Imperfect, But Familiar

Arabesque (1966) – A college professor with a specialty in ancient languages is drawn into an international crisis. Someone is trying to murder a visiting statesman to stop the signing of a treaty. Or are they? He has no idea who he can trust, including the beautiful wife of a suspect.

Directed by Stanley Donen

Starring Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren

Why I Liked It – A bit of fun that doesn’t require (or want) too much thinking.

Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones, Jr. had a predecessor (his father), it turns out that Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon had one too. I don’t know that Professor David Pollack is Langdon’s father, but he’s absolutely the ancestor to the idea.

Pollack (Peck) is an American professor with a knowledge of obscure ancient symbols and languages. He is hired by a mysterious person to translate a message that turns out to be connected with international intrigue and murder. He enlists the help (or is he enlisted?) of a beautiful woman (Loren) with her own secrets. Slowly, the facts are revealed after many missteps. Only our hero can save the day!

Sound familiar?

Yeah, this mid-1960s thriller includes everything that we know, love, and hate about Brown’s smash hit books and movies. For one thing, you don’t want to examine the plot too closely. The holes can be dangerous to your health. Stanley Donen was so worried about the story that he resorted to some unusual (but I though pretty cool) camera angles and shot selections. They are there for one reason and one reason only, to distract you. Which they do a reasonable job of here.

Because I know that movies like “Angels and Demons”, “The DaVinci Code” and their like are not intended to give me deep philosophical/historical/theological concepts to explore, I can enjoy them as the whiz-bang adventures they are. For the most part, I can do the same thing here. There are a few distractions of note.

First, Gregory Peck was not the first choice for the role. He is a brilliant actor, but the role was written for Cary Grant. The sly, wink-wink dialogue style doesn’t roll off Peck’s tongue the way I know it would have for Grant. It leaves Peck sounding a little wooden at times he’s supposed to give us a chuckle. He ends up stuck between the smooth Grant, and Tom Hanks “aw shucks” everyman Langdon. Peck’s chemistry with Loren isn’t bad, but the lack of Cary Grant suaveness hurts there too. I also had to blink every time Alan Badel came on screen, especially when wearing sunglasses. Badel, as Loren’s lover Beshraavi, bears an uncanny resemblance to the actor Peter Sellers. I kept waiting for a classic Sellers take, and never got one.

What are you left with? A visually interesting, modestly funny action movie with a good cast and suspect script. Plus, a look at the roots of some modern hit movies. There are worse ways to spend part of a day.

You can stream “Arabesque” on Prime Video

Rating – *** Worth A Look

(A truly terrible voiceover by the director!)