Pictured is an Egyptian black-and-white still showing Ismail
Yasseen as Ostaz Charlie from the 1952 Anwar Wagdi film Drop of Dew
[qatr al-neda] starring Shadia as Drop of Dew based on a story
by Anwar Wagdi, with screenplay by Anwar Wagdi, dialogue and songs by
Abou Seoud El-Ibiary and cinematography by Wahid Farid. Plot summary:
The unknown artist Wahid (Anwar Wagdi) married his colleague the
unknown artist Drop of Dew (Shadia) and they set out to create work
for themselves that was worthy of their talents. Time passed and this
was not achieved. Wahid decided to play a trick to make himself into a
famous person; he claimed he had killed his wife. His trick succeeded
and he acquired great fame. A lady's body was found; the police
thought it was his wife's body and that he was really the
murderer. Wahid said his wife had not been killed and that she was
alive somewhere. His wife had been in an automobile accident which
caused memory loss. Wahid was sentenced to death. The lawyer tried to
restore the wife's memory quickly to save Wahid from the gallows; he
succeeded in doing this at the last moment and Wahid was accordingly
released. His fame began there; then there was a quick change in
his theater contracts and the trick enabled him to achieve the kind of
renown he had never imagined.
Cast and crew: Anwar Wagdi, Shadia, Ismail Yasseen, Saraj Munir,
Wahid Farid, Ibrahim Emara, Zeinat Sedki, Abdel Moniem Ismail, Abou
Seoud El-Ibiary, Elias Moadab, Sayed Soliman, Reyad al-Kasabgi, Salah
Mansour, Abdel Qader al-Masiri, Ahmed Darwish
Pictured here is a five-foot by ten-foot six-sheet Egyptian billboard
poster designed by Abdel Rahman to promote the 1951 161-minute Henry
Barakat black-and-white film The Count of Monte Cristo [amir
al-enteqam] based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas with screenplay
and adaptation by Henry Barakat, dialogue by Youssef Gohar and Youssef
Esa and cinematograpny by Giulio De Luca. Plot summary: Hassan
Al-Helali [Anwar Wagdi] was a noble sailor who was captured on his
wedding night in a plot by his four enemies [Farid Shawqi, Seraj
Munir, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Hussein Riad] and thrown into prison
without trial or accusation; he remained in prison for many years. In
prison he met an old man named Sheikh Galal who had been there for
nine years; Sheikh Galal told Hassan where a treasure was hidden and
then died. Hassan escaped from prison and found the treasure. He then
began planning his revenge against the people who put him in prison.
He fell in love with a dancer named Zomorouda [Samia Gamal] who helped
him get his revenge and then married him.
Cast and crew: Henry Barakat, Abdel Rahman, Anwar Wagdi, Samia Gamal, Madiha
Yousri, Kamal al-Shennawi. Seraj Munir, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Farid
Shawqi, Hussein Riad, Ali Al-Kassar, Giulio De Luca, Youssef Gohar,
Youssef Esa, Reyad El Kasabgy, Abdel Rahim El Zarkani, Zaki Ibrahim,
Abdel Aziz Ahmed
This is an original 12-page 8" x 11" Egyptian program designed by
Solly for the 1954 Salah Abouseif film The Beast AKA The
Monster AKA Al-Wahsh based on a story by Naguib Mahfouz
with screenplay by Naguib Mahfouz and Salah Abouseif, dialogue by El
Sayed Bedeir and starring Anwar Wagdi as Officer Raouf Saleh. Plot
summary: Abdel Sabour [Mahmoud El-Meliguy] was a thief and a smuggler
known as The Beast to the people in one of the villages of upper
Egypt; everyone was afraid of him, including the police. He enjoyed
the protection of Redwan Pasha, [Abbas Fares] who in turn used him
during elections to eliminate his rivals. Officer Raouf Saleh was sent
to the village with his wife and son with the assignment of arresting
The Beast. However The Beast and his gang worked together from the
beginning trying to dispose of the officer and his family in any way
possible.
