Shown here is a first printing of a 9" x 13" 12-page Egyptian program for
the 1954 115-minute black-and-white Helmy Rafla film Who Do You
Love [lamin hawak] starring Kamal Al-Shennawi and Hoda Soltan
based on screenplay, dialogue and story by Youssef Gohar with
cinematography by Masud Isa. The film was produced by Asia Film.
Plot summary: Nadia was suffering because of the behavior of her
sister Nawal, who was a deceptive girl. She sought counseling in this
matter from Dr. Adel and during these consultations love grew between
Adel the physician and Nadia the nurse. Nawal's sister married and
then divorced a swindler, while Adel and Nadia eventually married when
their love grew stronger.
Cast and crew: Helmy Rafla, Dimitri Gabriel, Masud Esa, Kamal
Al-Shennawi, Imad Hamdi, Farid Shawqi, Hoda Soltan, Mona, Abdel Salam
Al Nabulsy, Wedad Hamdy, Hager Hamdy, Zeinat Olwi, Soraya Salem
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Walid Wahig for the
1970 Hassan Al Imam film Dalal, the Egyptian based on a Naguib
Mahfouz adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel al-ba'th
(Resurrection) [voskrecenye/Воскресение]. This was Tolstoy's last
novel. It was produced in several other film adapations, most notably
the 1934 production by Samuel Goldwyn of Rouben Mamoulian's We Live
Again starring Fredric March and Anna Stein. Plot Summary: The
orphan girl Atiyat [Magda El-Khatib] grew up in an old mansion with
the sons of the current owner (Fouad Bey's aunt) until the owner threw
her out after discovering she had lost her virginity, not knowing that
Fouad Bey himself [Hussein Fahmy] had been responsible. Atiyat tried
to do the honorable thing. She took a job at a dye factory where she
met Mohammad, [Salah Kabil] who loved her and wanted to marry her.
Things did not go well for her there however; she quit working at the
factory and went to work as a dancer for Fatma Al-Falali [Hoda
Soltan]. Years later while she was working there she was accused of
murder. Fouad Ahmad was a judge on the court that sentenced her to 15
years in prison, but something moved inside Fouad Bey causing him to
suffer pangs of remorse. He resigned so he could mount a defense for
Atiyat; after much effort collecting judicial papers he was able to
get her exonerated. He thought he could now make amends for the past
and marry her, but she turned him down and married Mohammad back at
the dye factory.
Cast and crew: Magda El-Khatib, Salah Kabil, Hussein Fahmy, Madiha
Kamel, Hassan Al Imam, Soheir El-Barouni, Souraya Helmy, Leila Fawzi,
Hoda Soltan, Abdelhalim Nasr, Naguib Mahfouz, Leo Tolstoy
This is a 23.5" x 35" Egyptian poster designed by
an unknown artist for the 1961 Atef Salem film A Woman's Secret
based on a story by Rufail Salem, screenplay and dialogue by Yousef
Eisa and starring Hoda Soltan as Fathia. Plot summary: A man decided
he had had enough of the monotony of married life and tried to
establish a new relationship with a dancer. When she visited him at
his home one day the dancer found he had been murdered. During the
investigation the police discovered the dancer had a brother who was
paying her expenses and was now defending her and trying to name the
real murderer.
Cast and crew: Yousef Eisa, Rufail Salem, Hoda Soltan, Imad Hamdi,
Salah Zulfikar, Atef Salem, Omar El-Hariri, Nagwa Fouad, Bruno
Salvi, Aida Halal
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster for the 1961 Hassan Al Imam
film My Life is the Price AKA Life is Like That based
on a story by Hassan Al Imam, screenplay and dialogue by Mohammad
Osman and starring Hoda Soltan. Plot summary: A rich man named Gaber
[Hussein Riad] met a young woman named Soad [Hoda Soltan] towards whom
he could not express his feelings because her husband Dr. Hussein
[Ahmed Mazhar] kept getting in the way. The woman did not seem as if
she would be easy to seduce so Gaber sent her husband abroad on a
mission to distract him. He then tried to get close to her but she
would not allow it; he sent the couple a will leaving a large sum of
money to a son from another woman. When Dr. Hussein heard about this
he separated from his wife. Soad decided to avenge the damage that
had been done to her reputation. She went to court and presented
medical evidence her husband was impotent.
