Cairo

From director John Huston, 1950's The Asphalt Jungle is one of the all-time great film noirs, a heist flick with a great cast and story. It was inevitable, wasn't it? Yes......a remake, even if it is a little known remake. Some 13 years later with the location transplanted to Egypt, we get 1963's Cairo.

Released from a German prison after a long sentence, a man known only as the Major (George Sanders) arrives in Cairo with a new plan. He's been working on all the intricate details to pull off a dangerous if very lucrative job at the Cairo Museum, stealing the King Tut diamonds. The Major needs some help though and has to get some funding and backing from a respected if somewhat shady businessman/lawyer, Kuchuk (Walter Rilla), who has plans of his own with the diamonds. Putting his plan into action, the Major assembles a small team of specialists and crooks, including enforcer Ali (Richard Johnson). Everything is seemingly worked out to the last second, but no matter how much planning has been done, there's always something surprising waiting.

I'm going to sound like quite the movie hypocrite here because usually I'm completely against remakes. Did Huston's Asphalt Jungle really need to be remade? Nope, not in the least. It's basically perfect as is. Just the same, 13 years later here comes this almost scene-for-scene remake based off of W.R. Burnett's source novel. It simply isn't necessary so if you've seen Huston's version, you've seen this movie. Director Wolf Rilla (son of star Walter Rilla) does a solid if unspectacular job with his version, and it's entertaining throughout. It's a tad shorter than 'Asphalt,' clocking in at 91 minutes as opposed to 112 minutes, and it does feel a little rushed at times. Kenneth Jones' score is good without being intrusive. And maybe it was just the aged quality of a 1963 movie, but the shadowy, dark look of the movie is a nice touch.

The only difference between the two movies is the setting, and that's probably the biggest selling point for Cairo. Credit to director Rilla for shooting on-location in Cairo rather than a Hollywood-like Cairo set. The story moves along and develops on the Egyptian streets, Sanders, Johnson and the cast walking around with the population and not in front of a green screen. It's a simple thing, but it goes a long way toward giving a familiar story something memorable when you've seen everything else. The location include the more obvious ones like the Cairo Museum and the Pyramids, but it's cool just to see these places, even if it is in the background. Then there's the less familiar locations, the back alleys and streets, not to mention the desert roads and oasis' in the Egyptian countryside.

Beyond the first two or three stars listed in the cast, 'Cairo' features a predominantly Egyptian cast so for the most part, there is far less star power here than in 'Asphalt.' I liked Sanders a lot as the Major, a mysterious thief with no real explained background. He's an English gentleman, prim, proper and mannered who has a knack for pulling off difficult jobs. His character is more prominent than his 'Asphalt' counterpart. Besides the odd choice of casting the very English Johnson as a very Egyptian character, Johnson does a fine job as Ali, the enforcer who wants nothing more than return to his childhood farm but gambling problems have derailed those plans. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with Amina (Faten Hamama), a singer/dancer working in cheap clubs, helping humanize the tough character. As the biggest name stars, Sanders and Johnson get the majority of development and screentime, and they don't disappoint. It's a solid, natural chemistry among two very different men drawn together for a job.

The rest of the Major's crew includes Willy (John Meillon), a WWII vet who specializes in explosives and safecracking, Kerim (Ahmed Mazhar), the coffee house owner doubling as the getaway driver, and Nicodemos (Eric Pohlmann), the Major's link to everything in the criminal underworld and black market. Rilla too is solid as Kuchuk, the shady financier of the Major's plan with his own intentions. Salah Nazmi plays the police commandant hunting the thieves.

Here we are again, the actual heist. Pulling off the job is a good extended sequence, if not quite as complicated as it would seem according to the plan. Like so many heist films, the best is saved for last; the fall-out following the heist. As is so often the case, it's not the job that's the most difficult part. It is getting away with it and dealing with the inevitable double-crosses and betrayals. The post-heist fallout sticks close to 'Asphalt,' but it is full of tension and develops nicely. This 1963 remake is unnecessary, not adding anything new to the formula other than the Cairo setting, but it is entertaining throughout. Sometimes that's all that counts. Watch a slightly edited, shorter version HERE at Youtube.

Cairo (1963): ** 1/2 /****