"Topkapi" is a very good film, but I noticed that a reviewer thought this film was better than director Dassin's earlier brilliant caper film, "Rififi". Well, I certainly would not go that far, as "Rififi" is probably the best or one of the very best robbery films of all time. It is interesting, however, how Jules Dassin seemed to almost make a specialty of these sort of films! What it does have that "Rififi" does not is a sense of humor, but that just isn't enough to make it better than the earlier French film noir masterpiece.

Possibly the best thing going for "Topkapi" is the locale. After all, it's wonderful to see the wonderful city of Istanbul showcased like this--and scenes with the crooks on the rooftops looking at the cityscape are just breathtaking--so much so I would have loved to have seen this on the big screen. The other good things the film has in its favor is a masterful director, a very good ensemble cast and an interesting script--though one clearly derrived from similar films that preceded it (apart from "Rififi", also "The Killing", "Big Deal on Madonna Street", "Bob le Flambeur" and even "The Pink Panther"). In fact, because the film is a bit derivative, I had to knock a point off my vote. Still, it's a nice film and the heist sequence was done well---very tense and meticulous.

By the way, although the film never seemed to get much attention, another very good caper film is "Grand Slam" (1967). Again, it suffers a bit from being a not wholly original idea, but it's a dandy film as well.

When watching Topkapi, kindly remember that whole complex was the living quarters of the Ottoman Sultans back in their day and was called the Seraglio. Quite a layout those sultans had and in does stand today as the most successful Moslem based dynasty ever in history.

It's a big old museum and there's an item in at that Melina Mercouri wants to possess real bad. A curved Ottoman dagger with three precious emeralds on the hilt.

Melina recruits her team some of which consists of Maxmilian Schell, Robert Morley and Akim Tamiroff. Schell says they need a fall guy, a klutz who they can leave holding the bag so the team can make a getaway.

The fall guy is Peter Ustinov a small time chiseler who operates in Greece in that netherworld of law and lawlessness. Perfect for their plans so they think.

Topkapi was responsible for Peter Ustinov getting his second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. In the scenes he's in, Ustinov steals the film completely. According to a recent biography of Sal Mineo, Mineo resented mightily that Ustinov got his first Oscar for Spartacus, beating out among others, Mineo in Exodus. Pre-Oscar publicity had Mineo the favorite and Sal never got over it. This second win for Topkapi must have put Sal over the edge.

The characters are so engaging, I'm surprised a sequel was never done. Especially Ustinov's character. He reminds of another famous bumbler who was on the right side of the law.

What a film that would have made if Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau was sent to go after Ustinov as Arthur Simpson.

Why didn't anyone think of it?

Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) is enchanted by the emerald dagger of Sultan Mahmud I that is located in Istanbul. She recruits Swiss criminal Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell) who wants only amateurs unknown to the police for this job. Cedric Page (Robert Morley) is a mechanical genius. Arthur Simon Simpson (Peter Ustinov) is a small time hustler who they intend to use as a shmole. They hire him to drive a car packed with smoke bombs across the border into Turkey which the guards find. The Turkish secret police uses Simpson to spy on the group. Lipp and Harper are shocked when Simpson unexpectedly shows up. Simpson tries to tell the police that they are Russian spies. When a member of the team injures his hands, they reluctantly use Simpson.

This is a fun little caper movie. I love the exotic locations. Melina Mercouri is quite a broad. The caper is a little bit confused and it takes some time to develop. Walking on the roof is great. The Turkish wrestling is fascinating but a bit too long. The hanging from the ceiling is long too but that is riveting. Ustinov is great as a second rate criminal. I'm still not sure why they send the car with the weapons. At the very least, why would they pick up the car at the hotel? It seems like a very difficult way to establish an alibi.