Cast and crew: Hassan Al Imam, Hoda Soltan, Ahmad Mazhar, Hussein
Riad, Tewfik El Dekn, Zouzou Nabil, Nagwa Fouad, Abdel Aziz Fahmy,
Nahed Samir, Hamed Morsi, Ragaa Hussein
This is a 27" x 39" Egytian poster designed by Morteda Anise for the
1986 Ashraf Fahmy film Naked Shame based on a story by Naguib
Mahfouz with screenplay and dialogue by Mostafa Moharram and starring
Youssra as Elham. Plot summary: After being sentenced to a prison
term in an indecency case Aziza [Hoda Soltan] of Alexandria admitted
to her son Mokhtar [Nour El-Sherif] that his father was the wealthy
Sayed Al-Gamei; she gave him his picture and her marriage contract
with him. Mokhtar went to Cairo to look for his father. He published
a photo of his father in the newspapers a number of times without
result. He got into relationships with Karima, [Shahira] a clerk at
his hotel and the wife of an old man named Khalil Mokhtar [Mohammed
Tawfik] and also with Elham. Mokhtar killed Khalil for his money to
please Karima. Karima had another lover who killed her for her money,
but Mokhtar, who because of circumstances was thought by the police to
be the one who had murdered her, was wrongly arrested and sentenced to
death.
Cast and crew: Ashraf Fahmy, Naguib Mahfouz, Mostafa Moharram,
Ramses Marzouk, Nour El-Sherif, Youssra, Youssef Chaban, Shahira,
Mohammed Tawfik, Hoda Soltan, Ahmed Ghanem, Naima Al Soghayar, Mariam
Fakhr Eddine, Hassan Hussein
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster for the 1959 Mahmoud Zulfikar
musical Forbidden Women written by Amin Yousseff Ghurab and
starring Hoda Soltan as Mahasen. Plot summary: The contractor Tareq
[Hussein Riad] was unable to have any children by his wife Hafiza
[Amina Rizk] so he adopted Ahmed, [Salah Zulfikar] who later managed
his work for him and formed a relationship with a woman named
Mahasen. Ahmed formed an illicit relationship with her without knowing
she was married to Tewfiq. Mahasen had a daughter named laila [Amal
Farid]; Ahmed became interested in her without realizing she was his
own daughter.
Cast and crew: Hoda Soltan, Salah Zulfikar, Amina Rizk, Mahmoud
Zulfikar, Hussein Riad, Amin Yousseff Ghurab, Mohamed Abdel Azim, Amal
Farid, Wedad Hamdy, Mohammad Shawqi, Fifi Said, Mohsen Hassanein,
Hussein Assar, Hussein Ismail
This is a 33.5" x 45" Egyptian poster designed by Hassan Mazhar Gasour
for the 1954 Helmy Rafla film Abu Dahab based on story and
screenplay by Zoheir Bakir, dialogue by El Sayed Bedeir and starring
Hoda Soltan. Plot summary: Hassan Bar'i [Zaki al-Harami] was the
gangleader in a narcotics smuggling and distribution company operating
behind a front company for the distribution of medical supplies. He
met Amina Hassan [Qowat al-Qoloub], got her pregnant and then refused
to marry her, so she tried to shoot him. However Sabiet al-Atara
[Mahmoud El-Meliguy] killed him instead. Sabiet nominated his
colleague Abu Dahab [Farid Shawqi] to replace Bar'i but he refused to
do it and recommened al-Akta', [Mohamed Sabih] one of al-'Atara's
backers, to run the election; they made arrangements for al-Atara to
win. However the arrangements failed and and Abu Dahab won. Abu
Dahab and al-Atara were outwardly friends but they competed for the
love of the singer Ehsan [Hoda Soltan], who preferred and eventually
married Abu Dahab. Abu Dahab was then reported, arrested for smuggling
and given a seven-year prison sentence.
