The Man from Cairo

An American tourist, who served in Algeria during WW2, is mistaken for an American agent hired by the French government to recover its gold reserves that went missing in the Algerian desert during the war.

People representing many nationalities and reasons are also seeking the gold. It boils down to a battle between Canelli and the original looter aboard a speeding train.

The Man From Cairo sees George Raft handle some intrigue in this fairly routine noir thriller. I found it a bit too talky and the pace was rather languid. Of course, the location was good and George Raft with his ultra-stoic demeanour and cool delivery of the one liners makes things watchable. And Gianna Maria Canale is a sight for sore eyes!

It was unusual from Ray Enright - an excellent western maker - to make such an espionage post war feature. It was very popular after WW2, to provide such plots with former nazis, new Russian Soviet enemies and many intrigues. And of course George Raft was hired several times for such schemes. This one, among the last that Ray Enright directed, is not above nor worst than another one of this kind. It is agreeable and predictable to watch. No more. If you are a Raft's fan, go ahead, if not, you'll miss nothing at all. But there is an overall good atmosphere, north Africa atmosphere, very common for this period, late forties early fifties. I don 't know why, I expected to see Peter Lorre in every scene of this intrigue. I don't know why....

Well, that's the way this low-budget crime drama was promoted. Starring Screen Heavy George Raft (well past his prime) and filmed abroad in 1953, it was just an attempt by prolific B-movie producer Robert Lippert to exploit Raft's familiar name. Here, he is cast as a vacationer heading to Algeirs, for no reason in particular. There, he runs into considerable danger due to a case of mistaken identity. He is thought to be an agent investigating a gold theft that happened during the war. At times, it seems that almost everybody he runs into has had some connection to the robbery, (and most of them do) needlessly adding even more confusion to an already muddled plot. This is one film that needed all the exposition it could get, but, though details are hashed over endlessly, it doesn't make things any clearer. And though it was advertised as being ''filmed where it happened'', there isn't much of the expected exotic scenery. There are some sleazily authentic backgrounds, but little use is made of them. It might as well have been filmed in Idaho,for all the ''atmosphere'' it generates. This is a very claustrophobic looking production, which relies almost entirely on Raft's fast-fading charisma to keep it afloat. Sadly, he just doesn't make a very convincing hero (though he was a terrific villain) and he sounds as if he's imitating Humphrey Bogart. The rest of the cast is dubbed, including leading lady Gianna Maria Canale, who not only has no chemistry with Raft, but is almost twice his size, and moves like a robot. There is an early appearance by the great Greek actress Irene Papas,but she's wasted in a nothing role.Strangely, the movie retains enough interest to keep you watching to the end, but that's not saying much. And neither this film, nor the other Lippert quickies Raft did,generated any new interest in him. When this one reached the US, it landed on the bottom half of a double bill, supporting another Lippert production ''Sins Of Jezebel''. They are all available on DVD from VCI ENTERTAINMENT. And the transfers are better than the movies. That's pretty ironic-In most cases, it's usually the other way around. Incidentally, this one was advertised with one of the most striking posters a Lippert feature ever had. Too bad the advertising was superior to the product. Well, it's not as if THAT'S never happened before, time and time again...

A truly risible film of interest only to die hard film buffs. George Raft is very dapper and expensively tailored but still has the look of a man from whom one would hesitate to buy a second-hand car. He is anyway a wee bit long in the tooth for these sorts of capers and has absolutely no chemistry with luscious former beauty queen Gianna Maria Canale who gives the impression that she is still parading for the judges. Fellini 'regular' Mino Doro, with peruke, is a good villain and there is a tantalising glimpse of stunning Irene Papas in a bathtub. The rest of the cast with the exception of Massimo Serrato, is composed of planks. On a serious note, Gianna Maria was runner-up in the Miss Italia contest of 1947 to Lucia Bose, recently taken from us by the Chinese virus.

George Raft blows into Algiers from Cairo to discover that the local police and the French spies are trying to track down a couple of hundred million in gold that's been missing since the Second World War. With an attitude of "what's that got to do with me?", he schedules an appointment with fellow American Richard McNamara, goes to his apartment, helps himself to a drink, and finds Irene Papas dead. He's spotted by Gianna Maria Canale, who describes him to the police, then refuses to identify him. With his passport held, he finds himself under suspicion of being involved with the missing gold.

In his last starring role (and Ray Enright's last movie as director), Raft finds himself irresistible to women, and bluffing his way through a murky situation. It's an interesting plot, and Raft's diffident performance matches that of his ill-defined character; the fact that it's never clear why he's in Algiers made me suspect early on that he was involved in more than a Wrong Man sort of way. This Hitchcockian tale has a lot to recommend it, but the short budget keeps it from being superior.