From Page to Screen
Ambler’s novel is different from the movie in several ways.
In the book, the story is narrated by Simpson (named Arthur Abdel Simpson in the book), so that the reader only gradually learns what Harper and his associates are really up to.
Simpson in the book is blackmailed into driving the car to Istanbul after Harper catches him trying to steal Harper’s travelers’ checks.
The book features frequent flashbacks to Simpson’s schooldays in England, which help to explain his character and motives more clearly than in the film.
Dassin originally planned to cast Peter Sellers as Simpson, but Sellers refused to work with Maximilian Schell, who he claimed had a reputation for being difficult. Dassin was not prepared to dispense with Schell, and so cast Ustinov in place of Sellers.
Peter Ustinov won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Simpson. It was his second win in the category, having won four years previously for Spartacus.
Appearing in supporting roles were Gilles Ségal as the “human fly” and Joe Dassin as Joseph, who runs the traveling fair display that is supposed to smuggle the dagger out of Turkey.
The athletic Ségal later inspired other ‘trickwire’ stunts, including a few used for the Mission: Impossible TV show and movie.
Joe Dassin was the son of the film’s director Jules Dassin: he appeared as an actor in a handful of films, but was better known as a singer-songwriter.
The film was shot on location in Istanbul, Turkey, in Kavala, Greece, and in Paris at the Boulogne-Billancourt Studios.
Music (and Oscar Scandal)
Manos Hatzidakis was one of the greatest Greek composers.
He was one of the main proponents of the “Éntekhno” form of music, along with Mikis Theodorakis.
In 1960, Hatzidakis won the Best Original Song Oscar for the tune “Never ion Sunday” from the film of similar title.
But he refused the award because he felt that Athens was misrepresented in the film, directed by American exile Jules Dassin.
Hatzidakis did not attend the Oscar ceremony, and refused to collect his award, claiming that Never on Sunday with a prostitute as its protagonist reflected negatively on Athens.
Intertextuality
Topkapi later inspired the Mission: Impossible TV show.
The scene in which a character hangs by a wire in order to steal a dagger inspired a similar scene in the 1996 Mission: Impossible film, where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) abseils into a secure room to access a computer.