This is a 46.5" x 60.5" Egyptian poster for the 1985 Youssef Chahine
film Adieu Bonaparte [الوداع يا بونابرت] based on a screenplay by Youssef Chahine
and Yousry Nasrallah and starring Michel Piccoli as Cafarelli. "The
film relates the experiences of an Egyptian family during the
occupation of Alexandria by Napoleon and his army, and the uneasy
friendship between a young Egyptian poet and one of Bonaparte's
advisers. The exigencies of a big budget co-production might have
accounted for a diminution in the great Chahine's poetry and power,
but there are some spectacular scenes and excellent performances,
notably from [Patrice] Chereau as a fanatical Bonaparte." - The
Faber Companion to Foreign Films.
Cast and crew: Youssef Chahine, Michel Piccoli, Mohsen Mohieddin, Patrice Chereau, Mohsena Tewfik, Taheya Cariocca, Hoda Soltan, Gamil Ratib, Salah Zulfikar, Tewfik El Dekn, Seif El Dine, Mohamed Atef, Farid Mahmoud, Hassan Husseiny, Hassan El Adl, Mohamad Dardiri, Claude Cernay, Christian Patey, Mohsen Nasr, Abla Kamel
This is a an Egyptian program folder with eight unbound collage sheets
from the 1953 Niazi Mostafa film Hamido based on a story by
Farid Shawqi with screenplay by El Sayed Bedeir and Niazi Mostafa,
dialogue by El Sayed Bedeir, cinematography by Wahid Farid and
starring Farid Shawqi as Hamido. This was quite a popular film in
Egypt but original posters and other memorabilia for it are quite
rare. Plot summary: Hamido was a fisherman near Alexandria who was
trying to get ahead by dealing in narcotics, which was the shortest
route to wealth. He joined a narcotics gang and courted a girl named
Sa'dia [Hoda Soltan] who was working for his mother. She trusted him
and fell in love with him, but then he seduced her and started avoiding
her. He regretted his promise to marry her because he had taken up
with Fawzia [Taheya Cariocca] the girlfriend of the leader of his gang
[Mahmoud El-Meliguy] and taken over leadership of the gang. When his
mother realized Sa'dia was pregnant she threw her out of the house,
but then Sa'dia told the mother the truth about her son's narcotics
dealing. Hamido overheard this angry denunciation; he took
Sa'dia out on a boat ride in the sea so he could drown her with her
shame and be done with her. However she was later rescued by a fishing
boat that happened to pass. A police agent disguised himself,
infiltrated Hamido's narcotics gang and arrested them, but Hamido
himself fled and was killed before he could be arrested.
Cast and crew: Niazi Mostafa, Wahid Farid, Farid Shawqi, Hoda Soltan, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Marie Munib, El Sayed Bedeir, Taheya Cariocca, Ferdoos Mohammed, Said Abu Bakr, Abdel Ghani al-Nagdi, Abdel Moneim Ismail, Mohsen Hassanein, Anwar Zaki, Hassan Hamed, Ne'mat Mokhtar, Suleiman al-Nagdi, Abdel Magid Shukry, Abdel Hamid Badawi
Pictured is a 27" x 39" Egyptian promotional poster designed by Hassan
Mazhar Gasour to promote the 1953 101-minute Youssef Wahby
black-and-white musical comedy The Marital Obedience Dwelling [beyt
al-ta'a] starring Youssef Wahby based on story and screenplay by
Youssef Wahby with cinematography by Mostafa Hassan. Plot summary: In
this domestic battle of the sexes comedy there is harsh bickering
between husband Gamil Rushdy [Youssef Wahby] and wife Fekiya [Hoda
Soltan]. The husband insults his wife and their life becomes such an
unbearable hell that the husband uses an obedience cane on his wife.
This only makes matters worse so they go to a judge. The wife demands
a divorce and the husband demands that she live with him in a marital
obedience dwelling. The judge sides with the husband and orders the
wife to obey her husband and live in a special obedience dwelling
where she must do as he directs. The wife complies and goes to the
obedience dwelling (a special apartment that has been rented and
furnished for the purpose with such things as signs that read
"relatives are scorpions" and "down with my mother-in-law") along with her
mother [Marie Munib], who was the reason for most of the
bickering. The husband works on refining his wife and the
mother-in-law learns not to interfere in her daughter's affairs. Peace
is restored, the disagreements between them disappear and love and
happiness replace the disputes that were ruining their lives.