Cast and crew: Samia Gamal, Anwar Wagdi, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Abbas
Fares, Salah Abouseif, Naguib Mahfouz, Abdelhalim Nasr, Abbas Fares,
Samiha Ayyoub, Mohammad Tawfik, Abdel Ghani Kamar, Nazim Shaarawy,
Mahmoud Hamdy
This is a 12" x 15" Egyptian lobby card for the 1950
film Yasmin written and directed by Anwar Wagdi with screenplay
and dialogue by Abou Seoud El-Ibiary and starring Feyrouz as
Yasmin/Atuta. Plot summary: The head of the family Adel [Mohamamd
al-Dib] did not want another daughter, so when Yasmin was born he left
her at the door of a shelter. Adel later died; the girl grew up and
ran away from the shelter to join a gang of pickpockets as Atuta. She
happened to meet an unemployed trumpet player named Wahid [Anwar
Wagdi] who asked her to help him with his act, stop stealing and
repent. She lived with him for a time but got tired of the
respectable life and went back to the gang. Wahid discovered that
Atuta was a rich man's daughter. When Atuta's gang robbed her
grandfather's [Zaki Rostom] villa the gang was arrested; Atuta became
Yasmin again and went back to her mother, [Madiha Yousri] who married
Wahid.
Cast and crew: Anwar Wagdi, Madiha Yousri, Abdel Rahman, Zaki
Rostom, Abdelhalim Nasr, Feyrouz, Abdel Hamid Zaki, Abu Seoud
El-Ibiary, Abdel Aziz Khalil, Mohammad al-Dib, Reyad El Kasabgy, Abdel
Hamid Zaki, Zeinab Sedky, Zaki Ibrahim, Mohammad Kamel, Mohammad Abu
al-Seoud
This is a rare original 13" x 13.5" Egyptian lobby card with key
art designed by Solly for the 1954 Salah Abouseif film The
Beast AKA The Monster AKA Al-Wahsh based on a story
by Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz with screenplay by Naguib
Mahfouz and Salah Abouseif, dialogue by El Sayed Bedeir and starring
Anwar Wagdi as Officer Raouf Saleh. Plot summary: Abdel Sabour
[Mahmoud El-Meliguy] was a thief and a smuggler known as The Beast to
the people in one of the villages of upper Egypt; everyone was afraid
of him, including the police. He enjoyed the protection of Redwan
Pasha, [Abbas Fares] who in turn used him during elections to
eliminate his rivals. Officer Raouf Saleh was sent to the village with
his wife and son with the assignment of arresting The Beast. However
The Beast and his gang worked together from the beginning trying to
dispose of the officer and his family in any way possible. The photo
shows Officer Raouf giving a cigarette to the Beast.
Cast and crew: Samia Gamal, Solly, El Sayed Bedeir, Anwar Wagdi,
Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Abbas Fares, Salah Abouseif, Naguib Mahfouz,
Abdelhalim Nasr, Abbas Fares, Samiha Ayyoub, Mohammad Tawfik, Abdel
Ghani Kamar, Nazim Shaarawy, Mahmoud Hamdy
This is an original year 24" x 35" Egyptian one-sheet designed by
Solly for the 1954 Salah Abouseif film The Beast AKA The
Monster AKA Al-Wahsh based on a story by Naguib Mahfouz
with screenplay by Naguib Mahfouz and Salah Abouseif, dialogue by El
Sayed Bedeir and starring Anwar Wagdi as Officer Raouf Saleh. Plot
summary: Abdel Sabour [Mahmoud El-Meliguy] was a thief and a smuggler
known as The Beast to the people in one of the villages of upper
Egypt; everyone was afraid of him, including the police. He enjoyed
the protection of Redwan Pasha, [Abbas Fares] who in turn used him
during elections to eliminate his rivals. Officer Raouf Saleh was sent
to the village with his wife and son with the assignment of arresting
The Beast. However The Beast and his gang worked together from the
beginning trying to dispose of the officer and his family in any way
possible.
Cast and crew: El Sayed Bedeir, Solly, Samia Gamal, Anwar Wagdi, Mahmoud
El-Meliguy, Abbas Fares, Salah Abouseif, Naguib Mahfouz, Abdelhalim
Nasr, Abbas Fares, Samiha Ayyoub, Mohammad Tawfik, Abdel Ghani Kamar,
Nazim Shaarawy, Mahmoud Hamdy
This is a 24" x 35" original Egyptian poster designed by Alzaria for
the 1941 film Leila, the Girl from the Country written and
directed by Togo Mizrahi and starring Laila Mourad as Leila. Plot
summary: Laila Mourad has the part of a country girl who becomes
disillusioned with city life in Cairo and returns to her farm with a
new appreciation for country life.
