Arabesque

David Pollock is an Oxford professor who specializes in ancient hieroglyphics. He is drawn into a scheme involving a coded message that several interested parties are competing to obtain, among them the oil magnate Nejim Beshraavi and a Middle Eastern prime minister, Hassan Jena, whose political future depends on the message's contents. Hired to decipher it, Pollock finds himself in danger and unsure whom to trust, particularly Beshraavi's mistress, Yasmin Azir, whose loyalties shift and remain ambiguous. Gregory Peck plays Pollock, Sophia Loren plays Yasmin, and Alan Badel plays Beshraavi, with Kieron Moore, Carl Duering and John Merivale in supporting roles. Stanley Donen directed and produced the film from a screenplay by Peter Stone, Stanley Price and Julian Mitchell.

Arabesque was released in 1966 and runs 105 minutes. It belongs to the middle of Donen's career: it is the ninth of the sixteen films he directed, arriving after Charade and before Bedazzled. Its mix of action, comedy, mystery and thriller elements reflects the kind of light suspense film Donen was making in that period, and the pairing of Peck and Loren gives it a comparable star-driven appeal.

Made for a budget of about five million dollars, the film received a mixed reception. Its critics' rating stands at 6.7 out of 10 from 55 reviews, a more favorable figure than its audience scores: 6.4 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 8,900 votes, and 6.3 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller pool of 192 votes. The gap suggests critics were somewhat warmer toward it than general viewers have been.