Topkapi (DVD)

A skillful blend of romance and comedy, TOPKAPI shimmers with hilarity, action and great performances! Fun-filled and suspenseful, it's an incredibly ingenious affair and a considerable pleasure to watch. Trouble brews beneath the exotically curved towers of Istanbul when the equally exotic - and equally curved - Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri, NEVER ON SUNDAY) recruits her former lover (Maximilian Schell, THE BLACK HOLE) in a scheme to heist the pride of the city's Topkapi museum: A jewel-encrusted dagger. But the 'job' soon turns into a high-tension, high wire act, when the bumbling fall guy (Peter Ustinov, DEATH ON THE NILE) and other amateurs they've hired as help get more than they had bargained for. The stellar cast also includes Robert Morley (BEAT THE DEVIL) and Akim Tami off (TOUCH OF EVIL). Directed by great Jules Dassin (RIFIFI).