Topkapi (1964)

Taglines: It’s for tonight, darling, in Istanbul…

Topkapi movie storyline. 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 (Sir 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.

Topkapi (1964) is a Technicolor heist film made by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists. The film was produced and directed by the emigre American film director Jules Dassin. The film is based on Eric Ambler’s novel The Light of Day (1962), adapted as a screenplay by Monja Danischewsky.

The film stars Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, Gilles Ségal and Akim Tamiroff. The music score was by Manos Hadjidakis, the cinematography by Henri Alekan and the costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge.

Ambler’s novel is different from the movie on several counts, with the story narrated by Simpson (named Arthur Abdel Simpson in the book), so that the reader only gradually comes to work out what Harper and his associates are really up to. Simpson in the book is blackmailed into driving the car to Istanbul after Harper catches him trying to steal Harper’s travelers’ checks. The book features frequent flashbacks to Simpson’s schooldays in England, which help to explain his character and motives more clearly than in the film.

About the Story

Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) visits Istanbul, where she sees a traveling fair featuring replicas of treasures from the Topkapı Palace. Next she cases the Topkapı, fascinated by the emerald-encrusted dagger of Sultan Mahmud I. Leaving Turkey, she recruits her ex-lover, Swiss master-criminal Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell), to plan a theft of the dagger. They engage Cedric Page (Robert Morley), master of all things mechanical; Giulio, “The Human Fly” (Gilles Ségal), a mute acrobat; and the burly Hans (Jess Hahn), who will provide the muscle needed for the job.

Harper and Lipp then hire small-time hustler Arthur Simon Simpson (Peter Ustinov) to drive a car into Turkey to transport hidden explosives and firearms for use in the burglary. Simpson, knowing nothing of Harper’s and Lipp’s plans, is arrested at the border when Turkish Customs find the firearms. Because Simpson has no information for Turkish police, they conclude that the weapons are to be used in an assassination.

Turkish Major Turfan decides to use Simpson to spy on Harper and Lipp for the police. Page, picking up the car in Istanbul, is told by a police ruse that only the “importer” Simpson is permitted to drive it in Turkey. While traveling with the gang, Simpson leaves cryptic notes for his police handlers, but most of his intelligence is worthless since Simpson is still ignorant of the plan.

Hans’ hands are injured in a scuffle with the drunken cook, Gerven (Akim Tamiroff), and Simpson is engaged as a substitute, prompting him to confess that the police are watching them. Knowing they face arrest if they try to escape Turkey, or use their equipment, Harper improvises a new plan in which they will give the still-oblivious police the slip, and steal the dagger without using their weapons. Then they’ll “surrender” to the police, and claim to have found explosives in their car. Just before they leave, Simpson discards his last note, then leaves with the others.

Harper arranges to give the police the slip. That evening, Harper, Simpson, and Giulio steal the dagger and leave a replica in its place. Unnoticed by the thieves, during the robbery a bird flies through the window they entered by and is trapped inside the room when the window is closed.

The gang deliver the dagger to Joseph (Joe Dassin), proprietor of the traveling fair display, who will smuggle it out of the country. The gang members then go to police headquarters to “reveal” their discovery of weapons in the car. The inspector asks Simpson to vouch for Harper and Lipp’s whereabouts that day. Simpson, seeming to waver, throws in his lot with the others, and backs up their alibi.

Before the police release Simpson and the others, the trapped bird in the Topkapı triggers the alarm, alerting police officers across Istanbul. When word of the Topkapı alarm reaches the police, Major Turfan confronts the thieves, displaying Simpson’s last note, which has just enough information to link all of them to the theft. Turfan tells them all that he now knows why they were in Turkey. “A little bird told me,” he says.

Directed by: Jules Dassin
Starring: Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley, Akim Tamiroff, Gilles Ségal, Titos Vandis, Ege Ernart, Senih Orkan, Ahmet Danyal Topatan, Joe Dassin, Despo Diamantidou
Screenplay by: Monja Danischewsky
Cinematography by: Henri Alekan
Film Editing by: Roger Dwyre
Costume Design by: Deni Vachlioti
Makeup Department: Amato Garbini
Music by: Manos Hadjidakis
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: September 2, 1964