Les bijoux du pharaon

A fairly decent remake of The Asphalt Jungle - on its own terms.

The director Rilla stuck reasonably closely to John Huston's film script.

I would have given this 6, but the presence of George Sanders and Walter Rilla add a touch of much needed class.

Richard Johnson 'browning up' as an Arab is somewhat outré, though Johnson is slightly more convincing than Sterling Hayden in the original. The scene where Sanders is entranced by a belly dancing lady is also more believable than Sam Jaffe being entranced by a young woman jiving to juke box tunes in a small diner.

Worth watching as a curio and to compare it scene by scene to The Asphalt Jungle.

"Cairo" (1963) is notable for being set in Cairo (duh...), but otherwise it's a routine caper film. It's quite leisurely - the caper doesn't start until halfway through the running time - and when it does get to the caper, it's totally unbelievable (the crooks enter the barely guarded Egyptian museum in a thoroughly noisy and indiscreet way!). On-location shooting and a good cast are the strongest assets; Faten Hamamah, reportedly the most popular Egyptian actress of all time, has a rather thankless role in her only Hollywood film, but still manages to give a charming performance. **1/2 out of 4.

Of course don't expect to find in this British movie the magnificence of the John Huston's genuine, authentic material. But George Sanders brings his own touch and nobody can regret that. The basic scheme remains the same as in the original. The actors are less powerful as the American cast but this Wolf Rilla's movie is worth watching, and also a bit rare, hard to catch. I won't say it is a masterpiece but for anyone interested in crime films from all over the world, and from old times, this one is absolutely for you. And Cairo atmosphere, settings brings something exotic, quite different from the urban jungle of the ASHALT JUNGLE;

One of the greatest strengths of filmmaker John Huston was that he knew great source material when he read it and, just as importantly, not to change anything for the sake of change alone. This is a virtue also shared by the makers of ‘Cairo' – a very faithful adaptation of W. R. Burnett's wonderful novel ‘The Asphalt Jungle'. The only problem, of course, is that Huston got there thirteen years earlier.

The switch of locale from the brooding, empty streets of downtown America to the teeming bazaars and markets of Egypt's capital works surprisingly well but in every other department the film is vastly inferior to the Huston version. There is a slight switch of emphasis from the role of the hired gun (Richard Johnson instead of Sterling Hayden) to the criminal mastermind (played with typical cool detachment by George Sanders) and the object of the robbery this time is nothing less than Cleopatra's jewels in the Cairo Museum! Beyond that, however, it's almost a scene for scene remake of the earlier film.

Sanders and Johnson do surprisingly well, even though Johnson is hopelessly miscast as an Arab. The supporting cast is poor at best. ‘Cairo' compares favourably against the other two versions of the tale, ‘Cool Breeze' (1972) & ‘The Badlanders' (1958) – a western with Alan Ladd! – but that's not really saying too much.

Stick with the Huston version or, better still, find a copy of the novel – it's one of the outstanding works of 20th Century American literature.

George Sanders, fresh out of prison, has developed a plan to steal King Tut's jewels, worth a fortune. He enlists an old friend and then gets in contact with a small group of men. Unfortunately for these guys, there are lots of pitfalls along the way because of the human element, mostly that of greed. The guy who is going to finance the operation and the fencing of the artifacts, turns out to want the whole thing. The deed is done but a stray bullet takes out one of the men. There are others who want in and we also have an unstable man who is explosive and dangerous to himself an others. When it's all over, one wonders why he bothered. Even Sanders is sort of blah.