Such a strong start to this one, with an elegant singer (Leila Mourad) married to a gambling addict (Yehia Chahine, the director's cousin) who puts them in a difficult position with his losses. Mourad's musical performances are highlighted throughout the film and are generally heartfelt; though the ode to the emerging Egyptian textile industry was a little odd, it may have had something to do with political events that year (see below). Anyway, when tragedy strikes in the form of a train accident, her husband seeks to profit from it, oblivious to her feelings for her daughter.
The film could have really gone to some dark places with its noirish setup, but faltered badly in its second half, starting with the voiceover narration that tells us twenty years have passed. From there it devolves into melodrama, and there are just too many contrived aspects to how the plot treats the now older singer, e.g. That she doesn't simply reveal her identity, that her own family don't recognize her, and that she martyrs herself. There is a little bit of everything peppered in here - comedy, romance, musical, and melodrama, and the film needed focus.
I still liked it for its window into Egypt in 1952, the year of the revolution against King Farouk which marked the first time Egypt ruled itself since Cleopatra lost the Battle of Actium in 30 BC. I don't know if the film came out before or after the revolution, but there are signs of censorship, like something on the wall in an office that was manually scratched out on all frames. Anyway, despite its flaws, it was interesting enough to round my review score up a bit.
