REVIEW: I Have No One But You (1958)
Title: ماليش غيرك (I Have No One But You)
Release Year: 1958
Language: Arabic
Genre: Romantic Comedy and Musical
Cast: Farid Al-Atrash, Rushdy Abaza and Mariam Fakhr Eddine
Plot Summary: A young girl refusing to get married forces her father to take extreme measures to get her to agree on a marriage.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️＿ ＿
Review:
I grew up watching Egyptian classics but can never remember the names of films. Now that I'm more interested in reviewing, I wanted to start with my favourites. It's a difficult process though, since I have a brain that works in mysterious ways, I only remember the stories but not who starred in them hahahha. So now I'm stuck with searching for both film and actor names.
Anyway I gave up easily and just searched for films starring certain people. That way eventually something I loved as a child, would pop up.
I started and stopped at Mariam Fakhr Eddine. She is one of the most beautiful and underrated Arabian actresses of the 1950s. Other than being gorgeous beyond all reason, she was a very talented actress, so I was shocked to know how little attention she got, eventhough she married a producer. I guess she needed more connections than that to get ahead.
Although I had already seen many of her films as a child, I didn't remember any that I found:
This film is an adaptation of the film You Were Never Lovelier, 1942, starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. Naturally, some alterations have been made to the story to accommodate the lead, Farid Al Atrash. Being a singer, they decided to replace the dance sequences with very long singing ones for him.
The Synopsis:
The story is about a rich family, who follow a tradition which proposes that daughters can only marry in age order. While the two younger daughters found their suitors, the eldest refused to accept anyone.
The father then decided to take matters in his own hands. Thus he created a secret admirer, and through love letters he writes out himself - copied from books - he plans to make her to fall in love, until of course, he could find a suitable suitor to take his place. Things don't quite go as planned though, when a poor stranger comes into the picture and she falls in love with him instead.
The Characters:
The father, played by Hassan Fayek, was hilarious but also extremely cruel to his daughter. Even after she found out that he tricked her, he didn't feel any remorse. Nonetheless, he was the most entertaining character in the film. I was in stitches in all the scenes he was in.
Mariam played Bassima, the eldest daughter and the protagonist of the story. She was the perfect lead and of course looked breathtakingly beautiful as she did in all her films.
Farid played Ahmad, the poor singer who was searching for work, when he got mixed up into their family mess. Although he did a good job portraying the character, I don't think Farid was the most attractive choice. Of course he was the main character because he produced the film, so there was no other way anyone could've replaced him hehe.
Rushdy Abaza played Farid's friend Fathi and he was perfection!
While watching, I had hoped that through some kind of miracle, Bassima would fall in love with Fathi instead because he was more suited for her but it is a comedy afterall, as was the end match.
Anyway, I can accept Farid as the lead since he was a big deal, but the side characters should have been more thoroughly casted. The younger sisters were the wrong choices. I've even forgotten their faces and there was nothing special in their acting styles to remember them by.
Despite some minor details, I think overall, the film was very entertaining to watch. I just wish the singing sequences were shorter. There were also many unnecessary musical scenes. I can think of only two absolute vital ones and the rest they could've easily gotten rid of. Plus the songs weren't all that, except the one scene at the country club luncheon with the family.
If you understand Arabic, then I recommend this film, especially if you love a good laugh. I'm afraid I couldn't find the film with English subtitles though, but you can find it on YouTube if you're still curious.
Release Year: 1958
Language: Arabic
Genre: Romantic Comedy and Musical
Cast: Farid Al-Atrash, Rushdy Abaza and Mariam Fakhr Eddine
Plot Summary: A young girl refusing to get married forces her father to take extreme measures to get her to agree on a marriage.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️＿ ＿
Review:
I grew up watching Egyptian classics but can never remember the names of films. Now that I'm more interested in reviewing, I wanted to start with my favourites. It's a difficult process though, since I have a brain that works in mysterious ways, I only remember the stories but not who starred in them hahahha. So now I'm stuck with searching for both film and actor names.
Anyway I gave up easily and just searched for films starring certain people. That way eventually something I loved as a child, would pop up.
I started and stopped at Mariam Fakhr Eddine. She is one of the most beautiful and underrated Arabian actresses of the 1950s. Other than being gorgeous beyond all reason, she was a very talented actress, so I was shocked to know how little attention she got, eventhough she married a producer. I guess she needed more connections than that to get ahead.
