MovieChat Forums > Istanbul (1957) Discussion > Thoughts while watching

Thoughts while watching

posted a month ago by Jes' Sayin' (5976)
13 replies | jump to latest

Wow, Col. Klink showed up! ;)

When Errol is summoned to be shaken down it plays out just like a Bond film. What a Bond Flynn might have been. Could have been the best ever.

Hilarious visual joke. We're watching her dance from behind, wiggling her butt back and forth, and then Errol says "But ... (long pause) if your wife likes culture..."

Why wouldn't an amnesiac be interested in their past? Seems very strange...

When he returns to hotel and finds her waiting there it's a very nice moment.

The music when he standing on the table seems quite similar to some of the music used on the original Star Trek series. And again later when climbing the stairs.

Wonder if Klemperer was chosen for his bald head. When he gets wounded there it's really easy to make out.

This film probably couldn't happen today. We have so many more tools to use to identify people.

I don't know how it's going to turn out, but it would probably be better for the studio and star if Errol does not get the girl. Since he's a pilot with his own plane he could have so many sequel movies in different cities around the world.

Seems like it will end at an airport. Similar to Casablanca! But with the opposite ending I suspect.

Pretty good! Kind of a Bond prototype with a few other things going on too. I like it!

[–] [email protected] (1640) 25 days ago

While reading his autobiography, there's a James Bond element running through it.

I need a rewatch, the one I saw was missing a couple of minutes, the scene would cut and jump a few times.

You know, I just watched Virginia City and the sweeping music reminded me so much of Dances With Wolves!

I was just thinking, an amnesiac would normally be curious and self aware of having amnesia. I wonder if he had a dread or feeling of trauma, encouraged by a husband who didn't want to lose her.

The end has the plane turning back, hinting at a reunion. But tbh, I think it would've ended better if they left it as her looking at his plane flying off and never returning.

I enjoyed this one too, wish a bluray release comes out or an HD restored version.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5976) 25 days ago

Yes, that's true. His life had its action-adventure component. Had he lived longer and been maybe a bit younger he could have made a great Bond.

There are two versions of the movie on youtube. Maybe try the other one.

Always funny seeing Errol in a western because he seems out of place at first. They try to make it better by giving him some line about how he came to America from somewhere else.

That's Max Steiner's music. He wrote for a lot of Errol's films. Korngold was another of the great composers who worked on his films. Both have had a great influence on subsequent movie composers.

Yes, by the end we kind of get the idea that the husband may not exactly have been noble in his treatment of her, but that's good because it makes it okay for us not to like him anymore.

I think it may be interesting to compare the ending with Casablanca.

Casablanca: kills the authority figure, takes the money, gives up the girl
Istanbul: makes friends with the authority figure, gives up the money, gets the girl

It just goes to prove that 2 out 3 is the best you can do! ;)

[–] [email protected] (1640) 25 days ago

I guess Indiana Jones would be a better co prison, or rather, the other guy who gave Indy his hat in The Las Crusade.

Yes, I think I'll watch the one on yt to get the full picture.

Honestly I know he complained about feeling out of place in westerns, but I never had issues bec immigration was common back then and well..... if I can buy Arnold as a WASP American, why not Errol? Lol!

Boy you know a lot about Hollywood, thanks for attaching names to the music!

I didn't think badly of the husband though tbh, I felt he was just afraid of losing her. It was selfish but in the end, he seemed the type to let her go to Flynn if she wanted. Yes, I see Casablanca in this too, lol!

Ps. The spoiler tags worked!

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5976) 25 days ago

Yes, Indy is in the same kind of area too.

Yes, at some level a western can be just another kind of adventure picture. Just a different kind of costume.

Thanks. Listen, some time when you're doing errands maybe, to the music of Korngold. I think you will recognize a lot of it: https://youtu.be/3UOizXUryws

The ending is interesting in that probably the moviemakers would have gotten in trouble with the censors had they broken up an apparently happy marriage. So all they were able to do was suggest an outcome.

Yours too!

[–] [email protected] (1640) 25 days ago

Thank you, I had not realized he did 3 of Flynn's swashbuckler films.

[–] [email protected] (1640) 25 days ago

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[–] [email protected] (1640) 25 days ago

Oh I forgot to mention and was reminded through The Young Errol, that the James Bond of the 19th century Harry Flashman has been compared to Flynn. I haven't read these books but I'm intrigued!

https://aspectsofhistory.com/historical-heroes-saul-david-on-george-macdonald-fraser/

I think when I read the Flashman papers, I will imagine Errol. The character seems molded after him, from his looks, to his dri ki g, brawling, womanizing, callousness, and always getting into trouble. I think Mr. Fraser read MWWW!

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5976) 25 days ago

Yeah, I've read some Flashman, but couldn't really get into it. He's a bit too much the haughty noble, looking down on everyone else.

[–] [email protected] (1640) 25 days ago

That's kinda how Conrad describes Errol too.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5976) 25 days ago

I guess so. Errol liked to talk up his father as a great professor and get some status from that, but really his father was not as great in the world of science as he liked to make out. But Flashman was actually of the nobility, if I recall.

[–] [email protected] (1640) 24 days ago

Also in Conrad's book he said Errol wanted to be treated as a master and treated his jamaican employees badly, harkening back to png.

In the young errol, he was strutting his stuff when he got back to Australia, pretending he went to Eton wearing his uniform, he was described as smug and arrogant.

Idk if Flashman is like that or worse, I have yet to read it.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5976) 24 days ago

Flashman is usually in a foreign part of the empire and disdaining the locals because they're not British or nobly-born.

[–] [email protected] (1640) 24 days ago

I guess I'll find out when I do get around to reading it. After The Young Errol, I plan on reading both Showdown and Eden Crane.