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Arabesque

Play trailer Poster for Arabesque 1966 1h 45m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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76% Tomatometer 45 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
When a plot against a prominent Middle Eastern politician is uncovered, David Pollock (Gregory Peck), a professor of ancient hieroglyphics at Oxford University, is recruited to help expose the scheme. Pollock must find information believed to be in hieroglyphic code and must also contend with a mysterious man called Beshraavi (Alan Badel). Meanwhile, Beshraavi's beautiful lover, Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), seems willing to aid Pollock -- but is she really on his side?
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Arabesque

Critics Reviews

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Anne Miller Tinsley Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com 9h
Stanley Donen has produced a film with more twists than a belly-dancer's hips. The film is entertaining, but not spectacularly so. Go to Full Review
Jeff Millar Houston Chronicle 9h
Miss Loren was excellent. Peck did well enough with a role that cried, moaned, begged for Cary Grant. Go to Full Review
Myles Standish St. Louis Post-Dispatch 10h
This espionage thriller, laid in London, is a combination of wild, pell-mell action-moving with roller-coaster recklessness-sinister characters, evil plotting, mystifying schemes, done with superb style, elan and sophisticated wit. Go to Full Review
Dick Richards Sunday Mirror (UK) 9h
[The] rip-roaring climax can hold its own with any recent spy adventure, even if "Arabesque," as a whole, outsmarts itself. Go to Full Review
W. Ward Marsh Cleveland Plain Dealer 9h
It's a slick, swift and exciting melodrama, keenly directed by Donen who has built up every situation with thrills lasting from one set to the next. Go to Full Review
Giles M. Fowler Kansas City Star 9h
Here are all sorts of tricky camera shots - multiple reflections, distortions, wild angles - and all in color as gaudy as a Persian mosaic. But as eye-dazzling as these things are, they are sometimes irrelevant and therefore distracting. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Zazoo909 C 11/24/2024 Pretty shocked to see professional critics who normally loathe popcorn fodder grovel before this schlock. Maybe coz it's Donen directing and Peck and Loren doing...whatever they're doing? She is always beautiful beyond imagination, IMHO, despite (or because of?) her ditzy roles. But Peck plays against character, reaching for Cary Grant's effortless light humor, though it comes off like brittle dad jokes, even if he looks great for his age. The plot is tiresome, the characters straight from a cookie cutter. See more Mike W @MikeW269 07/09/2024 I came close to spilling my drink with lines that included "Daddy-O" and "Later Alligator". It was the worst movie I recall that featured Gregory Peck, an actor I like very much. The scenes in the zoo and aquarium were POOR. See more Nizar N 03/04/2023 You know what to expect from the very first few minutes, and realize it is not the greatest movie you'll ever see. That is okay, firstly because it is still one of the memorable ones you'll see, and secondly because it keeps up with what it promises and stays true to itself instead of pretending to be something it's not. The plot might come off as convoluted, but is not really, and that trait is what keeps the movie interesting. Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck have great chemistry together. Stanley Donen experiments with some unorthodox frames as well as effects with lights, and he gets some beautiful scenes. The ending is remarkably great, and very rarely do movies focus on the ending that much, which also brings to mind none other than the great ending of Donen's Singin' in the Rain. See more steve d 01/07/2023 Peck is always good but the story didn't work. See more Eric P 07/19/2022 Stanley Donen's Hitchcockian motion picture is called Arabesque that is about an international affair that involves a professor, a Middle Eastern prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics. While there are some things that I found unnecessary in this film like the cinematography due to over usage of the Dutch angle and the constant twists that occur throughout the entire movie, I still was fond of Arabesque. That's because of the suspenseful musical score composed by Henry Mancini, the lavish costume designs, the sense of humor in some scenes, and last but not least a wonderful performance by the beautiful and iconic Sophia Loren. Arabesque is a stylish film filled with suspenseful mystery. See more 04/12/2022 WTF were people thinking watching this ****ing ****?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Read all reviews
Arabesque

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Movie Info

Synopsis When a plot against a prominent Middle Eastern politician is uncovered, David Pollock (Gregory Peck), a professor of ancient hieroglyphics at Oxford University, is recruited to help expose the scheme. Pollock must find information believed to be in hieroglyphic code and must also contend with a mysterious man called Beshraavi (Alan Badel). Meanwhile, Beshraavi's beautiful lover, Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), seems willing to aid Pollock -- but is she really on his side?
Director
Stanley Donen
Producer
Stanley Donen
Screenwriter
Pierre Marton, Julian Mitchell, Stanley Price
Production Co
Universal/Universal Int
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2020
Runtime
1h 45m
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