Melina Mercouri and Maximilian Schell play two professional thieves who assemble a team to steal a jewel-studded Ottoman Empire-era dagger from a museum in Istanbul in “Topkapi.” Tight direction by Jules Dassin (“Never on Sunday” 1960) made this an exciting heist film, from a screenplay by Monja Danischewsky, adapted from “The Light of Day,” a 1962 novel by Eric Ambler.
The supporting cast includes Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, Jess Hahn, Titos Vandis, Gilles Segal, Joe Dassin, Akim Tamiroff, and Ege Ernart. This watchable Technicolor heist movie was filmed on location in Istanbul (Turkey), Kavala (Greece), and Paris (France) with an all-European cast. “Topkapi” was popular at the box office for producer Jules Dassin, Filmways Pictures, and United Artists.
Peter Ustinov won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. “Topkapi” inspired the “Mission: Impossible” television series which ran on CBS from 1966-1973. The scene where Gilles Segal hangs by a wire to steal the dagger was copied by Tom Cruise in the movie “Mission: Impossible” (1996) when he uses the very same stunt to purloin another item of value.
Topkapi (1964)
cinema
My Review
Melina Mercouri and Maximilian Schell play two professional thieves who assemble a team to steal a jewel-studded Ottoman Empire-era dagger from a museum in Istanbul in “Topkapi.” Tight direction by Jules Dassin (“Never on Sunday” 1960) made this an exciting heist film, from a screenplay by Monja Danischewsky, adapted from “The Light of Day,” a 1962 novel by Eric Ambler.
The supporting cast includes Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, Jess Hahn, Titos Vandis, Gilles Segal, Joe Dassin, Akim Tamiroff, and Ege Ernart. This watchable Technicolor heist movie was filmed on location in Istanbul (Turkey), Kavala (Greece), and Paris (France) with an all-European cast. “Topkapi” was popular at the box office for producer Jules Dassin, Filmways Pictures, and United Artists.
Peter Ustinov won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. “Topkapi” inspired the “Mission: Impossible” television series which ran on CBS from 1966-1973. The scene where Gilles Segal hangs by a wire to steal the dagger was copied by Tom Cruise in the movie “Mission: Impossible” (1996) when he uses the very same stunt to purloin another item of value.