Sphinx (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1979 novel
by Robin Cook
| Sphinx | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Franklin J. Schaffner |
| Screenplay by | John Byrum |
| Based on | Sphinx 1979 novel by Robin Cook |
| Produced by | Stanley O'Toole |
| Starring | Lesley-Anne Down Frank Langella |
| Cinematography | Ernest Day |
| Edited by | Robert Swink Michael F. Anderson |
| Music by | Michael J. Lewis |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10.2 million[1][2] |
| Box office | $2 million |
Sphinx is a 1981 American adventure film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Lesley-Anne Down and Frank Langella. The screenplay by John Byrum is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Robin Cook.
Dedicated Egyptologist Erica Baron is researching a paper about the chief architect to Pharaoh Seti. Soon after her arrival in Cairo, she witnesses the brutal murder of unscrupulous art dealer Abdu-Hamdi, meets Yvon Mageot, a French journalist, and is befriended by Akmed Khazzan, who heads the antiquities division of the United Nations. When she journeys to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor to search a tomb reportedly filled with treasures, she finds herself the target of black marketeers determined to keep the riches for themselves.
Cast
- Lesley-Anne Down as Erica Baron
- Frank Langella as Akmed Khazzan
- Maurice Ronet as Yvon Mageot
- John Gielgud as Abdu-Hamdi
- Vic Tablian as Khalifa
- Martin Benson as Mohammed
- John Rhys-Davies as Stephanos Markoulis
- Nadim Sawalha as Gamal
- Tutte Lemkow as Tewfik
- Saeed Jaffrey as Selim
- Eileen Way as Aida
- William Hootkins as Don
- James Cossins as Lord Carnarvon
- Victoria Tennant as Lady Carnarvon
- Behrouz Vossoughi as Menephta, the Royal Architect
Production
Film rights were purchased by Orion Pictures for $1 million.[3]
Schaffner said in 1981, "I've never done this kind of film before, this mixture of mystery and adventure and romance. Two years ago, when I considered taking on the project, it seemed to me that audiences would look for this kind of escapist entertainment when it was released. I sincerely hope I'm right."[4]
Interiors were filmed in Budapest. Egypt locations include the Cairo bazaars, Giza, the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, and Thebes. The tomb set cost $1 million.[5]
Lesley-Anne Down got married during the filming.[6]