Pictured is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Abdel Ghani to
promote an undated rerelease of the 1942 105-minute Kamal Selim
black-and-white film Dreams of Youth [ahlam al-shabab] starring
Farid Al Atrache based on a story by Youssef Wahby with screenplay by
Kamal Selim, dialogue by Badei Khayri and cinematography by Sami
Brail. Plot summary: Farid [Farid Al Atrache] became wealthy; he had
a passion for love so he became acquainted with his neighbor Elham
[Madiha Yousri], an orphan who lived with her Aunt Basiyouni [Marie
Munib]. With Bassiyouni's agreement Farid became Elham's piano
teacher. In a complication that plays itself out during the film a
dancer named Baheya [Taheya Cariocca] also tried to woo Farid, but he
did not love her even though they performed together.
Cast and crew: Kamal Selim, Abdel Ghani, Hassan Fayek, Bechara
Wakim, Farid Al Atrache, Madiha Yousri, Youssef Wahby, Badei Khayri,
Taheya Cariocca, Abdel Fatah Al Kasri, Sami Brail, Marie Munib, Abbas
Fares
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Ahmed Fouad for the
1946 Wali Eddine Sameh film The Lady's Puppet starring Naguib
Al Rihani based on the 1898 Pierre Louys novel The Devil Is a
Woman AKA La Femme et le pantin, story by Naguib Al Rihani
and Badei Khayri and starring Naguib Al Rihani as Hassan. Plot
summary: In Cairo during the World War II a poor boy named Hassan
marries a runaway named Laaba, [Taheya Cariocca] who later becomes a
cinema performer; she leaves Hassan for another man, then agrees to
marry the other man while in Lebanon without telling him of her
existing marriage to Hassan.
Cast and crew: Wali Eddine Sameh, Naguib Al Rihani, Badei Khayri,
Pierre Louys, Taheya Cariocca, Suleiman Naguib, Aziz Osman, Bechara
Wakim, Hassan Fayek, Marie Munib, Abdel Fatah Al Kasri, Badei Khayri,
Mustafa Hassan
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 for the 1962 Hassan El-Seify
film Wife Killers Society based on story, screenplay and
dialogue by Youssef El Sebai, cinematography by Fouad Abdel Malek and
starring Salah Zulfikar as Mahmoud. Disclaimer: No wives are killed
in this farce! Plot summary: A husband named Nuh Effendi and his
wife Om Abdou [Hussein Riad and Marie Munib] were constantly arguing.
The husband noticed everyone he knew was having the same problem so he
decided to start a secret Wife Killers Society in the building where
they lived. He insisted on evicting Mahmoud [Salah Zulfikar] and
Sayed Khal Mahmoud [Abdel Moneim Ibrahim] who were living on the roof,
because they were late paying their rent.
Cast and crew: Hassan El-Seify, Salah Zulfikar, Hussein Riad,
Zahret al-Ola, Marie Munib, Zeinat Sedki, Khayria Ahmed, Abdel Moneim
Ibrahim, Hassan Fayek, Fouad Abdel Malek, Said Abu Bakr, Stephan
Rosti, Youssef El Sebai
This is a 35" x 61" original three-piece stone litho Egyptian poster
designed by Marcel for the 1962 Salah Abouseif film Letter from an
Unknown Woman starring Farid Al Atrache as Ahmed Sameh. Plot
summary: The musician Ahmed Sameh received a letter on the evening of
his birthday. He was used to receiving flowers every birthday but this
time he was reading a letter from a woman he did not know. Her name
was Amal [Lobna Abdel Aziz] and she lived in front of him in his old
home. She loved him without him knowing about it; she seldom saw him
or had any reason to go into his home, but she knew his servant
Ibrahim. However her mother had to get married and moved to another
city. From time to time Amal looked at the home of her beloved who
did not know her. One day he stopped his car for her, took her to his
home and she became pregnant by him, but he forgot her because she was
just another girl to him. He lived the life of a musician. Amal
worked in an office. The owner of the office offered to marry her but
he knew there was another man in her life so he left her alone. Amal
met her beloved one night but he did not remember her. He avoided her
son but one day the son was hurt in a collision with a bus. The
doctor said the type of blood the injured boy needed was rare. Amal
was obliged to send her letter to Ahmed Sami, who came to the hospital
on the evening of his birthday. He gave the blood to his son and
married Amal after he realized how long she had loved him. This film
was directed by Salah Abouseif based on the 1922 novella of the same
title by Stefan Zweig, which was also the basis for a 1948 movie with
the same title starring Joan Fontaine.
