I recently came across a remarkable film I might not have believed existed: one shot in a Coptic church, featuring Coptic priests in supporting roles. The film, Egypt by Three, was produced and directed by Victor Stoloff and released in 1953. Its posters proudly proclaim it as “the first American picture filmed entirely in Egypt.”

▶ Readers can watch the film, at their discretion, here.

Introduction

The title, Egypt by Three, alludes to the film’s structure: three short episodes of roughly twenty-four minutes each. The first is a conventional love story set in Cairene high society. The second, more compelling, follows a caravan en route to Mecca, one of whose members falls victim to bubonic plague, sparking a tense conflict between its traditional healers and modern medicine.

It is the third episode, however, that proves the most intriguing and best told. Without giving away too much, it centres on two American conmen who attempt to exploit the charity of a Coptic bishop and priests. Though the plot strains credibility in places, the episode is interesting for its cinematography: glimpses of the church interior, its enclosure gate, and the surrounding streets as they appeared in the early 1950s. The episode also captures vivid scenes of church life — Orthodox Easter celebrations, music, the making of holy bread, and ecclesiastical vestments — all of which likely unfamiliar to American audiences at the time.

The credits list only a handful of names: the two American actors, Charles Mendick (Charlie) and Eddie Constantine (Nick), alongside the Coptic female lead, Nabila Nouhy (Miriam). Also mentioned are “The Coptic Priests of the Church of Abu Sefen.” Regrettably, this leaves the individuals playing the Coptic bishop and priests with speaking roles, whether actors or actual clergy, unnamed. Even so, the reference points us clearly to a certain “Church of Abu Sefen” as the filming location.

Identifying the church

The dialogue subtly suggests that the church is meant to be in a remote location, perhaps a village or small town somewhere in Egypt. Yet the interior shots unmistakably identify the setting as the ancient and famous Church of St. Mercurius in Old Cairo, more commonly known in Arabic by the epithet ʾAbū Sayfayn (“he of the two swords”).

According to tradition, ʾAbū Sayfayn was born to Christian parents who named him Philopater. He became a commander in the Roman army, and was given the name Mercurius. On the eve of a major battle an angel gave him a second sword and he went on to win the battle, hence his moniker. He refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods and was executed by Emperor Decius (249-51). Another tradition, depicted in the icon above, describes how, after his death, he miraculously appeared at the request of St. Basil of Caesarea (d. 379) to slay the Emperor Julian the Apostate (d. 363).

Let’s take a look at some scenes from the film that help identify the location.

Church interior: ambon and haykal screen

In the following screenshot, we can see the ambon (or pulpit) of the church in the background. This is in fact the tenth-century marble ambon of the Church of ʾAbū Sayfayn with its distinctive shape and mosaic design, supported by fifteen marble columns.

Shortly afterwards, the camera captures part of the haykal screen (or iconostasis), with its lower section visible in the background.

Both the ambon and haykal screen seen above can be identified in this recent photograph of the Church of ʾAbū Sayfayn.

Key features to compare for the haykal screen are the marble columns, the row of small icons, which were painted by Yūḥannā al-Armanī and Ibrāhīm al-Nāsiḫ in 1762, and wood patterning of the wooden screen itself. And for the ambon, particularly distinctive features are its shape with its rectangular doorway, marble column supports, and mosaic decorative elements.

The above images do not do justice to the size of the church, which is the largest in Old Cairo. The overall layout can be more clearly seen in the following image.

Exterior setting: western wall and gate

The location of the gate before the church is more difficult to identify, as it has been altered since the 1950s. A clear view of the entrance is shown toward the end of the episode.

At the beginning of the episode, the camera helpfully pans across the street outside the church, concluding with a view of the entrance gate seen above.

In this clip, one can see the high surrounding wall, wooden screens and windows, and a mašrabīyyah (carved wooden latticework balcony) leading toward the gate, which is framed by marble columns and topped with a cross.

After some investigation, it transpires that the exterior wall and gate shown in the film belong to the western side of a walled enclosure containing three churches and a convent, collectively known as the Monastery (or Dayr) of ʾAbū Sayfayn. This complex includes the Church of ʾAbū Sayfayn itself.

As can be seen in this modern photograph, the wall has since been plastered, and the gate itself has been completely remodelled with a domed top and new cross. The marble columns, one of them just visible in the image, remain in place.

The Monastery of ʾAbū Sayfayn enclosure walls were probably erected in the twelfth century after the Church of ʾAbū Sayfayn was burned down and pillaged by a Muslim mob under the patriarchate of Mark (ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ) III (1167-1189). It lies to the north of the ancient Fortress of Babylon and close to the Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, its west wall facing the railway tracks and, beyond them, Roda Island and the Nile.

Monastery of ʾAbū Sayfayn in Old Cairo and its surroundings

Other scenes are harder to pinpoint, though they were likely filmed elsewhere within the enclosure of the Monastery of ʾAbū Sayfayn.

Circumstances of the film’s production

It is interesting to reflect on the circumstances of the production of this film, which at first seem improbable. As it was released in 1953, it must have been filmed during the patriarchate of Yusab (Ⲓⲱⲥⲏⲫ) II (1946–56), a period marked, especially in its later years, by considerable turbulence within the Church. On the national stage, just a year earlier, the July 1952 revolution had brought Nasser and the Free Officers to power, overthrowing the monarchy.

According to the American Film Institute, the producer and director Victor Stoloff was Russian-born but trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cairo before emigrating to the United States, which may have afforded him special access. It would be fascinating to know more about the precise circumstances under which permission for such filming was granted; perhaps records in the patriarchal archives detail how the project was formally authorised.

Regardless, we are fortunate to have this short, and perhaps unique, film recording scenes in and around the Church of ʾAbū Sayfayn as it appeared in the 1950s.

References

• Gabra, Gawdat, and Gertrud J. M. van Loon. (2007). The Churches of Egypt: From the Journey of the Holy Family to the Present Day. Edited by Carolyn Ludwig. Photographs by Sherif Sonbol. Cairo; New York: The American University in Cairo Press.
• Gabra, Gawdat, Gertrud J. M. van Loon, Stefan Reif, and Tarek Swelim. (2013). The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo: Its Fortress, Churches, Synagogue, and Mosque. Edited by Carolyn Ludwig & Morris Jackson. Photographs by Sherif Sonbol. Cairo; New York: The American University in Cairo Press.