Cast and crew: Togo Mizrahi, Laila Mourad, Youssef Wahby, Mimi
Shakeeb, Taheya Cariocca, Bechara Wakim, Zouzou Shakeeb, Anwar Wagdi,
Ferdoos Mohammad, Hassan el Baroudi, Fakher Fakher, Salwa Elaam, Abdel
Salam Al Nabulsy, Soad Abdou
This is a 27" x 39" undated rerelease Egyptian poster designed by an
unknown artist to promote the 1945 103-minute Anwar Wagdi
black-and-white musical Leila Daughter of the Poor [leila bint
al-foqara] starring Laila Mourad as Leila based on a story by Anwar
Wagdi with screenplay by Kamal Salim and dialogue by Badei Khayri.
Cinematography was by Mohamed Abdel Azim. Plot summary: Leila was a
poor girl living in the Seyyeda Zeinab district of Cairo. A lady
invited her to her mansion and introduced her to Officer Wahid Mokhtar
[Anwar Wagdi]. Leila was impressed by the mansion and its ceremonies
and soon became outgoing and cheerful. Wahid was drawn to Leila and
asked her alleged father Darwish Basha [Bechara Wakim] for her hand in
marriage. Then he learned Darwish Basha was not really her father.
Wahid thought Leila had deceived him; he went to see her in Seyyeda
Zeinab and cancelled the marriage offer. After that Wahid, who still
loved Leila, met Darwish Basha and told him what had happened. Darwish
Basha advised Wahid to apologize to Leila, which he did. Darwish
Basha then pledged he would leave his wealth to Leila and asked
Wahid's father to arrange for Wahid to marry her. The reason the Basha
had left his wealth to Leila became clear to all those who had been
invited to the wedding when her origins became known. Leila left the
wedding in despair, but Wahid persuaded his father to move the wedding
party to Seyyeda Zeinab, where the proceedings were completed.
Cast and crew: Laila Mourad, Anwar Wagdi, Suleiman Naguib, Bechara
Wakim, Marie Munib, Mohammed Al-Bakkar, Mohamed Abdel Azim, Mokhtar
Osman, Adel Adham, Zouzou Hamdy El-Hakim, Souraya Fakhry, Abdel Alim
Khattab, Shafik Noureddin, Badie Khayri, Fouad Shafik, Mohamed
Al-Bakar
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by an unknown artist
to promote an undated rerelease of the 1947 Anwar Wagdi
musical Leila the Rich Girl, a remake of Frank Capra's
1934 It Happened One Night, with story by Anwar Wagdi,
screenplay and dialogue by Badei Khayri and starring Laila Mourad as
Leila. Plot summary: Leila was a pretty girl from a rich family who
had lost her mother. Her father Hassan Rostam Basha [Bechara Wakim]
was dominated by his bossy new wife Monira [Olwiyya Gamil]. Monira had
imposed the bridegroom Gamil [Said Abu Bakr] on Leila because he was
her nephew and she was planning to use him to get the money Leila
would be receiving from her father. However when Gamil approached
Leila during the wedding ceremony she pushed him away and ran out of
the proceedings immediately. The press was full of reports about the
search for the missing bride's car, which was damaged on a bridge and
fell into the water; one of Leila's shoes she had been wearing at the
wedding was found in the car. The journalist Wahid [Anwar Wagdi] went
to the village where the accident had taken place and found Leila's
other shoe. He was surprised by the sound of the enchanting voice of
a young girl sitting on the bank singing in a tortured tone of voice.
