Gregory Peck & Sophia Loren in Arabesque (1966)

Obscurity factor: -3

David Pollock (Peck) is a professor at Oxford, specializing in Egyptology, specifically, hieroglyphics. He's approached by the prime minister of a middle eastern country and asked to accept a forthcoming invitation from a shady businessman to study a hieroglyph. Little does he know the intrigue that awaits him when that simple job leads to threats on his life, all sorts of unsavory characters and a beguiling, but treacherous spy, Yasmine Azir (Loren). Will he be able to decipher the hieroglyph, and if he does, will he be able to stay alive?

MoviePosterShop.com

This film is a tour de force for director Stanley Donen. The visuals are unparalleled, if a trifle gimicky. Look for sensational camera angles, creative use of mirrors, chandeliers, camera lenses and fish tanks. Also look for gorgeous costumes for Loren by Dior and an incredible scene where the villain delivers veiled threats while plying Yasmine with beautiful shoes. The music is just right and by Henry Mancini.

This film is a dubious fit for this blog. It's well known by film buffs and was singled out as an example of Loren's work by the AFI. It's not as well known as Donen's other 60's thriller Charade, however, and there is a large swath of the population that has yet to discover it, so I decided it was worthy of inclusion. It's been released on DVD, but is out of print, and a bit hard to find - there are only 3 copies available on Amazon right now.

Obscurity factor: -3 (on DVD, though hard to find, known to film buffs, critically acclaimed)

Ava Gardner & Gregory Peck in On The Beach (1959)

Obscurity factor: 3

Now to be honest, this film is borderline for this blog. It was a very big film at the time of its release, and Ava Gardner's first film after her contract ended with MGM. It was also directed by Stanley Kramer, who is no slouch, so students of film have known and studied this film in depth. If you weren't around when it was released and you're not a film student, then you might not have heard of it before.

American Captain Dwight Lional Towers (Gregory Peck) and his crew pilot their submarine into Melbourne harbor after a nuclear conflict that has wiped out the rest of the world. All that's left of the world population is in Australia. The Australian citizens are getting on as best they can and the government is trying to calculate if and when the nuclear fallout will reach them.  Captain Towers, his crew and a scientist (Fred Astaire) are charged with testing a theory about the radiation abating at the north pole, but not until Dwight is introduced to Moira (Gardner) by a new Australian crew member (Anthony Perkins) Moira, an Australian native, tries to help Dwight come to terms with his family's death. As they set out on their voyage disappointments await them at the north pole, down the west coast of the United States and upon returning to Melbourne.


In the scene above, uploaded to YouTube by slaxor, Julian explains to the crew his thoughts on how the conflict started. This film is available on DVD and can be seen frequently on TCM. The poster above is available at MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 3 (known to film buffs, somewhat forgotten otherwise)