Melina Mercouri in Topkapi (1964)
I just watched Melina Mercouri in Topkapi (1964) directed by her husband Jules Dassin last night. Really fun heist movie with some great character moments and a thrilling climax that was famously mimicked by the first Mission: Impossible movie. Also, surprisingly lots of oiled up shirtless men rubbing against each other. So playful, horny, and psychedelic in blazing Technicolor.
Maximilian Schell is hot hot hot, Peter Ustinov won the Best Supporting Actor for his role, but Melina as the master jewel thief really runs away with this film. Maybe not the most dynamic actress but for sheer force of personality and that VOICE. I’d have made her minister of culture too.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 14, 2022 9:00 PM
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This is one of my favorite films! It made me fall in love Istanbul. Perfect casting and the heist scenes are thrilling.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | February 2, 2022 1:25 PM
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R2, me too! It’s one of the places I want to visit mainly because of this movie
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | February 2, 2022 1:39 PM
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J'adore Istanbul. Layers of history. Spectacular location reminds me of San Francisco. Food is fantastico. Raki will knock you on your arse. Speaking of arses, check out the movie Steam. Have a copy of Topkaki dagger.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | February 2, 2022 1:39 PM
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She had terrifying teeth.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | February 2, 2022 2:05 PM
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Back in the early 1990s there was a channel called Encore that showed Topkapi several times and I absolutely fell in love with the film.
One day I just happened on an episode of "Anything But Love" and out of nowhere the character of Robin mentions Topkapi and I was baffled. I can't imagine more than maybe 6 of us watching even got the reference.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | February 2, 2022 2:06 PM
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Melina’s appearance on WML crashed by “second mystery guest”
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | February 2, 2022 3:24 PM
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Did anyone on DL see her on Broadway in Illya Darling?
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | February 3, 2022 4:19 PM
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Currently watching Melina getting fucked by her stepson Anthony Perkins in Phaedra
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 14, 2022 7:45 PM
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Mercouri makes a great drag queen!
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 14, 2022 7:48 PM
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Give her the Elgin Marbles back already.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 14, 2022 7:51 PM
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One of my absolute favorite films. It was so cool to visit the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul after being such a fan of the film for years
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 14, 2022 7:52 PM
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Yep, adore this movie and it was a thrill to actually visit the Topkapi Palace when I visited Istanbul back in the 00s. Absolutely glorious, gorgeous city. Sailing the Bosphorus is simply breathtaking. And so are many of the men.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 14, 2022 8:09 PM
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To answer your question, r10, I saw Melina Mercouri in Illya Darling when I was in high school.
Having just discovered the world of Broadway musicals a few years earlier, and seeing everything amazing from Funny Girl (with Babs), Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Golden Boy, Sweet Charity, Fiddler, Oliver and the luminous Barbara Harris in On a Clear Day and The Apple Tree, I was SHOCKED to discover that not all Broadway musicals were equal. I hated Illya Darling and didn't "get" Mercouri, who couldn't act, sing or dance (at least onstage) at all.
PS: Decades later I worked with Max Schell, who I crushed on way back in high school from TV viewings of Judgment at Nuremberg and Topkapi. Though he was a bit frail and ill, he still had the dynamic sexual charisma I had mooned over in my youth.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 14, 2022 8:23 PM
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This thread made me search it out. It's streaming on Pluto, but the dialogue is mostly incomprehensible, it's so low in the mix, and when the music comes in, it completely overpowers the dialogue. For those of you who have seen it, did you experience difficulty hearing the dialogue or is it possibly the version they're streaming on Pluto?
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 14, 2022 8:24 PM
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R18, I watched it a few years back on Amazon Prime and no problem with the sound.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 14, 2022 9:00 PM
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