The Man From Cairo (1953)

good back-story, and good acting

best movie i've ever seen.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A rather confusing set-up has Richard McNamara, an FBI agent, involved in a search with the French government for missing gold. He runs into old acquaintance George Raft who ends up involved and McNamara disappears from view. Raft gets involved in with the sexy Gianna Maria Canale who may or may not know more about the gold than she's letting on. The film never really grasps you the way a thriller of this mold really should and although there are a few exciting sequences and some tension, the result is pretty pallid. Irene Papas, in one of her earliest roles, stands out, but ultimately, she is wasted with a "nothing" part. The attempt to copy the European "new wave" fails here and the results are predictable and never intriguing.

George Raft finished a series of pictures he made with anemic budget Lippert Studios with The Man From Cairo. And in the tradition of B movies the title has nothing to do with the film other than Raft changes planes in Cairo.Where he meets up with an old friend Richard McNamara, an American private detective who has been hired by the French government to locate some French gold that disappeared into the Algerian desert after the Nazis invaded. The bad guys mistake Raft for McNamara after Raft arrives in Algiers and the action begins.Other than a quick appearance by Greek actress Irene Papas who gets killed off right away, no other players of note to Americans are cast in this film. The Man From Cairo is slightly better than Raft's Outpost In Morocco with the action taking place in the same locale, but not much better.No one has ever accused George Raft of being a great actor, but he truly is lifeless in this film. I'm sure he was grateful for the paycheck and that's about it.One definitely for the money.

George Raft is an ex-G.I. who is wandering the world. He just happens into Algeria at the same time an old friend is investigating the theft of French government gold. When the friend is killed, Raft is pulled into the investigation and his life is suddenly hanging by a thread. So it's up to tough-guy Raft to clear himself for the murder and get to the bottom of the theft.Years before, George Raft made BACKGROUND TO DANGER. Now a decade later, he's made a film that is very similar. Unfortunately, in the meantime, he's gotten 10 years older AND 10 years more wooden in his performance. It was amazing to see how unanimated and dull he'd become in the meantime--with very little energy or emotion--like he's just walking through the role. He talks a lot but doesn't do all that much--possibly due to the script or possibly because he's obviously too old to play the action hero. Sadly, all the supporting actors are pretty forgettable, too--forcing Raft to shoulder the entire turgid film.The bottom line is that this film isn't all that original (having seen several similar films) and it's not particularly fun or interesting--though it's not a bad film. Worth seeing only if you have relatively low expectations.

i am a real sucker for casbah and foreign legion movies. they were the fodder of my childhood. i approached this one with a salutary glass of rum and high hopes. the rum stood up; the film did not.i have been waiting to add a good george raft flic to my collection of old b&w's. despite his reputation i was sure one existed somewhere. this one wasn't it. the studio forgot to hire writers: the dialogue comes across as if pronounced phonetically by actors unfamiliar with English, reading from scrawls on large pieces of cardboard dimly seen in the lower screen. actions are equally grotesque. the required motions as mechanical and stiff as if choreographed by engineers using tinkertoy models and expecting no greater dexterity from the cast.the words fresh, interesting, exciting, captivating, even interesting, have no place in describing this movie. a 'b' film that deserves every slur it has duly earned.