Cast and crew: Farid Al Atrache, Lobna Abdel Aziz, Amina Rizk,
Marie Munib, Salah Abouseif, Ezzat El Alaili, Abdel Moneim Ibrahim,
Fakher Fakher, Hussein al-Sayed, Abdel Ghani Nagdi, Mary Ezzedine,
Nawal Abul Foutouh, Fatthy Zaky, Wafia Khayry, El Sayed Bedeir, Aly
Hassan, Stefan Zweig
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" Moroccan poster by an unknown artist made to
promote the 1942 Ahmad Badrakhan film Aida based on story,
screenplay and dialogue by Abbas Younes and Fathy Neshati and starring
Om Kolsum as Aida. Plot summary: Aida was a village girl and her
father Mohammad Effendi [Abdel Waress Assar] was a poor man who worked
the fields owned by Amin Basha [Abbas Fares]. Amin had a son named
Sami [Ibrahim Hammooda] working on a bachelor's degree, but he did not
complete his studies. The Basha had a daughter Aida's age named
Soraya. Mohammad Effendi was murdered on the estate when he was on
his way to work. Aida got her bachelor's degree the same day. She and
the Basha's son fell in love, but this angered the Basha. However she
encouraged Sami to complete his studies; when the Basha saw Aida's
importance in the life of his son he allowed them to marry.
Cast and crew: Ahmed Badrakhan, Abbas Younes, Fathy Neshati, Om
Kolsum, Suleiman Naguib, Abbas Fares, Abdel Waress Assar, Ibrahim
Hammooda, Marie Munib, Samia Fahmi, Mahmoud Reda, Hassan Kamel, Reyad
El Kasabgy, Mahmoud Ismail, Negma Ibra\ him, Amal Zayed, Nabawiyya
Mostafa, Mohamed Abdel Azim
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
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 a 24" x 36" Egyptian poster designed by Wahdan to promote
the 1942 105-minute Kamal Selim black-and-white film Dreams of
Youth [ahlam al-shabab] starring Farid Al Atrache, based on a
story by Youssef Wahby with screenplay by Kamal Selim, dialogue by
Badei Khayri and cinematography by Sami Brail. Plot summary: Farid
[Farid Al Atrache] became wealthy and he had a passion for love. That
was why he became acquainted with his neighbor Elham [Madiha Yousri],
an orphan who lived with her aunt Basiyouni [Marie Munib]. With
Bassiyouni's agreement Farid became Elham's piano teacher. In a
complication that plays itself out during the film a dancer named
Bahia [Taheya Cariocca] also tried to woo Farid, but he did not love
her even though they performed together.
Cast and crew: Kamal Selim, Hassan Fayek, Bechara Wakim, Farid Al Atrache, Madiha Yousri, Youssef Wahby, Badei Khayri, Taheya Cariocca, Abdel Fatah Al Kasri, Sami Brail, Marie Munib, Abbas Fares
Pictured is an undated Egyptian rerelease poster designed by an
unknown artist to promote the 1960 Essa Karama 109-minute
black-and-white film My Mother-in-Law Is an Angel [hamati
malak] starring Ismail Yasseen as Khamis based on a story by Essa
Karama with screenplay and dialogue by Abdel Fattah El-Said and
cinematography by Satrollah Karama. Plot summary: Khamis the
undertaker asked his girlfriend the maid Bar'u'a [Khayria Ahmed] to
tell him about it if there were deaths in any of the homes where she
worked so he could make the funeral arrangements. The maid told him
her boss Sabri [Youssef Fakhr Eddine] had died of grief because of
what his mother-in-law Fayeqa Hanem [Marie Munib] had done to him, and
his wife was in mourning. Khamis went to the home to make the
necessary funeral arrangements without knowing that Sabri was only
pretending to be dead on the advice of his friend Kamal [Kamal
Hussein] to get revenge against the mother-in-law and so he could find
out how much his wife Samia [Amal Farid] loved him. Sabri also tried
to frighten his mother-in-law by pretending to be his own ghost. In a
comedic mishap Khamis knocked the supposedly dead Sabri unconscious,
then put him in a cupboard and replaced it with another cupboard; when
he was accused of losing the corpse he tried to find the original
cupboard in a cinematic shell game with many identical antique
cupboards similar to the one shown on the poster, in a hotel and at a
furniture auction. When Samia tried to kill herself Sabri knew how
much she loved him so he stopped pretending to be dead and hurried
back home, where the mother-in-law went through a final scare scene
when he reappeared.
