Topkapi (1964) on Netflix
Arthur Simon Simpson, a small-time crook, is hired to drive a car to Istanbul. Hidden weapons are found at the border, and Major Ali Tufan recruits him to spy on the thieves.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.9/1011,736 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes95%
Trailer
Plot summary
Elizabeth Lipp visits Istanbul and studies the Topkapi Palace, where a dagger set with emeralds fascinates her. In Paris she brings in Walter Harper, a former lover, to plan its theft. They assemble helpers with no criminal records: Cedric Page, who knows mechanical systems, Giulio, a mute acrobat called the Human Fly, and the strong Hans Fischer. In Kavala, Greece, the pair pay Arthur Simon Simpson, a small-time hustler, to move a rented car over the border into Istanbul, with guns and explosives concealed inside. Customs men find the weapons and hold him on suspicion of plotting an attack. Major Ali Tufan recruits him to watch the gang for the police. Simpson tells Elizabeth and Walter that only the man who brought the car in may drive it, so they hire him as their chauffeur.
Cast
- Ege Ernartas Maj. Ali Tufan
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Topkapi (1964)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Jules Dassin originally planned to cast Peter Sellers as Simpson, but Sellers refused to work with Maximilian Schell, who he claimed had a reputation for being difficult; Dassin would not drop Schell, so he cast Ustinov in place of Sellers.
- Topkapi later inspired the Mission: Impossible television series, and the scene in which a character hangs by a rope to steal a dagger inspired a similar scene in the 1996 Mission: Impossible film, where Ethan Hunt rappels into a secure room to access a computer.
- In his 2007 autobiography, Peter Sallis, who voiced Wallace, said the 1993 short film The Wrong Trousers was based loosely on Topkapi, and called it his favorite Wallace & Gromit film.
