A rare clip of the famous Egyptian dancer, actress and WWII spy Hekmet Fahmy. The film is Al Azima from 1939. In this scene, Mohamed (played by Hussein Sedki) is working as a clerk in a fabric store because he has just been fired from his high paying office job. But he has not told his wife. The local butcher sees him and runs to tell the envious and gossipy neighborhood women; one of these is played by Hekmet Fahmy (wearing a melaya leff) they trick Fatma the wife ,(played by acting legend Fatma Rushdi) into going to buy some fabric, so she can see with her own eyes where her husband is really working.
An interesting bit of trivia about this film, Samia Gamal appears in it as an extra, and it was one of her first background parts. However, she doesn't appear in this particular clip.
This is one of the six films Hekmet Fahmy made during her life time. She does not dance in this film. Although she was a well known dancer in her day, her career reached it's peak before the popularity of Egytian cinema. For this reason not too much footage of her exists.
Hekmet Fahmy was born in 1907 and her dream was to become a famous theater actress. She began working with Ali El Kassar's theater group in the 20's. By 1927 she had left the group and was working at Badia Masabni's sala. The two women were very close and Badia would often take Hekmet with her to parties of important political figures and wealthy friends. She was also the star attraction at Mary Mansour's sala. She moved in high class circles, and Hekmet was invited to dance for the rich and famous of many countries. She was the only bellydancer invited to Germany to dance for Hitler and she also danced for Mussolini. She became the most sought after dancer in Cairo and her fame rivaled even Madame Badia's. Until her espionage episode. Since she moved in elite circles she had access to many important people and officers. However, her extreme dislike of the British got her involved in espionage and she began spying for the Germans. She was discovered and arrested. In 1942 the British sentenced her to five years in prison. This was the kiss of death for her career. By the time she was released from prison, she was 40 years old, and a new crop of younger talented dancers had arrived on the scene like Samia Gamal and Taheya Carioca who were in their 20's. She could no longer compete. In 1947 she made a movie called El Moutasharida which flopped miserably at the box office. In the movie, she lip synched the singing scenes and they used Shadia's voice for them. She retired after this failure. She died in Egypt in 1974 at age 67.
Source Article: http://yabeyrouth.net/content/view/34024/5/
An interesting bit of trivia about this film, Samia Gamal appears in it as an extra, and it was one of her first background parts. However, she doesn't appear in this particular clip.
This is one of the six films Hekmet Fahmy made during her life time. She does not dance in this film. Although she was a well known dancer in her day, her career reached it's peak before the popularity of Egytian cinema. For this reason not too much footage of her exists.
Hekmet Fahmy was born in 1907 and her dream was to become a famous theater actress. She began working with Ali El Kassar's theater group in the 20's. By 1927 she had left the group and was working at Badia Masabni's sala. The two women were very close and Badia would often take Hekmet with her to parties of important political figures and wealthy friends. She was also the star attraction at Mary Mansour's sala. She moved in high class circles, and Hekmet was invited to dance for the rich and famous of many countries. She was the only bellydancer invited to Germany to dance for Hitler and she also danced for Mussolini. She became the most sought after dancer in Cairo and her fame rivaled even Madame Badia's. Until her espionage episode. Since she moved in elite circles she had access to many important people and officers. However, her extreme dislike of the British got her involved in espionage and she began spying for the Germans. She was discovered and arrested. In 1942 the British sentenced her to five years in prison. This was the kiss of death for her career. By the time she was released from prison, she was 40 years old, and a new crop of younger talented dancers had arrived on the scene like Samia Gamal and Taheya Carioca who were in their 20's. She could no longer compete. In 1947 she made a movie called El Moutasharida which flopped miserably at the box office. In the movie, she lip synched the singing scenes and they used Shadia's voice for them. She retired after this failure. She died in Egypt in 1974 at age 67.
Source Article: http://yabeyrouth.net/content/view/34024/5/
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