Although I had already seen many of her films as a child, I didn't remember any that I found:
- Sleepless (1957)
- The Good Land (1954)
- I Have No One But You (1958)
This film is an adaptation of the film You Were Never Lovelier, 1942, starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. Naturally, some alterations have been made to the story to accommodate the lead, Farid Al Atrash. Being a singer, they decided to replace the dance sequences with very long singing ones for him.
The Synopsis:
The story is about a rich family, who follow a tradition which proposes that daughters can only marry in age order. While the two younger daughters found their suitors, the eldest refused to accept anyone.
The father then decided to take matters in his own hands. Thus he created a secret admirer, and through love letters he writes out himself - copied from books - he plans to make her to fall in love, until of course, he could find a suitable suitor to take his place. Things don't quite go as planned though, when a poor stranger comes into the picture and she falls in love with him instead.
The Characters:
The father, played by Hassan Fayek, was hilarious but also extremely cruel to his daughter. Even after she found out that he tricked her, he didn't feel any remorse. Nonetheless, he was the most entertaining character in the film. I was in stitches in all the scenes he was in.
Mariam played Bassima, the eldest daughter and the protagonist of the story. She was the perfect lead and of course looked breathtakingly beautiful as she did in all her films.
Rushdy Abaza played Farid's friend Fathi and he was perfection!
While watching, I had hoped that through some kind of miracle, Bassima would fall in love with Fathi instead because he was more suited for her but it is a comedy afterall, as was the end match.
Anyway, I can accept Farid as the lead since he was a big deal, but the side characters should have been more thoroughly casted. The younger sisters were the wrong choices. I've even forgotten their faces and there was nothing special in their acting styles to remember them by.
Despite some minor details, I think overall, the film was very entertaining to watch. I just wish the singing sequences were shorter. There were also many unnecessary musical scenes. I can think of only two absolute vital ones and the rest they could've easily gotten rid of. Plus the songs weren't all that, except the one scene at the country club luncheon with the family.
If you understand Arabic, then I recommend this film, especially if you love a good laugh. I'm afraid I couldn't find the film with English subtitles though, but you can find it on YouTube if you're still curious.
Although I prefer the Fred Astaire version I still loved this one, especially the father and of-course Mariam Fakhr Eddine as the lead. I don’t think I can re-watch it only because the song sequences were terribly long...It made me want to cry just to make it stop.
ReplyDeleteI never liked Farid Al-Atrash but he was especially infuriating in this film...maybe because I wanted someone else opposite Mariam since I liked the film.
I don’t remember the country house scene, so I can’t remember the song or if it was nice. Your memory is quite good...much better than mine since I remember nothing...so I guess I’m worse that what you explained yourself to be...hahaha!
Hahahha actually I don’t remember jack, I just rewrote my old review and these were points I had already mentioned in them hehehe. I even had to read the synopsis of the story to remind of the film hahaha
Delete...even though I liked it.
That’s why I usually don’t like to write about a film I haven’t seen in a long time, because I have a memory of a gold fish.
I think if it was possible to find the film without the music, I wouldn’t mind watching it again, but Farid Al Atrash was mr nasty.
I havent seen this one ... I guess because as a kid I never understood why would farid play the hero when he was clearly not good looking hahaha
ReplyDeleteI loved abdul haleem's movies were cute. he acted with shadiya in a movie once .. iknow the songs but cant remember the name of the movie for some rerason ....Fatin hamama chose her roles carefully and so her movies were better than others from that period ... she acted with her husband at the time Omar shireef in a really good movie (which again i forgot... wish I could remember what it was called) loved that movie ... like you i remember the pols of the movies I love but not the names
Hahahahha I know, I didn’t get it either!
DeleteYes I think I remember Abdul Halim’s films more than any Arabic classics, maybe because when he sang he’d make you want to listen unlike Farid hahahahah plus they were pretty good romantic comedies.
Yes I agree, Fatin’s films that I remember, always had Hollywood-material stories, maybe that’s why she succeeded more than other actresses.
The first one on the list I wrote starred Fatin Hamama, Mariam and Omar Sharif but I think you mean the one with Fatin with Omar, Abdul Haleem and that other actor whose name I can never remember, where they all fall in love with her. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name either hehehe
I think you mean Ahmed Ramzy.
DeleteYes that is probably one of the best Egyptian classics!
We should watch that one day when we’re all in an old Arabic mood hehe!