The Man from Cairo
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The Man From Cairo | |
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Directed by | Ray Enright |
Written by | Eugene Ling Phillip Stevens Janice Stevens |
Based on | story by Ladislas Fodor |
Produced by | Bernard Luber |
Starring | George Raft Gianna Maria Canale Massimo Serato Irene Papas |
Music by | Renzo Rossellini |
Production company | Michael David Productions |
Distributed by | Eros Films (UK) Lippert Films |
Release date | 27 November 1953 |
Countries | United Kingdom Italy USA |
Language | English |
Budget | $235,000[1] |
The Man From Cairo (Italian: Dramma nella Kasbah/Avventura ad Algeri) is a 1953 British, Italian American international co-production film-noir starring George Raft, who plays a man that is mistaken for a detective by the French and is sent to find lost World War II gold in Algiers, despite the film's title.[2]
The 1953 picture was the last completed film in which Raft had top billing and the last of three films he made for Lippert Pictures.[3] It was the final feature film of director Ray Enright.
Plot[]
The French government investigate the location of some bullion stolen during the war.
Tourist Mike Canelli, an ex-serviceman who served in Algeria during the war, is mistaken for an American agent assisting the French.
Cast[]
- George Raft as Mike Canelli
- Gianna Maria Canale as Lorraine Belogne
- Massimo Serato as Basil Constantine
- Guido Celano as Sgt. Emile Touchard
- Irene Papas as Yvonne Le Beaux
- Alfredo Varelli as General Dumont, also known as Professor Crespi
- Leon Lenoir as Capt. Akhim Bey
- Mino Doro as Major Le Blanc, assumed name of Emile Moreau
- Angelo Dessy as Pockmark
Production[]
The film was produced by Bernard Luber, who had just made Loan Shark with Raft.
Irene Papas made her American film debut.[1]
The film was shot on location in Algeria and Italy.
The film was made for $155,000 with $80,000 in deferrals.[1]
Reception[]
The New York Times said the best thing about the film was "a sleazy, authentic-looking backdrop. The murky alleyways, run-down hotels and palm-fringed facades, obviously photographed on the spot, stand in direct, flavorsome contrast to the business at hand—unfortunately, the old spy and monkey business... Three scenarists have crammed the plot with enough skulking and double-talk to rival an Eric Ambler opus, minus the master's finesse, characterizations and, of course, suspense... Mr. Raft is Mr. Raft, still the same competent, brisk and unimaginative performer."[4]
References[]
- ^ a b c Mark Thomas McGee, Talk's Cheap, Action's Expensive: The Films of Robert L. Lippert, Bear Manor Media, 2014 p 155
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (9 February 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft". Filmink.
- ^ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 156
- ^ Review of film at New York Times
External links[]
- The Man from Cairo at IMDb
- The Man from Cairo at TCMDB
- Review of film at New York Times
- English-language films
- 1953 films
- British films
- Italian films
- English-language Italian films
- 1953 crime films
- British black-and-white films
- Film noir
- Films shot in Algeria
- Lippert Pictures films
- Films directed by Ray Enright
- British crime films
- Italian crime films
- American black-and-white films
- Italian black-and-white films
- American crime films
- American films
- 1950s British film stubs
- 1950s crime film stubs