, (and most of them do) needlessly adding even more confusion to an already muddled plot. This is one film that needed all the exposition it could get, but, though details are hashed over endlessly, it doesn't make things any clearer. And though it was advertised as being ''filmed where it happened'', there isn't much of the expected exotic scenery. There are some sleazily authentic backgrounds, but little use is made of them. It might as well have been filmed in Idaho,for all the ''atmosphere'' it generates. This is a very claustrophobic looking production, which relies almost entirely on Raft's fast-fading charisma to keep it afloat. Sadly, he just doesn't make a very convincing hero (though he was a terrific villain) and he sounds as if he's imitating Humphrey Bogart. The rest of the cast is dubbed, including leading lady Gianna Maria Canale, who not only has no chemistry with Raft, but is almost twice his size, and moves like a robot. There is an early appearance by the great Greek actress Irene Papas,but she's wasted in a nothing role.Strangely, the movie retains enough interest to keep you watching to the end, but that's not saying much. And neither this film, nor the other Lippert quickies Raft did,generated any new interest in him. When this one reached the US, it landed on the bottom half of a double bill, supporting another Lippert production ''Sins Of Jezebel''. They are all available on DVD from VCI ENTERTAINMENT. And the transfers are better than the movies. That's pretty ironic-In most cases, it's usually the other way around. Incidentally, this one was advertised with one of the most striking posters a Lippert feature ever had. Too bad the advertising was superior to the product. Well, it's not as if THAT'S never happened before, time and time again...

wooden as a plug nickle

[deng43 · 2/10 · 7 August 2006]

i am a real sucker for casbah and foreign legion movies. they were the fodder of my childhood. i approached this one with a salutary glass of rum and high hopes. the rum stood up; the film did not.

i have been waiting to add a good george raft flic to my collection of old b&w's. despite his reputation i was sure one existed somewhere. this one wasn't it. the studio forgot to hire writers: the dialogue comes across as if pronounced phonetically by actors unfamiliar with English, reading from scrawls on large pieces of cardboard dimly seen in the lower screen.

actions are equally grotesque. the required motions as mechanical and stiff as if choreographed by engineers using tinkertoy models and expecting no greater dexterity from the cast.

the words fresh, interesting, exciting, captivating, even interesting, have no place in describing this movie. a 'b' film that deserves every slur it has duly earned.

Enjoyable Raft Vehicle

[bnwfilmbuff · 7/10 · 8 September 2022]

British/American/Italian coproduction not set in Cairo but Algiers. George is in good form even if a bit too old for the role. Gianna Maria looking quite striking turns in a good performance. Okay, it is a bit of a stretch that she could go for George. The mood is adequately noirish. Interesting plot involving a tourist (Raft) unwittingly getting intertwined investigating a crime ring stealing gold hidden in North Africa from the Nazis after the invasion of France in WWII. And the musical score added to the viewing pleasure. Also notable this was Irene Papas' American film debut. Raft was at his best as a "shady" good guy in his later roles in the 40s and 50s. Recommended.

Subpar noir

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 27 July 2013]

George Raft finished a series of pictures he made with anemic budget Lippert Studios with The Man From Cairo. And in the tradition of B movies the title has nothing to do with the film other than Raft changes planes in Cairo.

Where he meets up with an old friend Richard McNamara, an American private detective who has been hired by the French government to locate some French gold that disappeared into the Algerian desert after the Nazis invaded. The bad guys mistake Raft for McNamara after Raft arrives in Algiers and the action begins.

Other than a quick appearance by Greek actress Irene Papas who gets killed off right away, no other players of note to Americans are cast in this film. The Man From Cairo is slightly better than Raft's Outpost In Morocco with the action taking place in the same locale, but not much better.

No one has ever accused George Raft of being a great actor, but he truly is lifeless in this film. I'm sure he was grateful for the paycheck and that's about it.

One definitely for the money.

Come With Me To The Casbah

[boblipton · 6/10 · 21 August 2023]

George Raft blows into Algiers from Cairo to discover that the local police and the French spies are trying to track down a couple of hundred million in gold that's been missing since the Second World War. With an attitude of "what's that got to do with me?", he schedules an appointment with fellow American Richard McNamara, goes to his apartment, helps himself to a drink, and finds Irene Papas dead. He's spotted by Gianna Maria Canale, who describes him to the police, then refuses to identify him. With his passport held, he finds himself under suspicion of being involved with the missing gold.

In his last starring role (and Ray Enright's last movie as director), Raft finds himself irresistible to women, and bluffing his way through a murky situation. It's an interesting plot, and Raft's diffident performance matches that of his ill-defined character; the fact that it's never clear why he's in Algiers made me suspect early on that he was involved in more than a Wrong Man sort of way. This Hitchcockian tale has a lot to recommend it, but the short budget keeps it from being superior.

For George Raft fans only

[Terrell-4 · 3/10 · 26 October 2008]

I'm not positive, but I think this was George Raft's last role as a star lead. The movie was an Italian low-cost production. It was the best Raft's agent could do. What marquee value Raft had left in America was thought worth hiring him for to try to sell enough tickets to turn a profit. Raft was 57 when he made the movie, and looks every year of it. He's kept his weight down but his hair is gray and there wasn't much anyone could do to disguise the shadows under his eyes, the puffiness, the general air of "let's get through this so I can go home."

