Flame of Stamboul

Richard Denning is an actor mostly forgotten today. Back in the day, he was famous for the TV show "Mr. and Mrs. North" as well as playing the Governor throughout the run of the original "Hawaii Five-O"...as well as a variety of relatively low-budget films. Here in "Flame of Stamboul" he plays a spy...and a heroic one at that!

The story begins with Larry Wilson (Denning) arriving in Istanbul. He's working for the US government and his job is to ensure the safety of an upcoming conference. But an unknown baddie nicknamed 'The Voice' (because no one has seen him, reportedly) is out to do bad things....and part of his plan includes replacing a famous belly dancer (the titular character in this story) with a double. But why?

This one never is boring....though it also rarely is all that exciting as well. It lacks some of the sensationalism you'd find in many spy films of the 50s but is still worth seeing.

"Flame of Stamboul" begins in Istanbul but is mostly set in Cairo, Egypt. It was made just before big social and political changes swept the Middle East, and this film has a kind of 1940s feel to it. But unlike the '40s spy classics, it lacks suspense.

The "Flame" in the title is a nightclub dancer who agrees to take part in a big jewel heist, never guessing that it is really an espionage operation. She also doesn't realize that American agents are on her trail.

The beginning of the movie is the best, when things are still murky enough to be intriguing. But once it becomes clear what's going, the plot just kind of unfolds, without any interesting twists. And the dancing is unimpressive, even though the "Flame" is supposed to be the hottest entertainer in the Levant.

George Zucco plays the master spy known as "the Voice." This was one of his final films before he retired for health reasons, and he looks sluggish and frail. You could say the same about the movie.

A rare but pretty boring little movie which takes place between Turkey and Egypt. A very talkative film with little action, and a story which nobody cares of.

A mix up of espionage and adventure, intrigue among the Eastern spell.

Lisa Ferraday and Richard Denning bring not enough help to stay you awake.

Anyway I am glad to have it in my collection. When you're a movie addict, you must accept all kind of features. But I must admit that the producer - Wallace Mc Donald - has done better in his career. I saw others of his movies - I don't remember the titles, sorry - but they were far more interesting.