Beautiful, moving film.

It's one of the most original films you'll likely see all year, which, depending on your threshold for certifiably crazy storylines, could be a rewarding experience or one that frustrates you.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

George Raft finished a series of pictures he made with anemic budget Lippert Studios with The Man From Cairo. And in the tradition of B movies the title has nothing to do with the film other than Raft changes planes in Cairo.Where he meets up with an old friend Richard McNamara, an American private detective who has been hired by the French government to locate some French gold that disappeared into the Algerian desert after the Nazis invaded. The bad guys mistake Raft for McNamara after Raft arrives in Algiers and the action begins.Other than a quick appearance by Greek actress Irene Papas who gets killed off right away, no other players of note to Americans are cast in this film. The Man From Cairo is slightly better than Raft's Outpost In Morocco with the action taking place in the same locale, but not much better.No one has ever accused George Raft of being a great actor, but he truly is lifeless in this film. I'm sure he was grateful for the paycheck and that's about it.One definitely for the money.

Well, that's the way this low-budget crime drama was promoted. Starring Screen Heavy George Raft (well past his prime) and filmed abroad in 1953, it was just an attempt by prolific B-movie producer Robert Lippert to exploit Raft's familiar name. Here, he is cast as a vacationer heading to Algeirs, for no reason in particular. There, he runs into considerable danger due to a case of mistaken identity. He is thought to be an agent investigating a gold theft that happened during the war. At times, it seems that almost everybody he runs into has had some connection to the robbery, (and most of them do) needlessly adding even more confusion to an already muddled plot. This is one film that needed all the exposition it could get, but, though details are hashed over endlessly, it doesn't make things any clearer. And though it was advertised as being ''filmed where it happened'', there isn't much of the expected exotic scenery. There are some sleazily authentic backgrounds, but little use is made of them. It might as well have been filmed in Idaho,for all the ''atmosphere'' it generates. This is a very claustrophobic looking production, which relies almost entirely on Raft's fast-fading charisma to keep it afloat. Sadly, he just doesn't make a very convincing hero (though he was a terrific villain) and he sounds as if he's imitating Humphrey Bogart. The rest of the cast is dubbed, including leading lady Gianna Maria Canale, who not only has no chemistry with Raft, but is almost twice his size, and moves like a robot. There is an early appearance by the great Greek actress Irene Papas,but she's wasted in a nothing role.Strangely, the movie retains enough interest to keep you watching to the end, but that's not saying much. And neither this film, nor the other Lippert quickies Raft did,generated any new interest in him. When this one reached the US, it landed on the bottom half of a double bill, supporting another Lippert production ''Sins Of Jezebel''. They are all available on DVD from VCI ENTERTAINMENT. And the transfers are better than the movies. That's pretty ironic-In most cases, it's usually the other way around. Incidentally, this one was advertised with one of the most striking posters a Lippert feature ever had. Too bad the advertising was superior to the product. Well, it's not as if THAT'S never happened before, time and time again...

I'm not positive, but I think this was George Raft's last role as a star lead. The movie was an Italian low-cost production. It was the best Raft's agent could do. What marquee value Raft had left in America was thought worth hiring him for to try to sell enough tickets to turn a profit. Raft was 57 when he made the movie, and looks every year of it. He's kept his weight down but his hair is gray and there wasn't much anyone could do to disguise the shadows under his eyes, the puffiness, the general air of "let's get through this so I can go home." The story is all confused, international thriller hokum. French gold reserves had been moved to French North Africa during WWII, but $100 million worth were stolen in Algeria. Seven years later the gold is still missing. Mike Canelli (Raft), visiting Algiers, knows about all this; so do several others including a singer who can't act but who has a Gina Lollabrigida chassis. The key seems to be a shadowy character with only four fingers on his right hand. After much tough talk, thrown knives, night-time visits to the casbah, a fight using an obvious double on a train and barely adequate dubbing, we learn all about Mike and the missing gold. I have a fondness or George Raft. In his declining years I wish he'd been able to do better than things like this, a movie in which everything is perfunctory. I like Raft because he was who he was, and had no pretense. He was no actor, said so himself, but through some mysterious process became a star.

While Film Noir continues to ride high as flavor of the month, a number of minor offerings from the "B" market such as Man from Cairo are beginning to surface on DVD. Admittedly, this movie is must viewing for fans of Gianna Maria Canale (counting me), but is somewhat heavy going for everyone else. Irene Papas admirers will be disappointed by the brevity of her role; and although Leon Lenoir plays a major part in the action (with lots of close-ups), his voice is obviously dubbed. Only smartly tailored Massimo Serato comes across in flying style, although Angelo Dessy has his moment. True, the confused is-she-good, is-she-bad affair does come to a slap-up action finale, even if the actual unmasking is somewhat weak.Alas, George Raft makes a tired, bored and boring hero. But the dull plot is wrapped up in lustrous black-and-white photography by Mario Albertelli who handled one of my favorite movies, Rossini (1942).