The story is all confused, international thriller hokum. French gold reserves had been moved to French North Africa during WWII, but $100 million worth were stolen in Algeria. Seven years later the gold is still missing. Mike Canelli (Raft), visiting Algiers, knows about all this; so do several others including a singer who can't act but who has a Gina Lollabrigida chassis. The key seems to be a shadowy character with only four fingers on his right hand. After much tough talk, thrown knives, night-time visits to the casbah, a fight using an obvious double on a train and barely adequate dubbing, we learn all about Mike and the missing gold.

I have a fondness or George Raft. In his declining years I wish he'd been able to do better than things like this, a movie in which everything is perfunctory. I like Raft because he was who he was, and had no pretense. He was no actor, said so himself, but through some mysterious process became a star.

4 fingers

[brogmiller · 1/10 · 23 April 2020]

A truly risible film of interest only to die hard film buffs. George Raft is very dapper and expensively tailored but still has the look of a man from whom one would hesitate to buy a second-hand car. He is anyway a wee bit long in the tooth for these sorts of capers and has absolutely no chemistry with luscious former beauty queen Gianna Maria Canale who gives the impression that she is still parading for the judges. Fellini 'regular' Mino Doro, with peruke, is a good villain and there is a tantalising glimpse of stunning Irene Papas in a bathtub. The rest of the cast with the exception of Massimo Serrato, is composed of planks. On a serious note, Gianna Maria was runner-up in the Miss Italia contest of 1947 to Lucia Bose, recently taken from us by the Chinese virus.

Wherever there's trouble you'll find Mike Canelli

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 16 February 2015]

***SPOILERS*** 1930's & 40's movie tough guy George Raft drifts into town-Algiers-as vacationing American defective Mike Canelli looking forward to see the sight of the North African nation. Only to get himself involved in a stolen gold & smuggling operation by local as well as French hoods that's been going on there since the end of WWII. At first mistaken by the city police chief Capt. Akhim Bay, Leon Lenoir, as US Government secret agent Charles Stark, Richard MacNamara, Canelli ends up being up to his neck in the gold smuggling operation that almost has him killed.

It turns out that Canelli gets unexpected help from beautiful and exotic French-Algerian sexpot Lorraine Belogne, Gianna Marie Canale, whom he was introduced to in the most unusual circumstances: While she was taking a bath in her hotel-room. As it turned out that Lorraine had a recording made by the four fingered Emile Touchard, Guido Celano, the only survivor of the Free French outfit who hid 100 million in gold in the Sahara Desert in 1942 before Rommell's Afrika Corps or gangs of Arab marauders could get their hands on it. It takes a while for Canelli to convince Lorraine to take him into her confidence in getting her to believe that he's only trying to get the 100 million in gold back to the French Treasury department, as well as a $200,000.00 reword for it, not in him being a part of the criminal ring who want it all for themselves. And who are more then willing to kill anyone-like Lorraine-who gets in their way.

****SPOILERS*** After getting kidnapped and worked over a number of times by members of the gold smuggling ring Canelli, battered and bruised, finally puts 2 and 2 together and with the help of the secret recording as well as the limping Professor Crespi- who it turns out is really the missing French GeneralDumont-,Alfredo Varelli,and finds out who the head man of the gold smuggling operation really is: Non other then respected French WWII freedom fighter Major La Blanc who's really international hoodlum Emile Moreau! With a train load of stolen gold about to check out of town with Moreau on it Canelli as well as Lorraine tries to stop his sudden departure only to have the local police lead by Capt Bey, who at first suspected Canelli was part of the god smuggling ring, making the pinch with Moreau, who by then saw that the gig was up, shot while trying to escape!

Formula thriller where all that glitters ain't gold.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 15 February 2014]

A rather confusing set-up has Richard McNamara, an FBI agent, involved in a search with the French government for missing gold. He runs into old acquaintance George Raft who ends up involved and McNamara disappears from view. Raft gets involved in with the sexy Gianna Maria Canale who may or may not know more about the gold than she's letting on. The film never really grasps you the way a thriller of this mold really should and although there are a few exciting sequences and some tension, the result is pretty pallid. Irene Papas, in one of her earliest roles, stands out, but ultimately, she is wasted with a "nothing" part. The attempt to copy the European "new wave" fails here and the results are predictable and never intriguing.

Adventure drama from a western director where Peter Lorre is missing.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 20 September 2023]

It was unusual from Ray Enright - an excellent western maker - to make such an espionage post war feature. It was very popular after WW2, to provide such plots with former nazis, new Russian Soviet enemies and many intrigues. And of course George Raft was hired several times for such schemes. This one, among the last that Ray Enright directed, is not above nor worst than another one of this kind. It is agreeable and predictable to watch. No more. If you are a Raft's fan, go ahead, if not, you'll miss nothing at all. But there is an overall good atmosphere, north Africa atmosphere, very common for this period, late forties early fifties. I don 't know why, I expected to see Peter Lorre in every scene of this intrigue. I don't know why....