Topkapi (1964)

“It’s not a question of losing my nerve; I never *had* nerve! ” – Arthur Simon Simpson

Number of Times Seen – 1 (24 Dec 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A group of thieves band together to steal a precious artifact from a Turkish museum.

My Take on it – This is a film that I have never had any interest in seeing and decoded to finally watch it while going through the films with Oscar winning performances.

Boy, did I make a mistake by waiting so long to see this.

This is an excellent crime caper film and they are able to keep things both intriguing and interesting the entire time.

The characters are excellent and they manage to develop them so well that each of them feels unique and essential to the success or failure of this heist.

The story moves at a fast pace and swiftly transitions from scene to scene throughout the story which helps raise the stakes of it all as thing move along and remains thrilling throughout.

The cast is stellar with Maximillian Schell, Melina Mercouri, Robert Morley and Peter Ustinov all cast so perfectly in their roles.

Ustinov is definitely the stand out among them and was quite deserving of his Oscar for this role.

The story is comprised of so many small details that this is definitely the kind of film that needs to be seen multiple times in order to catch everything that is happening especially in the background.

I’m so glad that I finally got a chance to see this movie.

This film is among the best and most thrilling heist films ever made and it will now be ranked quite high on my list of favorite films from 1964.

Bottom Line – Excellent crime caper film that is presented really well that it stays interesting and intriguing the whole time.  The characters are all excellent and the way that they plan each character’s role is done so well here since each feels unique and essential to the plot.  The way that the story moves at a great and swift pace works really well and that helps raise the stakes of the caper as things move along.  Ustinov stands out among the stellar cast and was quite deserving of winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role here.  The story is filled with so many small details that it’s the kind of film that needs to be viewed numerous times in order to try and catch everything going on especially in the background.  Among the best heist films ever made and will now be quite high on my favorite films from this year. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Cited by Mission: Impossible (1966) TV series creator Bruce Geller as the inspiration for his own series. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)

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