Cast and crew: Youssef Wahby, Hoda Soltan, Ismail Yasseen, Farid Shawqi, Marie Munib, Zouzou Mady, Mostafa Hassan, Hagar Hamdi, Fakher Fakher, Hussein El-Meliguy, Shafik Noureddin, Amina Kheyri, Hassan el Baroudi, Mohamed Sabih, Gamalat Zayed, Abdel Aziz Badawi
Pictured is an Egyptian rerelease poster by an unknown designer
made to promote the 1957 120-minute Salah Abouseif black-and-white
film Tough Guy [al-fotuwwah] starring Farid Shawqi based on a
story by Mahmoud Sobhi and Farid Shawqi with screenplay by Naguib
Mahfouz, Salah Abouseif, Mahmoud Sobhi and El Sayed Bedir and
cinematography by Hesham Wadid Serri.
The man pictured on the poster is the late Farid Shawqi
(1920-1998), one of Egypt's most popular and prolific actors, who
appeared in 275 films made in Egypt, Turkey and Syria. The poster
shows Shawqi as a peasant wearing a traditional galabiyya, holding
the tail of it between his teeth to make it easier to run.
The film is about a man from a rural area who comes to Cairo
looking for work, rises to social prominence as the owner of a
successful produce business and then eventually loses most of what he
has and almost his life in an altercation with an arch competitor. It
is a black-and-white thriller with overtones of an old-time urban
gangster film. The film is included on critic Ahmad Al-Hadari's 2007
list of Egypt's 100 most important films, and it is also in the top
100 according to film critic Sa'ad al-Din Tawfiq.
Plot Summary: A man from upper Egypt named Haridi [Farid Shawqi] is
looking for a way to feed himself working in a vegetable market. The
work is hard manual labor but he succeeds in the employ of an
important merchant named Abu Zayd [Zaki Rostom] and also with the help
of a experienced woman named Husseinia [Taheyya Cariocca]. Haridi
becomes one of Abu Zayd's close associates and learns all his secrets,
ways of taking bribes, holding public auctions and peddling
influence. Haridi then separates from Abu Zayd, marries Husseinia and
becomes an important merchant. After a long series of heated and
sometimes violent clashes with Haridi, Abu Zayd goes to prison and
Haridi becomes the social boss of the market using Abu Zayd's methods
and following in his footsteps as another oppressor. He even acquires
the title "Bey." When Abu Zayd is released from prison there is a
dispute between him and Haridi over a big auction. The dispute
becomes a hot confrontation in which Abu Zayd dies and Haridi is
arrested.
Cast and crew: Farid Shawqi, Taheya Cariocca, Salah Abouseif, Zaki Rostom, Mimi Shakeeb, Tewfik El Dekn, Fakher Fakher, Mahmoud El-Sabbaa, Naguib Mahfouz, Hassan el Baroudi, Mohamed Reda, Abdel Alim Khattab, Hoda Soltan, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Hesham Wadid Serri, Wadid Serri, Naima Wasfy, Loutfy El Hakim, Salwa Mohamed, Mahmoud Sobhi, El Sayed Bedeir, Kamal Yassine, Nazim Shaarawy, Ahmed al-Hamaqi, Abdou Youssef
This is an original 22" x 34" Egyptian poster designed by Hassan
Mazhar Gasour to promote the 1954 111-minute Niazi Mostafa
black-and-white film Love Taxi [taksi al-gharam] starring Hoda
Soltan based on story and dialogue by Abu Seoud El-Ibiary with
screenplay by Niazi Mostafa and cinematography by Abdel Aziz Fahmy.
Plot summary: A wealthy girl took a ride in a taxi one day and she and
the driver fell in love, but the driver was ashamed to show his
feelings because of the huge difference in their social classes. She
asked him to marry her but he refused for that reason. She then tried
to trick him by dressing as a poor girl who worked as a singer in a
nightclub. The driver fell in love with the singer, only to discover
she was the same rich girl. After overcoming interference from a few
people they knew, they finally married.
