Orient Express

We’ll listen in this episode to duets mainly from Egyptian films (1930-1960s). Long before the arrival of sound films, Egypt already had a vibrant musical theatre scene in the 1920. From the outset, The Egyptian cinema had strong musical influences. With the advent of sound films in the 1930s, the silver screen became an important new stage for superstars who were already well known from radio broadcasts and live concerts. The film industry in Cairo moved from silent films to sound films, with songs playing a central role from the very beginning. Duettos, dramatic monologues, dance scenes and musical sketches became essential elements of popular films of the era.

Mohamed Fawzi begging Leila Mourad for some attention and love in a famous duetto from the film “”ward el-gharam” 1951.

Playlist:

1. Shahat el-gharam instrumental . Intro
2. Shahat el-gharam (begger for love) – Mohamed Fawzy and Leila Mourad              05:09
3. Ayez Aqoulek (i want to tell you something) – Mohamed Fawzy & Nour El Huda  02:30
4. Ya nhar nadi (oh beautiful promising morning) Abd el Aziz Mahmoud & Shadia    04:20
5. Ta’ala Aqoulek (want to tell you something) Abd El Halim Hafez & Shadia               03:17
6. Ya salam ala hubbi we hubbak (oh what a love we have!) Farid Al-Atrash & Shadia 4:01
7. Wallah Zaman Fatma Ali &    Mohamed Rushdi (Radio Musical )                                 3:34
8. Yalli fot el-mal wel-gah (You, who skipped money and prestige)– Mohamed Abd El- wahab and Ragaa Abdou 05:42
9. Ehna Ehna wahdana (only the two of us) Umm Kolthoum &  Ibrahim Hammouda 3:48
10. Ala Ad elleil ma yatoul (as long as the night) Ibrahim Hammouda & Shahrazad  (Duetto from the 1920 Musical El-Eshra Ettayyba by Sayed Darwish,  recorded for the Egyptian Radio in 1950s)                                                                                                     06:25
11. Ya di El-Nai’iem Mohamed Abd El wahab and Leila Mourad                                     06:10
12. Ana Habeetak (I loved you first!) Mohamed Fawzy and Leila Mourad                     03:16
13. Haga Ghareeba (a strange thing!)  Abdel Halim Hafez & Shadia                               07:23
14.  Shahat el-gharam instrumental – arranged by Emad al-Sharouni                           4:03

1. Haga Ghareeba (a strange thing) by Abdel Halim Hafez (Halim) & Shadia from the film  Maaboudet el-gamaheer (The Beloved Diva) 1967.