In Egypt forties and before the 14th of July revolution in 1952, a poor family lives in a prince's palace where the father works as a gardener. The family has two children Ali and Hassan. Ali grows up liking the prince's daughter who loves him too. Now grown ups, they realize how impossible this love story is. Joining the army, Ali fights in Palestine while the brother joins the police and is part of the King's guards. Ali gets back from Palestine and joins the secret military movement that will soon rule Egypt, The Free Officers. The revolution starts and the Free Officers are now in charge, putting Ali against his brother as a guard for the king and also against his lover, the prince's daughter as the revolution will confiscate all her family's wealth.
Acting
Shoukry Sarhan's tortured revolutionary eyes
Cinematography
Lavish palace interiors against Cairo streets
Production
Recreated 1940s Egypt with obsessive detail
Director
Ezz Eldin Zulficar
Shoukry Sarhan
علي
Mariam Fakhr Eddine
الأميرة إنجي
Salah Zulfikar
حسين
Hussein Reyaad
الريس عبدالواحد الجنايني
Ahmed Mazhar
الأمير علاء
Hind Rostom
الراقصة كريمة
Rushdy Abaza
صلاح
Ferdoos Mohamed
أم حسين
Zahrat Al-Ola
بهية
Kamal Yasseen
سليمان
Adly Kasseb
Thuraya Fakhry
الدادة
Doha Amir
إنجي (صغيرة)
Ahmed Allam
الأمير إسماعيل كمال
Fakher Fakher
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released just five years after the actual 1952 revolution, this was state-approved propaganda disguised as romance — the Nasser regime loved stories where revolutionaries were tortured dreamers.
Director Ezz Eldin Zulficar cast his own brother Salah as Hassan, making the on-screen brothers actual brothers — the real-life tension reportedly helped the bitter final confrontation.
EG