Cast and crew: Niazi Mostafa, Hoda Soltan, Abdel Aziz Mahmoud, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, El Sayed Bedeir, Hassan Fayek, Zeinat Sedki, Said Abu Bakr, Abdel Salam Al Nabulsy, Abdel Aziz Fahmy, Abu Seoud El-Ibairy, Kheiria Kheiry, Hekmat, Fawzi Ibrahim
Pictured is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Moaty, Ihsan and
Mohammad Abdel Aziz to promote the 1971 Kamal El Sheikh 102-minute
color film Something Within [shay'on fi sadri] starring Rushdy
Abaza based on a story by Ihsan Abdel Qudus with screenplay and
dialogue by Raafat El Meihy and cinematography by Abdelhalim Nasr.
Plot Summary: Hussein Basha Shaker [Rushdy Abaza] was climbing one of
the peaks of power in a violent struggle with the government. This
was in cooperation with the English imperialists and included an
effort to impose political influence on his peers. He tried to bring
Seyyed Mohamed Effendi under his influence but this was not possible
because of Mohamed Effendi's strong patriotism, and in any case the
effort ended when Mohamed Effendi died. However the lust for power
made Hussein Basha extend his effort to achieve influence and
domination to his family; his wife, his daughter and his neighbors
became the focus of his life and his chronic domineering drives.
Cast and crew: Rushdy Abaza, Magda El-Khatib, Shukry Sarhan, Salah Mansour, Hassan Mustafa, Abdelhalim Nasr, Hoda Soltan, Ihsan Abd al-Qudus, Kamal El Sheikh, Yasmeen, Khaled Fahmy, Aziza Rached, Naima Al Soghayar, Mahmoud Rashad, Ali Ezzedine, Elhami Fayed, Ezzat Sherif
This an original folded 27" x 39" Egyptian movie poster designed by
Raouf for the 1976 Youssef Chahine film Return of the prodigal
son freely adapted from the 1907 André Gide novel, produced in
Egypt and Algeria with screenplay by Salah Jahine and Youssef Chahine
and starring Ali Mahrez as Ali. Plot summary: "Return of the
Prodigal Son is another Chahine parable set between the
Arab-Israeli wars. An activist who's been jailed for more than a
decade, Ali is eagerly awaited by his family. All hope that this just
man will stand up against his ruthless brother's tyranny, but nobody
even recognizes the prodigal when he shows up during a big
party. Prison has so thoroughly crushed Ali's youth and idealism that
he now allies himself with the
oppressor." From the Cornell University Library web site.
The film is a melodrama/musical centering on family strife in the
Madbouli family heightened by the release of the family's youngest son
from prison after serving ten years for construction fraud, who turns
out to be a disappointment when he goes to work at his father's
factory. The family lives on a farm headed by an authoritarian father
[Mahmoud El-Meliguy]. The film has also been seen as an allegorical
treatment of Egypt's poliitical disillusion following the death of
Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), who had been criticized by some as an
authoritarian leader of a police state, too dependent on the power of
his personal charisma and unable to create intermediary institutions
or adopt practical programs for national development.
Cast and crew: Youssef Chahine, Salah Jahine, Farouk Beloufa,
Raouf, Abdel Aziz Fahmy, Shukry Sarhan, Hoda Soltan, Ayda Reyad,
Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Souheir El-Mourchidy, Ali El Scherif, Ali Mahrez,
Sid Ali Kouiret, Ahmed Abdel Waress, Ragaa Hussein, Ahmed Bedir, Magda
El-Roomy, Hesham Selim, André Gide
This is a 27" x 39" undated rerelease Egyptian poster designed by Abdel Rahman
to promote the 1957 134-minute Ezzel Dine Zulficar black-and-white
film Port Said starring Farid Shawqi based on story and
screenplay by Ezzel Dine Zulficar with dialogue by Aly Al-Zarkani and
cinematography by Abdelhalim Nasr. This film is considered a
milestone in the career of its star Farid Shawqi, the breakthrough
where he was first recognized as a major Egyptian star and also the
point where the quality of his work began a long decline. Plot
summary: The film provides a nationalistic and patriotic view of the
1956 Tripartite Aggression in the Egyptian city of Port Said, with the
Egyptian resistance shown as unfailingly heroic, righteous and morally
victorious. It is populist war propaganda.
