Arabesque Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 13, 2021

Stanley Donen's "Arabesque" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson; archival program with composer Henry Mancini; and vintage promotional material for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Rub my back

If you don’t like utterly unbelievable international intrigues, ridiculous old-fashioned action, and goofy lines, Stanley Donen’s Arabesque isn’t for you. If you are stubborn and try to give it a chance, you will be left with a massive headache that won’t go away for days. You have been warned.

The prime minister of an unnamed Middle Eastern country hires Professor David Pollock (Gregory Peck), an expert in ancient Arabic hieroglyphics at Oxford University, to decode a secret message. Shortly after, Pollock is picked up by some shady characters working for the very wealthy oil tycoon Beshraavi (Alan Badel), who also wants the message decoded as quickly as possible. Pollock is then transported to a lavish villa owned by the mysterious beauty Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), who is supposed to be Beshraavi’s mistress but seems willing to help the professor escape his host. When the right opportunity comes along, Pollock and Yasmin run away and instantly become targets for Beshraavi’s goons. While trying to stay ahead of the people that are tracking them down, the fugitives begin to fall in love, but remain suspicious of each other.

Arabesque is a bit like a giant salad prepared by a cook who did not mind experimenting with all kinds of different dressing sauces because he knew that he was good enough to present it in a way that would make it impossible to reject. This is what Arabesque is -- a mish-mash of ideas and genre clichés, only some of which come together rather nicely.

The concept behind the film is rather awkward -- or at least it looks so all these years later -- but this does not mean that the end product is not entertaining. Indeed, because of the great chemistry between Peck and Loren a lot of the ridiculous material actually begins to look attractive, and with Donen behind the camera frequently very stylish. This is actually precisely how a lot of the classic James Bond films impressed, as well as the many copycats that they inspired over the years. (See Agent 8 3/4 and Deadlier Than the Male).

The balance between the action and the comedy remains a bit tricky, and if compared to what Donen’s Charade offers, it is actually easy to tell that more work was needed to have everything click as it should. Part of the problem seems to be that the story pulls in a lot of different directions, and there are just not enough opportunities for the secondary characters to establish themselves. Assassins, psychos, and doubles pop up out of nowhere, do their parts, and then the film quickly moves to the next phase of the fugitives’ adventure. It just feels like there is too much happening, despite the fact that the film is nearly two hours long.

The entire film was shot on location in the United Kingdom, and it feels like with the presence of so many exotic characters, a lot more could have been done to make it more exciting. For example, some flashbacks could have revealed more about Beshraavi, or somehow a portion of the chase could have been relocated to a distant location where there would be plenty more of the wild action that is seen during the finale.

A solid soundtrack from Henry Mancini does a lot to enhance the drama and suspense, and actually adds a lot of class to the film as well.

Loren’s very stylish outfits were specially created by the legendary French fashion designer Christian Dior. In one of the film’s most memorable sequences, the Italian star goes through a pile of boxes with obviously very expensive and very chic shoes, and then puts on a pair of outrageously sexy boots.

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Stanley Donen's Arabesque arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from the exact same master that the folks at Universal worked with to produce their release of Arabesque in 2019. This is a very old master, and while mostly decent, it has a wide range of limitations. Now, it definitely offers some fine upgrades over the old DVD release of Arabesque, but you don't have to project to quickly conclude that ideally the film can and should look a lot better in high-definition. For example, I previously speculated that the master was likely struck from a second generation source, which is the reason why some well-lit footage may look slightly sharper. (I refer to the halo-like effects that begin to pop up whenever there is plenty of light). A proper new 2K or 4K master from the OCN will instantly eliminate the effect(s). In some darker areas, fine details should be a lot more convincing as well. The master is nicely graded, but there are select nuances and highlights that should be better balanced. Image stability is good. There are no large distracting cuts, debris, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report in our review. All in all, the quality of the presentation gravitates around the 3.25/3.50 mark, with the majority of the well-lit footage revealing the most obvious limitations. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The quality of the lossless track is very good. If you compare it to the lossy track from old the DVD release, the difference in quality is immediately recognizable. Can the audio sound better? At the moment, my answer is no. I think that if any adjustments are made in the future, they will be entirely cosmetic.

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Promotional Materials - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Vintage theatrical trailer.
  2. Television trailer.
  3. Teaser Trailer.
  4. TV Spots.
  5. Poster gallery.

• Commentary - a brand new commentary recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson. As usual, these gentlemen focus on a wide range of details, from the production history of Arabesque to its style and sense of humor to the careers of various people that contributed to it.

• Music by Mancini - an archival featurette with composer Henry Mancini and nationally syndicated columnist Leonard Feather. The two gentlemen discuss the scoring of Arabesque as well as the classic relationship between music and moving visuals in cinema. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Cover - a reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arabesque is a ridiculous but still quite entertaining old-fashioned spy film that fits somewhere between the outrageous Ken Clark thrillers and some of the less successful James Bond films. I tend to enjoy it, but primarily because I like the chemistry between its two stars, Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck. Kino Lorber's release of Arabesque is sourced from the same old master that the folks at Universal Pictures worked with to produce their release of the film in 2019. However, this release has an exclusive new audio commentary and a very fine archival featurette with the great Henry Mancini. RECOMMENDED.