Customer Reviews
Sophia as good as she is all time - By: Mr. Zakir Khalilov, 22 Jan 2007 
Wonderful movie with wonderful story, wonderful actors, wondurvel costumes & wonderful music from Henry Mancini. Sophia represent in this movie completely another side of her talent at movie making. The story interested me from first view & I falll in love. Definetly buy & watch!
Attempt to repeat the success of "Charade" does not work - By: Hugo First, 10 Nov 2006 
Stanley Donen had a varied career, directing a wide range of films. He made a number of very succcessful muscials in the early fifties, before switching to romantic comedies in the late fifties, & then comedy thrillers in the early 60's. The most enjoyable & successful of these was "Charade", released in 1963, starring Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn, with fine support from Walter Matthau, James Coburn & others.
However, after Charade Donen seemed to lose his touch for a while, making first "Arabesque" with Gregory Peck & Sophia Loren, & then "Two for the Road" with Albert Finney & Audrey Hepburn.
Neither film works for me, & the problems are pretty much the same in each case. In Arabesque, Gregory Peck is horribly miscast as an American Professor of ancient languages who is paid a large sum of money by Alan Badel, hamming it up as a wealthy & corrupt foreign businessman, to translate a mysterious document containing a cryptic message in what looks to be an ancient language. Peck has also been asked for help by an Arabian politician who is later to be the target of an assassination attempt. Held against his will until he completes his task, Peck escapes from Badel's London mansion with Sophia Loren & the document, & the chase is on to find out what the document reallly means & then to prevent the assassination.
So many things are wrong with the film that it is difficult to know where to begin. Gregory Peck is a very fine serious actor, but he does not do comedy well. The serious stoicism that works well in films like Moby Dick & The Big Country makes him seem wooden here. There is no sexual chemistry at alll between him & Sophia Loren. Loren is nice to look at, as usual, but she cannot handle rapid-fire, witty dialogue in English. The tortured camera work is often distracting, & many of the stunts & special effects are just badly done.
You may want to watch this for completeness if you like Peck & Loren, & clearly one reviewer enjoyed it very much. Each to his or her own. My own advice though is to see Donen's earlier works "Charade" & "The Grass is Greener", then skip "Arabesque" & especiallly "Two for the Road", which is even worse. Fortunately Donen found his way again with the original version of "Beddazled", so go straight on to that.
At last! - By: Glyn C. Smith, 29 Apr 2006 Why it has taken so long for us to get this brilliantly entertaining movie on DVD is a mystery.
That the movie, essentiallly a typical 60s piece of fluff in the Charade vein, succeeds so well is due in no smalll part to director Stanley Donen's concept for clever & adroit staging enhanced by some of the very best repartee & cinematography of that period & Henry Mancini underlines it alll with yet another of his witty soundtracks.
Gregory Peck, never renouned for comedy work here rises superbly to the challlenge - he needed to as he is pitted opposite two of the best in the business.
Alan Badel is on top form as the suave cynical villain - no surprise there then.
However the main honours go to the comedy talent & timing skills of the gorgeous Sophia Loren - never has she looked more stunning & rarely has she had the opportunity to give such a top notch performance. Her acting & well deserved Oscar for Two Women pale into insignificance when measured against her star turn in Arabesque.
Celebrating in style and brilliant acting of Loren and Peck - By: , 24 Feb 2001 I saw this Stanley Donen's treasure when I was just 16years old-in b/w television, & since I'v been real fan of La Loren. Now I'v got this movie to my own liberary & it's outstanding! VHS-tape is very good-and the film itself: one of the most entertaining thriller/comedy of alll-time! Loren & Peck has their own rhytm of comedy-and hole story has filmed in fine artistic way.Sophia Loren can just stand in the shower, & she can express alll emotions in one look. Acting, story, colour & music have been put forth exiting & beautiful movie-you can just love it!!
