It proved to be a rather pleasing romantic thriller, allowing both Gregory Peck – portraying an unfortunate academic – and Sophia Loren, playing the deceptive girlfriend of Alan Badel’s villain, to deliver strong performances. The basic story is somewhat tangled; a professor is asked to assist in locating and translating an ancient scroll that could potentially stop the planned killing of a Middle Eastern leader. Num…

It’s an enjoyable spy-romance-thriller pairing Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. The plot becomes somewhat tangled, and I'm still not entirely clear on the purpose of the code at the outset, though there are some exciting moments and a satisfying ending. It isn’t particularly striking or long-lasting, and it shares similarities with *Charade*, which came out three years before this one—the same writer and director were …

Arabesque comes from director Stanley Donen and is credited to Julian Mitchell, Stanley Price and Pierre Marton in its adaptation of Gordon Cotler’s novel The Cypher. It features Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel, John Merivale and Harold Kasket. A Panavision/Technicolor film with a score by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Christopher Challis. David Pollock (Peck), an expert in hieroglyphics, finds himsel…