Sphinx (1981)

Just perfect...

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This film has nothing whatever to do with the Sphinx, and the title is just a come-on. The story concerns an imagined true and concealed tomb in the Valley of the Kings, of King Seti I, second pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom period. It is not a bad yarn, and a great deal of the film is shot on location. Even the scenes in the Winter Palace Hotel lobby in Luxor were really shot there, and not in a studio. The second unit stuff is endless, and they must have been let loose on Egypt for weeks. Frank Langella is very good indeed as a sophisticated Egyptian. He should take it up as a sideline. The film is essentially ruined by one of the world's most irritating actresses, Lesley Anne Down, who plays the lead. She spends the whole film wondering how she looks, are her blue eyes refracting light at the correct angle, do all the fellas lust after her, etc. Having started life as a model at the age of ten, what hope could there be for her? She epitomises everything that is most revolting about female vanity and dim-witted inanity. And to think that this film was directed by Franklin Shaffner, who won an Oscar for 'Patton'! He allows this terrible actress to whimper and simper through the film, hysterical one moment, flirting the next, in a kind of hurricane of idiocy as she reels from one man to another, either screaming or making bedroom eyes, it matters not. She is supposed to be a young Egyptologist. But she has never been to Egypt before! She takes a taxi to Giza and catching her first glimpse of the pyramids, gushes in ecstasy: 'But they're so BIG!!!!' Barf! OK, so that was the script, but she takes to the banality too readily, giving the impression that it is her natural element, which I don't doubt for a minute. Elements of the story are sound. There is, indeed, a serious problem about a black market in antiquities there. True! Well done! The novel by Robin Cook, which I have not seen, may be OK for all I know. It was fun to see the name of Cyril Swern as sound recordist on the film, as I knew him pretty well long ago. Stanley Kubrick's step-daughter Katharina is described as 'draughtswoman'. I wonder what that means? Maybe she did some set work. Anyway, the antiquities in the film are pretty good, actually. And we get to see lots of the Cairo Museum and numerous scenic locations. They actually go inside King Tutankhamun's Tomb! I don't imagine that would be allowed today for a movie. A lot of inappropriate scenes take place in mosques. That would not go down well today, but in 1981 such things were not on the agenda. The music for the film is absolutely appalling, worse than Lesley Anne Down in fact! But there were sound track elements which were surprisingly authentic, one being the cacophony of traffic noise of Cairo, which is accurately rendered in the background, and would make anyone who knows Cairo chuckle nervously. Also, the loudspeaker calls to prayer are there the whole time, another touch of authenticity. Why didn't they get this right? It could have been good.

Call me a drippy romantic but Frank Langella, dancing eyes and all, is great in this movie. He captures the ideal of a darkly romantic mystery man with intelligence and humor. My only complaint is Lesley-Anne Down's shrieks--for an avowed Egyptolgist you'd think she'd be used to dark, dusty & dirty places. The plot, which causes Down to question her pride, self-esteem and morality when tempted with revealing centuries-old secrets, is straight forward and uncomplicated. The scenery of the desert, Cairo, and the pyramids is lush and lovely and the "comic relief," even though it comes with an "I just knew that would happen," twist is fun and charming. If you'd just like to watch a picturesque, romantic adventure with no socially redeeming features getting in the way, watch this.

This movie was great.Langella was believable as an Egyptian and Lesley-Anne Down had an uncanny ability to either retain her hairdo under ANY circumstances or change it by slipping on a carpet runner.Sir John Gielgud does not play an Egyptian in the film as suggested earlier.He is a Brit living there for a long time running an antique/souvenir shop.The movie was much better than the book,where Erica Barron only briefly met Achmet Khazam.This film is one of my all time faves and was actually made to cash in on the King Tut exhibit touring the world.The film has an expensive look to it and cost about 17 million dollars to make.It has newbie Egyptologist Erica Barron(Lesley-Anne Down)from Boston traveling to Egypt and getting into deep trouble like most Americans.Cinematography is excellent and while the plot might be thin in places,the film works.Just two years earlier leading man here Frank Langella portrayed Dracula in the 1979 film of the same name with a dicscoesque quality to him.Chiefly you will learn that mummy's arms and hands make excellent torches.I'll give it nine out of ten points for continuity problems.

This movie follows right along with the book, but adds MUCH more due to the on-location sets and the very authentic ancient Egyptian stage sets. Most definitely worth the $5.00 you can get it for at flea markets!!!