Cast and crew: Farid Shawqi, Hoda Soltan, Leila Fawzi, Shukry Sarhan, Zahrat El-Ola, Amina Rizk, Hussein Riad, Seraj Munir, Ahmed Mazhar, Tewfik El Dekn, Zeinat Sedki, Rushdy Abaza, Ezzel Dine Zulficar, Abdelhalim Nasr, Aly Al-Zarkany, Kamal Yasseen, Naima Wasfy, Kamal Hussein, Nour El-Demerdash, Adly Kasseb, Suleiman al-Guindy, Reyad El Kasabgy, Shafik Noureddin
This is a 27" x 39" undated rerelease Egyptian poster designed by
Abdel Rahman to promote the 1956 101-minute Niazi Motafa
black-and-white film Platform Number 5 [rasif nemra khamsa]
starring Farid Shawqi based on a story by Farid Shawqi with screenplay
by El Sayed Bedair, Niazi Mostafa and Barti Mostafa, dialogue by El
Sayed Bedeir and cinematography by Alvisy Orphanily. Plot summary: A
gang was smuggling heroin through the port of Alexandria and Navy
Sergeant Khamis [Farid Shawqi (1920-1998)] was trying to catch them.
The gang tricked Khamis with a telephone call and caused him to leave
his post. While he was away from his post the gang stole his rifle,
which resulted in him being discharged from the navy. One night one of
the gang members named Basyouni [Zaki Rostom (1903-1972)] killed
Khamis's wife, but the killing was witnessed by a mute maid. The
killer was also smuggling heroin with the help of homing pigeons. In
the meantime Khamis had fallen in love with a singer in a bar [Hoda
Soltan (1925-2006)]; after catching the killer/smuggler, Khamis
married her and was reinstated in the navy after it was determined
that what he had done was in the line of duty. When this film was
made Farid Shawqi and Hoda Soltan were already married (1951) in real
life.
Cast and crew: Farid Shawqi, Niazi Mostafa, Hoda Soltan, Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Zaki Rostom, Alvisy Orphanily, Fakher Fakher, Malak El Gamal, Soliman Gendy, Naima Wasfy, El Sayed Bedeir, Barti Mostafa, Abdel Ghani al Sayed, Anwar Zaki
This is a picture of an undated Egyptian rerelease poster printed by
the Arab Cinema Printers to promote the 1950 103-minute Hassan Al Imam
black-and-white film Law of the Jungle [hokm al-'awi] starring
Farid Shawqi based on a screenplay by Hassan Al Imam with dialogue by
El Sayed Bedeir. Cinematography was by Francois Farkas; the film was
produced by the Nehas Film Company. Plot summary: Medhat Abel Nabi
was an engineer who owned a factory with his partner Qasem. The two
of them were opposites ethically. Qasem did not know the meaning of
friendship and he preferred the company to Medhat, who had become its
sole owner. Qasem lived for pleasure and lost all his money gambling.
After that he met a rich man and deluded him about a project that
would supposedly make an enormous amount of money after
implementation, but the wealthy man learned the truth about Qasem and
that he was really just a swindler. He refused the project Qasem was
offering. They quarreled and the rich man was killed. Qasem was
accused of the crime but in a deception he pinned the accusation on
Medhat, who was then arrested and condemned to death. However in the
end the truth was discovered, Medhat was found innocent and the real
perpetrator received his punishment.
Cast and crew: Hassan Al Imam, Mohsen Sarhan, Zuzu Shakeeb, Farid Shawqi, Hoda Soltan, Zouzou Mady, Abbas Fares, Seraj Munir, Abdel Waress Assar, El Sayed Bedeir, Francois Farkas, Mahmoud Choukoukou, Souraya Helmy, Soheir Fakhry, Zaki Ibrahim, Zakia Ibrahim, Abdel Rahim al-Zorqani, Zouzou Nabil, Abdel Alim Khattab, Abdel Moneim Ismail, Sanaa Gamil