Wahid approached the girl because of her beauty and the sweetness of
her voice. One of the people in the village told him she was the
daughter of the village mayor [Abdel Hamid Zaki]. She was sick and
everyone at her house was waiting for a physician who was on the way
from Cairo. Wahid knocked on the door and claimed he was the doctor
from Cairo looking for the girl. Once he saw her he realized she was
not the one he had seen on the bridge. Wahid and the girl, who said
her name was Farhana, left the mayor's house. Then Wahid learned the
girl with him was really Leila, the runaway bride everyone thought had
been killed because her loose shoes had been found. Back in Cairo
Wahid convinced Leila's father she was still alive by taking him to
the farmer's home where she was hiding. At first Leila thought Wahid
did not love her and was planning to take her back to the misery she
had been fleeing in exchange for reward money; instead Wahid was
finally able to awaken the conscience of Leila's father and make him
aware of the conspiratorial plans of his bossy wife and her nephew.
The basha divorced Monira publicly and Leila immediately went back to
Wahid, who was waiting nearby.
Cast and crew: Frank Capra, Badei Khayri, Abdelhalim Nasr, Olwiyya
Gamil, Bechara Wakim, Hassan Fayek, Said Abu Bakr, Abdel Hamid Zaki,
Abdel Nabi Mohammed, Reyad El Kasabgy, Laila Mourad, Anwar Wagdi
The title of this famous film became the title of a television series
written by Magdy Saber and directed by Mohamed Zoheir in which Syrian
actress Safa Soltan plays the part of Laila Mourad. The story in the
film is overshadowed in the minds of many Egyptians by the life of
Laila Mourad herself, who was a non-Zionist Jew converted to Islam.
In the film Mourad plays the part of a runaway who is unwittingly
caught up in the intrigues of a crime ring.
Cast and crew: Anwar Wagdi, Laila Mourad, Abdelhalim Nasr, Bechara Wakim, Zuzu Shakeeb, Farid Shawqi, Ismail Yasseen, Abdel Aziz Mahmoud, Hassan Fayek, Said Abu Bakr, Mokhtar Hussein, Stephan Rosti, Mohamed Choukoukou, Mohamed Salman, Abdel Aziz Mahmoud, Reyad El Kasabgy
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian one-sheet poster designed by Abdel Rahman
for the 1950 film Yasmin written and directed by Anwar Wagdi
with screenplay and dialogue by Abou Seoud El-Ibiary and starring
Feyrouz as Yasmin/Atuta. Plot summary: The head of the family Adel
[Mohamamd al-Dib] did not want another daughter, so when Yasmin was
born he left her at the door of a shelter. Adel later died; the girl
grew up and ran away from the shelter to join a gang of pickpockets as
Atuta. She happened to meet an unemployed trumpet player named Wahid
[Anwar Wagdi] who asked her to help him with his act, stop stealing
and repent. She lived with him for a time but got tired of the
respectable life and went back to the gang. Wahid discovered that
Atuta was a rich man's daughter. When Atuta's gang robbed her
grandfather's [Zaki Rostom] villa the gang was arrested; Atuta became
Yasmin again and went back to her mother, [Madiha Yousri] who married
Wahid.
Cast and crew: Anwar Wagdi, Madiha Yousri, Zaki Rostom, Abdelhalim
Nasr, Feyrouz, Abdel Hamid Zaki, Abu Seoud El-Ibiary, Abdel Aziz
Khalil, Mohammad al-Dib, Reyad El Kasabgy, Abdel Hamid Zaki, Zeinab
Sedky, Zaki Ibrahim, Mohammad Kamel, Mohammad Abu al-Seoud, Abdelhalim
Nasr
This is a 35" x 46" two-piece poster designed by Ahmed Fouad for the
1951 Anwar Wagdi film Eve of the Wedding [lailet al-henna]
starring Shadia as Hurria and Kamal Al-Shennawi as Hassan. Plot
summary: The film recounts the troubled circumstances of an impending
marriage between a singer and her lover. The story is complicated by
a pregnancy, social objections to the woman's occupation as a singer,
parental disapproval and threats and manipulations from a cabaret
owner struggling to control a popular singer about to quit her job.
Cast and crew: Anwar Wagdi, Shadia, Kamal Al-Shennawi, Marie Munib,
Seraj Munir, Abdel Fatah Al Kasri, Mahmoud Reda, Reyad El Kasabgy,
Wahid Farid, Ferdoos Mohammed, Abdel Moniem Ismail, Abu Seoud
El-Ibiary, Stephan Rosti, Wedad Hamdy, Kitty, Hussein Ibrahim, Abdel
Hamid Bodaoha, Mohamed Abu al-Seoud, Hassan Qatla, Taga Zaki, Abdel
Aziz Said
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Hassan Mazhar Gasour
and Ahmed Fouad for the 1952 film Eternal Love [habib al-ruh].
