Topkapi

1964, Mystery & thriller/Comedy, 2h 0m

21 Reviews 1,000+ Ratings

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Movie Info

Beautiful thief Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) and criminal genius Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell) put together a plan to steal an emerald-encrusted dagger from Istanbul's Topkapi Palace. As part of their crew, they hire small-time hustler Arthur Simon Simpson (Peter Ustinov) to act as their fall guy. When the Turkish secret police capture Simpson at the border, they persuade him to spy on his partners in crime, mistakenly believing that they're Communist agents plotting an assassination.
  • Genre:
    Mystery & thriller, Comedy
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Jules Dassin
  • Producer:
    Jules Dassin
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     original
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Runtime:
  • Distributor:
    United Artists

Cast & Crew

Melina Mercouri
Elizabeth Lipp
Peter Ustinov
Arthur Simon Simpson
Maximilian Schell
Walter Harper
Robert Morley
Cedric Page
Akim Tamiroff
Gerven
Gilles Ségal
Giulio
Jess Hahn
Hans Fisher
Titos Vandis
Harback
Jules Dassin
Director
Jules Dassin
Producer
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Critic Reviews for Topkapi

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (2)
Full Review… J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Full Review… Variety Staff Variety Full Review… Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Full Review… Bosley Crowther New York Times Full Review… Merl Edelman Los Angeles Free Press Full Review… David Parkinson Radio Times Full Review… Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Full Review… Douglas Pratt DVDLaser Full Review… Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Full Review… Steve Crum Video-Reviewmaster.com Full Review… David Cornelius eFilmCritic.com Full Review… Daniel M. Kimmel Worcester Telegram & Gazette
View All Critic Reviews (21)

Audience Reviews for Topkapi

  • Nov 06, 2021
    An enormously fun heist movie. Ustinov is perfectly disheveled and those final 30 minute or so are unbelievably tense.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Jun 23, 2012
    A bunch of weird, unintelligible, Europeans attempt a painfully boring heist. The end.
    Brett W Super Reviewer
  • Jun 10, 2012
    A group of thieves recruit a bumbling fool in their quest to steal a dagger from a museum. In the tradition of <i>Ocean's Eleven</i> this is a decently plotted heist film. There are a few plot twists that give the script a clever feel, but it's pretty basic. The best part of the film is Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Peter Ustinov who makes us both pity and sympathize with Arthur Simpson. Sometimes he's too dumb to know better, and other times he's just clever enough to make him likable. I didn't like the film's style; the opening credit sequence reminded me of an Adam West Batman fight, and Melina Mercoun's performance as Elizabeth Lipp quickly annoyed me; she's the drunk girl in the bar who can go home with anyone else but me. Overall, <i>Topkapi</i> is light and sometimes fun but innocuous.
    Jim H Super Reviewer
  • May 06, 2012
    Jules Dassin is the master of the hiest genre in "Topkapi". I found the film rather entertaining particularly the great hiest sequence which is reminescent to Dassin's early picture "Raffi". The cast is pretty good. You got Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley and Maximilian Schell who reminded me of Daniel Day-Lewis.
    Brian R Super Reviewer
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