TOGO MIZRAHI and the MAKING of EGYPTIAN CINEMA TOGO Ing a Local Cinema Industry Was a Project of National Importance
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FILM & MEDIA STUDIES | MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES | JEWISH STUDIES STARR IN THIS BOOK, DEBORAH A. STARR recuperates the work of Togo Mizrahi, a pio- neer of Egyptian cinema. Mizrahi, an Egyptian Jew with Italian nationality, established himself as a prolifi c director of popular comedies and musicals in the 1930s and 1940s. As a studio owner and producer, Mizrahi promoted the idea that develop- TOGO MIZRAHI AND THE MAKING OF EGYPTIAN CINEMA TOGO TOGO ing a local cinema industry was a project of national importance. Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema integrates fi lm analysis with fi lm history to tease out the cultural and political implications of Mizrahi’s work. His movies, Starr argues, subvert dominant notions of race, gender, and nationality through their playful——and queer——use of masquerade and mistaken identity. Taken together, Mizrahi’s fi lms offer a hopeful vision of a pluralist Egypt. By reevaluating Mizrahi’s contributions to Egyp- tian culture, Starr challenges readers to reconsider the debates over who is Egyptian MIZRAHI and what constitutes national cinema. and the “A captivating account of Egyptian film director Togo Mizrahi. Starr shows that Mizrahi’s distinct, often comical vision of Egypt captured a dramatic moment of social, MAKING OF political, and cultural transformation in which people of diverse backgrounds coex- isted and struggled to achieve better lives.” JOEL GORDON, author of Revolution- ary Melodrama: Popular Film and Civic Identity in Nasser’s Egypt EGYPTIAN CINEMA “A remarkable study of a remarkable career. Starr offers a comprehensive analysis of a life in fi lmmaking that adds nuance to our defi nition of Egyptian nationalism and enhances our appreciation of Alexandrian cinema. This is a book of recovery, recla- mation, and celebration.” NANCY E. BERG, Professor of Hebrew and Comparative DEBORAH A. STARR Literature, Washington University in St. Louis DEBORAH A. STARR is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies at Cornell University. She is the author of Remembering Cosmopolitan Egypt: Literature, Culture, and Empire and coeditor of Mongrels or Marvels: The Levantine Writ- ings of Jacqueline Shohet Kahanoff. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SERIES IN JEWISH HISTORY AND CULTURES, 1 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS WWW.UCPRESS.EDU A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program for monographs. Visit ISBN: 978-0-520-36620-6 www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Author photo: Chris Kitchen/Cornell University. Cover design: Glynnis Koike. Cover illustration: Togo Mizrahi behind the camera, March 1929. Photographer unknown. From the collection of Jacques Mizart. 9 7 8 0 5 2 0 3 6 6 2 0 6 Luminos is the Open Access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Robert and Meryl Selig Endowment Fund in Film Studies, established in memory of Robert W. Selig. Publication of this open monograph was the result of Cornell University’s participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), a collaboration of the Association of American Universities, the Association of University Presses, and the Association of Research Libraries. TOME aims to expand the reach of long-form humanities and social science scholarship including digital scholarship. Additionally, the program looks to ensure the sustainability of university press monograph publishing by supporting the highest quality scholarship and promoting a new ecology of scholarly publishing in which authors’ institutions bear the publication costs. Funding from Cornell University made it possible to open this publication to the world. www.openmonographs.org Publication was also supported by the Hull Memorial Publication Fund of Cornell University and by the Jewish Studies Program at Cornell University. Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SERIES IN JEWISH HISTORY AND CULTURES Edited by Todd Presner, Ross Professor of Germanic Languages and Comparative Literature, UCLA David Myers, Professor and Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History, UCLA In partnership with University of California Press’s Luminos program, the University of California Series in Jewish History and Cultures publishes cutting-edge scholarship in Jewish studies, with a particular ability to highlight work that relies on digital media. The series promotes interdisciplinary work that opens new conceptual and methodological horizons and has the potential to make a broad impact on diverse fields of study. 1. Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema, by Deborah A. Starr Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema Deborah A. Starr UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press Oakland, California © 2020 by Deborah A. Starr This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses. Suggested citation: Starr, D. A. Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema. Oakland: University of California Press, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.91 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Starr, Deborah A., 1968- author. Title: Togo Mizrahi and the making of Egyptian cinema / Deborah A. Starr. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020004086 | ISBN 9780520366206 (paperback) | ISBN 9780520976122 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Mizrāh.ī, Tūjū, 1905–1986—Criticism and interpretation. | Motion picture producers and directors—Egypt Motion pictures—Egypt—20th century Classification: LCC PN1998.3.M585 S73 2020 | DDC 791.430/33092—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020004086 Manufactured in the United States of America 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Elliot, Hannah, and Dina. Contents List of Figures and Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii Notes on Translation and Transliteration xvii 1. Togo Mizrahi, Agent of Exchange 1 Preview 1 Egyptian Jews: Between Nationality and Nationalisms 5 What Is Egyptian Cinema? 10 National Cinema without Nationality 12 Togo Mizrahi: A Case Study of National Cinema without Nationality 20 2. Togo Mizrahi, Work over Words 27 Togo Mizrahi, a Jewish Son of Egypt 28 The Making of the “Togo Cinema Family”: Alexandria, 1929–1939 30 “The Director Who Does the Egyptian Film Industry Proud”: Cairo, 1939–1946 39 From Director to Producer: Cairo, 1944–1946 43 The End of Studio Togo Mizrahi 44 Reevaluating Togo Mizrahi’s Legacy 49 3. Crimes of Mistaken Identity 50 The Subversive Potential of Levantine Farce 51 Chalom: A Jewish Ibn al-Balad 56 viii Contents Language of Belonging, Language of Disguise: The Two Delegates (1934) 58 Masquerade and the Levantine Carnivalesque: The Neighborhood Watchman (1936) 64 Coda: Levantine Masquerade and Subversive Sexuality 70 4. Queering the Levantine 73 In Bed Together 73 Queerness and the Levantine 74 Suitors in Swimsuits: Doctor Farahat (1935) 75 A Parting Kiss: Mistreated by Affluence (1937) 83 Coda: “The Story of a Woman Who Was Transformed into a Man” 88 5. Journeys of Assumed Identity: Seven O’Clock (1937) 91 Movement I: Cycling in Alexandria 93 Movement II: Nubian Whiteface and Borscht Belt Minstrelsy 96 Movement III: Queer Levantine Mobility 102 Coda: Journey of the Living Dead 105 6. Traveling Anxieties 107 Itinerary I, Egypt–Italy: A Rainy Night (1939) 109 Itinerary II, Egypt–Sudan: A Rainy Night (1939) 112 Itinerary III, Egypt–Palestine–Lebanon: The Straight Road(1943) 117 Coda: Layla, Bint al-Balad 122 . 7 Courtesan and Concubine 125 Love Matches and Marriage Plots 125 Abolition of Slavery and Legal Prostitution in Egypt 127 Courtesan/Queen: Layla (1942) 130 A Modern Qayna: Sallama (1945) 141 A Success Rumored to Be a Failure 155 8. Frames of Influence 158 Frame 1: Hasan and Marika (Egypt, 1959) 160 Frame 2: Cinema Egypt (Israel, 1998) 161 Frame 3: Passion (Syria, 2005) 163 Frame 4: YouTube 164 Writing Togo Mizrahi into the History of Egyptian Cinema 166 Contents ix Appendix: Togo Mizrahi Filmography 169 Notes 179 Works Cited 211 Index 225 List of Figures AND TABLES FIGURES 1. Screenshot from Mistreated by Affluence (Togo Mizrahi, 1937). 2 2. Portrait of Togo Mizrahi by Studio Umberto Dorés. 4 3. Letterhead for the Egyptian Films Company. 21 4. Portrait of Félix and Togo Mizrahi circa 1915. 29 5. Photograph of Togo Mizrahi on the set of The Two Delegates (1934). 33 6. Photograph of Togo Mizrahi with cast and crew on the set of Layla the Country Girl (1941). 41 . 7 Photograph of Togo Mizrahi and Myriam Donato Mizrahi circa 1938. 45 8. Page of passport issued to Togo Giuseppe Mizrahi by the Italian consulate in Egypt in 1952. 48 9. Screenshot from The Two Delegates (Togo Mizrahi, 1934). 55 10. Screenshot from The Two Delegates (Togo Mizrahi, 1934). 59 11. Screenshot from The Two Delegates (Togo Mizrahi, 1934). 60 12. Screenshot from The Neighborhood Watchman (Togo Mizrahi, 1936). 67 13. Screenshot from The Neighborhood Watchman (Togo Mizrahi, 1936). 68 14. Screenshot from The Neighborhood Watchman (Togo Mizrahi, 1936). 69 15. Screenshot from The Neighborhood Watchman (Togo Mizrahi, 1936). 70 16. Screenshot from Wife by Proxy (Ahmad Galal, 1936). 71 17. Screenshot from Mistreated by Affluence (Togo Mizrahi, 1937). 74 18. Screenshot from Doctor Farahat (Togo Mizrahi, 1935). 76 19. Screenshot from Doctor Farahat (Togo Mizrahi, 1935). 77 20. Screenshot from Doctor Farahat (Togo Mizrahi, 1935). 78 21. Screenshot from Doctor Farahat (Togo Mizrahi, 1935). 79 xi xii List of Figures AND TABLES 22. Screenshot from Doctor Farahat (Togo Mizrahi, 1935).