The film was written and directed by its star Anwar Wagdi with
cinematography by Wahid Farid. It tells the story of a talented woman
named Layla [Laila Mourad] who gives up her promising musical
profession for the benefit of her husband Wahid [Anwar Wagdi] who
needs her and demands that she devote herself to him instead of her
career as a performer.
Cast and crew: Youssef Wahby, Mimi Shakeeb, Ferdoos Mohammed,
Ibrahim Emara, Wedad Hamdy, Abdel Nabi Mohammed, Wahid Farid, Anwar
Wagdi, Laila Mourad, Salah Mansour
This is an original 35" x 23.5" Egyptian poster for the 1945 Kamal
Selim film Friday Evening [leylet al-gom'a] based on story and
screenplay by Kamal Selim, dialogue by Badi Khairi and starring Taheya
Cariocca as herself. Plot summary: This is a musical farce in which a
wealthy uncle wants his nephew to marry so he will get his
inheritance, but the nephew is already married.
Cast and crew: Taheya Cariocca, Badi Kheiri, Anwar Wagdi, Kamal Selim, Amira Amir, Bechara Wakim, Marie Munib, Abdel Fatah Al Kasri, Souraya Helmy, Mohamed Abdel Azim, Ismail Yasseen, Ibrahim Hamuda, Mohammad Abdel Matlab, Abdel Moneim Ismail, Ahmed El Haddad
These are two original-year Egyptian promotional posters designed by
Anwari for the 125-minute 1947 black-and-white Ahmed Badrakhan
film Fatmah starring Om Kolsum based on a story by Mustafa Amin
with cinematography by Abdelhalim Nasr. Plot summary: Fatmah (Om
Kolsum), a polite young nurse, was given the task of overseeing a
pasha's treatment. When the pasha's brother Fathy (Anwar Wagdy) saw
her he was taken by her beauty and the sweetness of her voice when she
sang. He fell in love with her and tried to attract her in various
ways but failed to arouse any interest. While he had a fierce desire
for her, he did not find any way other than marriage, so he actually
took her under marriage contract as a common law wife and had a
honeymoon with her in Alexandria. He returned with her, but they had
to live together in her humble home in one of the neighborhoods in
view of his father's anger about what had happened. Fathy could not
tolerate living there or interacting with the people of that
neighborhood, and he left after he was fed up with it. Chance led him
to the villa of Mervat (Mimi Shakeeb), an aristocratic girl. He made
preparations to marry her also because he had already promised her he
would do that. Fathy found that this was the way to please his father
the pasha, and he returned to his father's mansion forgetting his wife
the nurse. His father asked him to get the marriage paper from this
nurse, which he did but only after Fatmah had made a photocopy of it.
Fathy abandoned Fatmah but she had become pregnant by him and had his
child, although he denied it. The people in the neighborhood met and
decided to raise the issue of Fathy. In the midst of these events
Fathy told his wife Mervat about the situation and then went to
Fatmah's house to ask her forgiveness. He was struck by an automobile
on the way, just when he had come to his senses and decided to return
to Fatmah with regret for what he had done and acknowledge that he was
the father of her son.