Cast and crew: Essa Karama, Ismail Yasseen, Abdel Fattah El-Sayed, Marie Munib, Amal Farid, Youssef Fakhr Eddine, Khayria Ahmed, Mohamed Nabih, Satrollah Karama, Abdel Fattah El-Said, Kamal Hussein, Al-Doktor Shadid, Bijou, Abdel Hamid Badawi, Adib al-Tarabolsi, Mary Ezzedine
Love Child (1953) 45" x 33" first printing Egyptian poster
Love Child [bint al-hawa] (1953) - (Faten Hamam) Egyptian film poster
Shown here is a 35" x 23.5" first printing of an Egyptian poster made
to promote the 1953 Youssef Wahby film Love Child [bint
al-hawa] starring Faten Hamama based on a screenplay and story by
Yousef Wahby with cinematography by Mostafa Hassan. The film was
produced by the Charles Nahas Studio. Plot summary: A man confessed
his love to a dancer and they had a relationship until he left her in
the end and did not marry her. The dancer had his child but the man
refused to marry her or recongize the child. This was the origin of
the woman's malice towards men. She made herself a judge of all of
them and resolved to get revenge. She left her town and sent to
Cairo. She became a famous dancer and was courted by wealthy men, but
she feared this life for the sake of her daughter, for whom had she
made a special life. She made every effort to provide her with
knowledge and ethics, fearing she might fall someday. However her
daughter established a relationship with a boy who resolved to marry
her. His father opposed this because of the mother's profession, but
the son argued the solution was to get the mother out of the
daughter's life. The mother agreed to this for the sake of her
daughter's happiness. However the mother died on the day her daughter
returned from her honeymoon.
Cast and crew: Faten Hamama, Youssef Wahby, Fakher Fakher, Taheya Cariocca, Marie Munib, Kamal Hossein, Zeinat Sedki, Aziza Helmy, Kitty, Abdel Hamid Zaki, Shafik Noureddin, Ibrahim Heshmat
Directed by Ahmed Badrakhan. Cast and crew: Ahmed Badrakhan, Om Kolsum, Suleiman Naguib, Abbas Fares, Abdel Waress Assar, Ibrahim Hammooda, Marie Munib, Samia Fahmi, Mahmoud Reda, Hassan Kamel, Reyad El Kasabgy, Mahmoud Ismail, Negma Ibrahim, Amal Zayed, Nabawiyya Mostafa, Mohamed Abdel Azim
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Ahmed Fouad for an
undated rerelease of the 1947 Ibrahim Helmi film Abu Halmoos
based on a screenplay by Ibrahim Helmi, cinematography by Sammy Brill
and starring Naguib Al Rihani as Shahata Effendi. Plot summary: As
the film begins Shahata Effendi is working as an accountant in a shop
that sells birds, which makes him angry about his life and his work,
but he tolerates the owner of the shop Alfaz. He is only working for
him until he receives a letter with news of his acceptance in a new
job as an accountant for mortmain properties. However he discovers
account speculation by the overseer of the mortmain accounts, although
the mortmain overseer is able to get coverage for his thefts. Shahata
becomes acquainted with the daughter of the mortmain overseer and
falls in love with her. However she ridicules his love for her when
he becomes the latest employee working for her father. While he is
asking her to marry him he leaves her and does not have the courage to
raise the subject of marriage with her father. The daughter of the
mortmain overseer makes plans to marry Shahata while he retains his
position as her father's latest employee. A dancer claims she has given
birth to a boy who was the son of the mortmain overseer and she has
left the boy with him. Everyone knows there was a boy named Halmoos
but they do not know who were his mother and father. The daughter of
the mortmain overseer learnes about this incident and claims she was
the boy's mother by Shahata. Shahata suddenly comes upon this Halmoos
and while the mortmain overseer is protesting the marriage Shahata
reminds him of his theft of time and his forging of account
signatures. The father is obliged to agree to the marriage. However
the daughter of the mortmain overseer tells Shahata Effendi the truth
and he is touched by it. He feels like leaving the boy with her and
the people. However the days pass and Shahata Effendi wins the
lottery and becomes rich. He trades it for a relationship with the
family of the mortmain overseer. The mortmain overseer's daughter
loves him and he is happy to marry her.
