Wakeful Eyes


Wakeful Eyes is a 1956 Egyptian romantic drama directed by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar. It stars Salah Zulfikar and Shadia. It marks Salah Zulfikar's film debut. Wakeful Eyes premiered on September 30, 1956 at Radio Theatre in Cairo, and was released on October 1 in Egypt. The film received largely positive reviews praising the performances of Zulfikar and Shadia, the cinematography, and the musical score.

Plot

A respectable man, "Saber Effendi," frequently changes residences and never stays long in one place with his daughter Fatima. He tells her that he works at a newspaper printing press, hates mixing with people, and takes pity on her from temptation. In their new home, "Fatma" meets the neighbor's son, “Salah”, who is in his final year at the Police Academy. The two fall in love, and Salah asks her father for her hand in marriage, where he works in the newspaper.
Fatima later discovers that her father does not work at the newspaper. When she confronts him, he reveals that he had been a prosecution secretary. He also reveals that he once had an older daughter who took her own life after being abandoned by the man who seduced her, naming him before she died. Fearing arrest, he fled with his remaining child to Cairo, where he changed his identity.

Cast