''The Monster'' () is a 1954 Egyptian

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Salah Abouseif Salah Abu Seif (, ) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was a prominent Egyptian film director and screenwriter. He is considered to be the godfather of Neorealism (art), Neorealist cinema in Cinema of Egypt, Egyptian cinema. Many of the 41 fil ...

. It was entered into the

1954 Cannes Film Festival The 7th Cannes Film Festival took place from 25 March to 9 April 1954. French writer and filmmaker Jean Cocteau served as jury president for the main competition. This was the last festival with a predominantly French jury. The Grand Prix was aw ...

. It was one of the first films to be labelled as a " social documentary thriller" by cinema writer

Georges Sadoul Georges Sadoul (; 4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English. Biography Sadoul w ...

for its use of documentary style, depictions of police abuse, and backdrop of life in the Egyptian countryside.

Plot

Abdel Sabour (

Mahmoud El-Meliguy Mahmoud el-Meligy (, ; 22 December 1910 – 6 June 1983) was an Egyptian screenwriter and an actor of film, theater, and television. He started his career playing minor roles but achieved stardom in the late 1930s. A popular and award-winnin ...

) is a thief and a smuggler known as The Beast. He wreaks havoc in a village in upper Egypt, where everyone is afraid of him, including the police. He enjoyed the protection of Redwan Pasha (

Abbas Fares ʻAbbās Fāres (;22 April 1902 – 13 February 1978) was an Egyptian film actor. He appeared in 26 films between 1929 and 1971. Selected filmography * '' The Will'' (1939) * '' A Night of Love'' (1951) * ''Furigat ''Furigat'' (, translat ...

) who in turn used him as an assassin to eliminate his rivals. Assigned to arrest The Beast, Officer Raouf Saleh was sent to the village, together with his wife and son. The Beast and his gang work together, trying to dispose of the officer and his family, in every way possible.

Cast

Anwar Wagdi Anwar Wagdi (, ; 11 October 1904 – 14 May 1955), born Anwar Wagdi Yehia Elfattal, was an Egyptians, Egyptian actor, screenwriter, Film director, director and Film producer, producer. Life Anwar was born in the Cairo district of Daher, Egypt, ...

as Al Wahsh *

Samia Gamal Zeinab Ali Khalil Ibrahim Mahfouz (; 5 March 1924 – 1 December 1994), known professionally as Samia Gamal (), was an Egyptian belly dancer and film actress. Gamal performed in more than 50 movies during her career. She is regarded as one of t ...

as Nassana *

as Redwan Pasha * Samihah Ayyoob as Tahiyyah * Metawee Eweiss as Informer * Abdelghani Kamar as Member of gang'El wahsh * Said Khalil as Shawky Affandi * Nazim Shaarawy as Member of gang'El wahsh * Mohammed Tawfik as Khorny

References

External links

* 1954 films 1954 crime films 1950s Arabic-language films Egyptian black-and-white films Films directed by Salah Abu Seif Egyptian crime films Films with screenplays by Naguib Mahfouz 1950s Egyptian films Arabic-language crime films {{1950s-crime-film-stub