Cast and Crew: Wali Eddine Sameh, Ibrahim Helmi, Naguib Al Rihani, Hagar Hamdi, Abbas Fares, Hassan Fayek, Marie Munib, Zuzu Shakeeb, Badei Khayri, Mohamed Kamal al-Masri, Ferdoos Mohammed, Mohammad al-Dib, Lola Sedki, Stefan Rosti, Victoria Habiqa, Sammy Brill
Letter from an Unknown Woman [resala min emraa Maghula] (1962) - (Farid Al Atrache) Egyptian film poster
Plot summary: The musician Ahmed Sami received a letter on the
evening of his birthday. He was used to receiving flowers every
birthday but this time he was reading a letter from a woman he did not
know. Her name was Amal and she lived in front of him in his old
home. She loved him without him knowing about it; she seldom saw him
or had any reason to go into his home, but she knew his servant
Ibrahim. However her mother had to get married and moved to another
city. From time to time Amal looked at the home of her beloved who
did not know her. One day he stopped his car for her, accompanied her
to his home and she became pregnant by him, but he forgot her because
she was just another girl to him. He lived the life of a musician.
Amal worked in an office. The owner of the office offered to marry
her but he knew there was another man in her life and he left her
alone. Amal met her beloved one night but he did not remember her.
He avoided her sonbut one day the son was hurt in an accident with a
bus. The doctor said the type of blood the injured boy needed was
rare. Amal was obliged to send her letter to Ahmed Sami, who came to
the hospital on the evening of his birthday. He gave the blood to his
son and married Amal after he learned about the length of time she had
loved him. This film was directed by Salah Abouseif based on a 1922
novella by Stefan Zweig. That novella was also the basis for a 1948
movie with the same title starring Joan Fontaine.
Cast and crew: Farid Al Atrache, Lobna Abdel Aziz, Amina Rizk, Marie Munib, Salah Abouseif, Ezzat El Alaili, Abdel Moneim Ibrahim, Fakher Fakher, Hussein al-Sayed, Abdel Ghani Nagdi, Marie Ezzedine, Nawal Abul Foutouh, Fatthy Zaky, Wafia Khayry, El Sayed Bedeir, Aly Hassan, Stefan Zweig
Determination [al-azima] (1939) - (Fatma Rouchdi) very rare Egyptian film poster 27" x 39" printed by Matabi Masr of Cairo
In the 1995 Cairo 100 Years of Egyptian Cinema Festival this film was ranked number one among the top 100 films. Directed by Kamal Selim, cinematography Very Varkash. Starring Fatma Rouchdi, Abd Al-Aziz Khalil, Zaki Rostom, Hussein Sedki, Anwar Wagdi, Abbas Fares, Marie Munib, Mokhtar Osman, Mokhtar Hussein, Hikmat Fahmi, Souraya Fakhry, Hassan Kamel.
In his 1969 book An Introduction to the Egyptian Cinema Egyptian director Mohamed Khan says of this film: "The story of Determination is only a skeleton to serve the film's other deeper aims. It takes place in a poor district in Cairo and concerns, among others, Mohamed, the local barber's son, who resists becoming a government official after finishing his secondary school. Mohamed hopes to better himself through a business deal with a rich man's son. This deal fails and while Mohamed is awaiting his government appointment he is threatened with the loss of his sweetheart to the local butcher. Eventually Mohamed succeeds in becoming a business man and marrying his girl. Determination is regarded as the first film of a school which was new to the Egyptian scene: the realistic school. For the first time an Egyptian film-maker dealt realistically with a social problem drawn from real life and conditions in Egypt. The deepest traditions of the Egyptian people reflect the respect and esteem accorded to officials, to the exclusion of other social classes such as tradesmen, craftsmen and independent workers. The official in his suit and Tarboosh (the Effendi) is compared with the tradesman or craftsman in his galabia, the official and his fixed regular salary and the independent worker and his uncertain earnings. This grave problem produced consequences which had a great influence on Egyptian society, especially during this period. If a young man were fortunate enough to obtain his secondary school certificate or university degree, his only hope of a stable income was to become a government employee. The result was that only foreigners went into trade or industry. The owners of the commercial or industrial companies in Egypt were Italians, Greeks, French, Swiss or British, and it was unusual to find a single Egyptian among them. Egyptian families of the middle class always chose an official to marry their daughters, however small his income might be, rejecting an independent worker even if his income was higher. Selim's film had a really overwhelming success, such as had never previously been known in the Egyptian cinema."
