Topkapi is a 1964 American crime comedy directed by Jules Dassin and based on Eric Ambler's novel "The Light of Day" (1962). The film stars Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, and Akim Tamiroff. Master criminals Elizabeth Lipp (Mercouri) and Walter Harper (Schell) plan to steal the emerald encrusted dagger from the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. They enlist a group of specialists and then hire small-time hustler Arthur Simon Simpson (Ustinov) to smuggle explosives and firearms needed for the burglary. But Turkish Customs find the gun, hidden in a car, and Simpson is accused of terrorism and has to spy for the police.
The film won a 1965 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Peter Ustinov).
The following weapons were used in the film Topkapi:
In the opening scene in, Paris Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell) holds a Star Model 1 pistol (this scene, set on a misty night, is very grainy, unlike most of the film).
Turkish police officers at the border checkpoint and in the Topkapi museum carry FN Model 1903 pistols. The FN 1903 was adopted for use by the police in the Ottoman Empire in 1908, but it's unknown if these pistols were really still in service in the 1960s.
Smoke grenades are smuggled in the car together with the Winchester shotgun. These grenades resemble AN/M8 HC smoke grenades but the fuze and the safety lever look somewhat different. They may be props built for the film.
