The Favorite (1989 film)
| The Favorite (Intimate Power) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jack Smight |
| Written by | Prince Michael of Greece (novel) Larry Yust (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Georges-Alain Vuille Ascona Films Inc. |
| Starring | F. Murray Abraham Maud Adams Francesco Quinn Amber O'Shea |
| Cinematography | Giorgio Tonti Howard Wexler |
| Edited by | Dennis Virkler Devon Heffley Curry, adr supervisor |
| Music by | William Goldstein |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 min. |
| Countries | United States Switzerland |
| Language | English |
The Favorite (also titled Intimate Power) is a 1989 Swiss-American historical drama film based on the unsubstantiated story of Aimée du Buc de Rivéry that takes place at the dawn of the 19th century. It was the final film of director Jack Smight.
Premise
[edit]A young French woman named Aimee is kidnapped and forced into a Sultan's harem in the Ottoman Empire. Fiercely independent, she resists, but must make choices in order to survive. She begins to influence the Sultan toward more fair manners of solving his conflicts, but finds herself at odds with another one of his wives, who wants her son Mustafa to become the new sultan. As the years pass, she must deal with the new Sultan's advances while protecting her adopted son Mahmud, and helping the Ottoman Empire against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792.
The source for the story is a novel by Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark titled Sultana - La Nuit du Serail.
Cast
[edit]- F. Murray Abraham as Abdul Hamid
- Maud Adams as Sineperver
- Amber O'Shea as Aimée Dubucq de Rivéry
- Ron Dortch as Tulip
- James Michael Gregary as Selim
- Laurent Le Doyen as Sebastiani
- Francesco Quinn as adult Mahmud
- Andréa Parisy as Mihrişah
- Tom McGreevey as Uncle (as Thomas McGreevey)
- Celeste Simpson-Boyd as Zinah
- Robere Kazadi as Orchid
- Garth Wilton as British Consul
- Reuven Bar-Yotam as Algerian Captain
- Farouk Peker as Baktar
- John Kennedy Hayden as Chief Janissary
- Mike Johnson as First Mate
- Thomas Rosales Jr. as Third Mate
- Michael Saad as Jeweler
- Dale Dye as French Officer
- Joseph Darrell as Manservant
- Ayse Gungor as Harem Girl
- Starr Andreeff as Harem Girl
- Erica Zeitlin as Harem Girl
- Victoria Dakil as Old Woman
- Roz Witt as Nun
- George Marshall Ruge as Kamir
- Joe El Rady as Boy at the bazar
- Jonathan Vuille as Young Mahmud
- Glenn Scarpelli as Mustafa
Production
[edit]- Director: Jack Smight
- Production Company: Ascona Films, Inc.
The film was shot in Turkey. Halfway through the production, original producer Georges-Alain Vuille ran out of money and Steve Friedman's company completed production. Smight finished the film, stating "it turned out better than expected, but once again 'into oblivion'."[1]
Sources
[edit]- Jason Ankeny, Allmovie.
- The Favorite at IMDb
References
[edit]- ^ Myers, JP (March 8, 2018). "This is the story of Director Jack Smight's life in entertainment written by himself". Medium.
External links
[edit]- 1989 films
- Films based on Danish novels
- American independent films
- Swiss drama films
- 1989 independent films
- English-language Swiss films
- 1980s adventure drama films
- Films set in the 1780s
- Films set in the 1790s
- Films set in the 1800s
- Films set in 18th-century Ottoman Empire
- Films directed by Jack Smight
- American adventure drama films
- 1989 crime drama films
- 1980s English-language films
- 1980s American films
- English-language independent films
- English-language crime drama films
- English-language adventure drama films