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IMDbPro

Arabesque

  • 19661966
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
Arabesque (1966)
Story of international intrigue involving a university professor, an Arab prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics.
Play trailer1:23
1 Video
99+ Photos
ActionAdventureCrime
Story of international intrigue involving a university professor, an Arab prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics.Story of international intrigue involving a university professor, an Arab prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics.Story of international intrigue involving a university professor, an Arab prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
    • Stanley Donen
  • Writers
    • Julian Mitchell(screenplay)
    • Stanley Price(screenplay)
    • Peter Stone(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Gregory Peck
    • Sophia Loren
    • Alan Badel
    • Stanley Donen
  • Writers
    • Julian Mitchell(screenplay)
    • Stanley Price(screenplay)
    • Peter Stone(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Gregory Peck
    • Sophia Loren
    • Alan Badel
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 103User reviews
    • 40Critic reviews
    • 69Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:23
    Watch Trailer

    Photos106

    Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren and Alan Badel in Arabesque (1966)
    Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren in Arabesque (1966)
    Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren in Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)
    Arabesque (1966)
    Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck in Arabesque (1966)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Gregory Peck
    Gregory Peck
    • Prof. David Pollock
    Sophia Loren
    Sophia Loren
    • Yasmin Azir
    Alan Badel
    Alan Badel
    • Beshraavi
    Kieron Moore
    Kieron Moore
    • Yussef Kasim
    Carl Duering
    Carl Duering
    • Hassan Jena
    John Merivale
    John Merivale
    • Maj. Sylvester Pennington Sloane
    Duncan Lamont
    Duncan Lamont
    • Webster
    George Coulouris
    George Coulouris
    • Ragheeb
    Ernest Clark
    Ernest Clark
    • Beauchamp
    Harold Kasket
    • Mohammed Lufti
    Lewis Alexander
    • Racegoer
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Armstrong
    • Ascot Racegoer
    • (uncredited)
    Peter Avella
    • Henchman
    • (uncredited)
    Roy Beck
    • Reporter at Press Conference
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Beradi
    • Ascot Racegoer
    • (uncredited)
    Michael Bilton
    • Camera Shop Owner
    • (uncredited)
    Ernest Blyth
    • Man at Gatwick Airport
    • (uncredited)
    George Curtis
    • Man in Crowd
    • (uncredited)
      • Stanley Donen
    • Writers
      • Julian Mitchell(screenplay)
      • Stanley Price(screenplay)
      • Peter Stone(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Gregory Peck found the stunts particularly difficult because of an old leg injury due to horseback riding. So during the cornstalk scene Peck had to keep telling Sophia Loren to slow down because it looked as if she was rescuing him and not the other way around.
    • Goofs
      After the man has been drowned in the fish tank, there are several shots of the actors with the tank in the background. In all but one of the shots, the drowned man is seen floating on the surface. In the goofed shot, the drowned man can be seen swimming toward the side of the tank.
    • Quotes

      David Pollock: Follow that car!

      Taxi Driver: All my life I have waited for somebody to say that!

    • Alternate versions
      For the UK theatrical release, the BBFC removed a few seconds of the drowning in the aquarium and the sight of a man being bloodily shot in the face in order to obtain an 'A' rating (the equivalent of today's 'PG'). All later releases have been uncut and rated '12'.
    • Connections
      Featured in Biography: Sophia Loren: Actress Italian Style (1997)
    • Soundtracks
      We've Loved Before (Yasmin's Theme)
      Written by Henry Mancini, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

      Conducted by Henry Mancini

    User reviews103

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Funny Rip-off of 007 and North by Northwest
    A man kills Professor Ragheeb (George Coulouris) and takes a hieroglyphic from his glasses. Then he seeks out the American Professor David Pollock (Gregory Peck), who is an expert in hieroglyphics at the Oxford University, and tells that his name is Major Sylvester Pennington Sloane (John Merivale). He invites Pollock to travel to London to meet the wealthy Nejim Beshraavi (Alan Badel) to translate a cipher in a hieroglyphic, but Pollock refuses the work.

    Soon Pollock is summoned by the Arabian Prime Minister Hassan Jena (Carl Duering), who is unofficially in England and asks him to accept the assignment and spy the activities of Beshraavi that might be plotting something evil.

    Beshraavi offers 30,000 dollars to Pollock to work in his mansion deciphering the hieroglyphic. Pollock meets Beshraavi's mistress Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), who tells him that he is in danger and Beshraavi will kill him in the end of his work the same way he did with Professor Ragheeb. Pollock and Yasmin flee from the mansion with the hieroglyphic, but he is double-crossed by Yasmin and captured by Yussef Kasim (Kieron Moore). Soon the professor is deeply involved in an international conspiracy where everybody wants the cipher and he does not know who is trustworthy.

    "Arabesque" is a funny rip-off of "007" movies combined with "North by Northwest". The story of a clumsy professor from Oxford that is involved in an international conspiracy in London has hilarious moments, like for example the shower scene with Sophia Loren that makes this movie worthwhile. My vote is seven.

    Title (Brazil): "Arabesque"
    helpful•19
    3
    • claudio_carvalho
    • Dec 4, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 18, 1966 (France)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Crumlin Viaduct, Crumlin, Caerphilly, Wales, UK
    • Production companies
      • Stanley Donen Films
      • Stanley Donen Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 45 minutes

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