Cast and crew: Mustafa Amin, Om Kolsum, Suleiman Naguib, Zuzu Shakeeb, Anwar Wagdi, Saneya Shawky, Ahmed Badrakhan, Abdelhalim Nasr< Mimi Shakeeb, Hassan Fayek, Ferdoos Mohammad
This is an undated rerelease Egyptian poster made to promote the 1948
Anwar Wagdi 123-minute black-and-white film Amber [anbar]
starring Laila Mourad as Amber based on a story by Mohamed Kamel
Hassan with screenplay and dialogue by Anwar Wagdi and cinematography
by Abdelhalim Nasr. Plot summary: Reshwan Basha [Abdel Waress Assar]
is on a sickbed surrounded by family members. They are treating him
quite harshly and refusing to give him water. They have his only
daughter Amber [Laila Mourad] locked in the mansion bedroom. They are
doing these things to force the Basha to tell them where he has hidden
his wealth, which they desire. Anwar [Anwar Wagdi], owner of the Gold
Star Casino, arrives with his attorney Hassan [Hassan Fayek]. While
they are waiting to see the Basha, Anwar suddenly hears a sweet
melodious voice coming from the bedroom. He looks through a panel in
the door and sees Amber singing. After a short conversation with her,
he finds himself surrounded by the members of the gang that wants
Reshwan Basha's wealth. He tells them that he and his attorney Hassan
have come to buy the clothing of Reshwan Basha's late wife. The gang
agrees to sell him the clothing. These garments include a dress Amber
once wore. After Anwar and Hassan leave the gang members take Amber
and her sick old nanny to the bedside of Reshwan Basha, who is about
to die. They leave Amber with her father according to his wishes.
The Basha tells his secret to his daughter while the men in the gang
are eavesdropping outside. The Basha tells his daughter Amber he
married her mother against the wishes of his family, who fought him
throughout the years of the marriage; he was sure they were going to
fight his daughter after he died. This unhappy situation had led him
to sell all of his property and use the money to buy jewelry. He put
the jewels in a chest and hid it. He drew a map to its location and
sewed the map into the collar of a black silk evening dress, the same
dress Amber used to wear when she sang, and the same one Anwar has
purchased. Amber collapses in tears as the members of the gang rush
to the Gold Star Casino, which is a westernized nightclub where the
orchestra, led by Anwar as its trumpet player, plays jazz standards
such as Benny Goodman's I Found a New Baby. These melodies are
mixed with performances by Laila Mourad and others of show tunes
composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, some in the style of Western jazz,
others with Egyptian scales and rhythms. Anwar tries to persuade
Horia [Zeinat Sedki], a woman singer in his troupe, to wear the dress
he has purchased, but she vehemently refuses. During the argument the
hidden map comes out of the collar of the dress; Anwar gives it to
Hassan, not knowing its value. After he learns what it is, he and
Amber evade the gang, eventually make their way back to the mansion
and find the hidden chest of jewels. This discovery is followed by a
fight with the covetous gang, then a gala celebratory marriage between
Anwar and Amber.
Cast and crew: Laila Mourad, Anwar Wagdi, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Abdelhalim Nasr, Mohamed Kamel Hassan, Bechara Wakim, Hassan Fayek, Said Abu Bakr, Ismail Yasseen, Mahmoud Choukoukou, Elias Moadab, Stephan Rosti, Farid Shawqi, Reyad El Kasabgy, Zeinat Sedki, Abdel Moneim Ismail, Aziz Osman, Abdel Waress Assar
Pictured here is a 5-foot by 10-foot six-sheet Egyptian billboard poster designed by
Abdel Rahman to promote the 1951 161-minute Henry Barakat
black-and-white film The Count of Monte Cristo [amir
al-enteqam] based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas with screenplay
and adaptation by Henry Barakat, dialogue by Youssef Gohar and Youssef
Esa and cinematograpny by Giulio De Luca. Plot summary: Hassan
Al-Helali [Anwar Wagdi] was a noble sailor who was captured on his
wedding night in a plot by his four enemies [Farid Shawqi, Seraj
Munir, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Hussein Riad] and thrown into prison
without trial or accusation; he remained in prison for many years. In
prison he met an old man named Sheikh Galal who had been there for
nine years; Sheikh Galal told Hassan where a treasure was hidden and
then died. Hassan escaped from prison and found the treasure. He then
began planning his revenge against the people who put him in prison.
He fell in love with a dancer named Zomorouda [Samia Gamal] who helped
him get his revenge and then married him.
Cast and crew: Henry Barakat, Anwar Wagdi, Samia Gamal, Madiha Yousri, Kamal al-Shennawi. Seraj Munir, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Farid Shawqi, Hussein Riad, Ali Al-Kassar, Giulio De Luca, Youssef Gohar, Youssef Esa, Reyad El Kasabgy, Abdel Rahim El Zarkani, Zaki Ibrahim, Abdel Aziz Ahmed
