The Favorite (1989 film)
The Favorite (Intimate Power) | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jack Smight |
Written by | Prince Michael of Greece (novel) (screenplay) |
Produced by | Georges-Alain Vuille |
Starring | F. Murray Abraham Maud Adams Francesco Quinn |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | Dennis Virkler , adr supervisor |
Music by | |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date | 9 August 1989 (France) |
Running time | 104 min. |
Countries | United States Switzerland |
Language | English |
The Favorite (also titled Intimate Power) is a 1989 Swiss-American drama film based on the unsubstantiated story of Aimée du Buc de Rivéry that takes place at the dawn of the 19th century. It is the final film of director Jack Smight.
Premise[]
A young French woman named Aimee is kidnapped and forced into a sultan's harem in Turkey. Fiercely independent, she resists, but must make choices in order to survive. She begins to influence the sultan toward more fair manners of solving his conflicts, but finds herself at odds with another of his wives, who wants her son Mustafa to become the new sultan. As the years pass, she must deal with the new sultan's advances while protecting her adopted son Mahmud, and helping the Ottoman Empire against the Russians who have better weapons than they do.
The source for the story is a novel by Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark titled Sultana - La Nuit du Serail.
Cast[]
- F. Murray Abraham as Abdul Hamid
- Maud Adams as Sineperver
- as Aimée Dubucq de Rivéry
- as Tulip
- James Michael Gregary as Selim
- as Sebastiani
- Francesco Quinn as adult Mahmud
- Andréa Parisy as Mihrişah
- as Uncle (as Thomas McGreevey)
- as Zinah
- as Orchid
- as British Consul
- as Algerian Captain
- as Baktar
- as Chief Janissary
- as First Mate
- Thomas Rosales Jr. as Third Mate
- as Jeweler
- Dale Dye as French Officer
- as Manservant
- as Harem Girl
- Starr Andreeff as Harem Girl
- as Harem Girl
- as Old Woman
- Roz Witt as Nun
- George Marshall Ruge as Kamir
- Joe El Rady as Boy at the bazar
- as Young Mahmud
- Glenn Scarpelli as Mustafa
Production[]
- Director: Jack Smight
- Production Company: Ascona Films, Inc.
The film was shot in Turkey. Smight says half way through the production the producer Georges-Alain Vuille, ran out of money so a company run by Steve Friedman took over the film. Smith finished the film "and in my estimation, it turned out better than expected, but once again 'into oblivion'."[1]
Sources[]
- Jason Ankeny, Allmovie.
- The Favorite at IMDb
References[]
- ^ Myers, JP (March 8, 2018). "This is the story of Director Jack Smight's life in entertainment written by himself". Medium.
External links[]
- English-language films
- 1989 films
- Films based on Danish novels
- American independent films
- Swiss drama films
- Swiss films
- American films
- 1980s adventure drama films
- Films set in the 1780s
- Films set in the 1790s
- Films set in the 1800s
- Films set in the Ottoman Empire
- Films directed by Jack Smight
- American adventure drama films
- 1989 drama films