In Alexandria, in 1938, Darley, a young British schoolmaster and poet, makes friends through Pursewarden, the British consular officer, with Justine, the beautiful and mysterious wife of a Coptic banker. He observes the affairs of her heart and incidentally discovers that she is involved in a plot against the British, meant to arm the Jewish underground in Palestine. The plot finally fails, Justine is sent to jail and Darley decides to return to England.
Costume
Anouk Aimée's wardrobe is doing ALL the heavy lifting.
Cinematography
Alexandria looks expensive and appropriately fever-dreamy.
Director
George Cukor
Anouk Aimée
Justine
Dirk Bogarde
Pursewarden
Robert Forster
Narouz
Anna Karina
Melissa
Philippe Noiret
Pombal
Michael York
Darley
John Vernon
Nessim
Jack Albertson
Cohen
Cliff Gorman
Toto
George Baker
British Ambassador David Mountolive
Michael Constantine
Memlik Pasha
Marcel Dalio
French Consul General
Michael Dunn
Mnemjian
Barry Morse
Colonel Maskelyne
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Cukor's attempt to pivot to serious European art cinema. Critics agreed he should've stayed in Hollywood.
Durrell's Alexandria Quartet was considered unfilmable; this adaptation proved why by keeping only the plot and losing all the prose poetry.
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