Review of Topkapi (1964) by Stephen M — 20 Jan 2008

Peter Ustinov is good as the reluctant spy--and nearly as reluctant jewel thief--but the rest of the cast is pretty unappealing and the film is at least 20 minutes too long. The excellent heist sequence makes up for a lot but, on the whole, "Topkapi" isn't as much fun as it ought to be.

The ending confused me the first time I saw it because I thought they'd deliberately let the bird loose in the museum to set off the alarm system, then raced down to the police station to create an alibi.

Shows how thick I am! I couldn't understand a single word Akim Tamiroff said in this movie.