Sphinx (1981)

Following your passion can lead to extraordinary discoveries - and, now and then, into more danger than you ever imagined. Franklin J. Schaffner's "Sphinx," adapted from Robin Cook's novel, stars Lesley-Anne Down as Erica Baron, an American Egyptologist on a research trip to Cairo, who is working on her doctorate in hieroglyphics. When she witnesses the murder of an antiquities dealer (John Gielgud) who has just shown her a priceless statue of the pharaoh Seti I, Erica is drawn into a deadly world of smugglers and black marketeers. Torn between charming government official Ahmed Khazzan (Frank Langella), who heads the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, and suave Frenchman Yvon (Maurice Ronet), she follows the trail toward a hidden tomb of untold riches - and an ancient curse. Her investigation takes her from the crowded bazaars of Cairo to the temples of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, where she narrowly escapes a series of attempts on her life, including a terrifying night trapped inside an ancient tomb. Filmed on location in Egypt, the movie features striking scenery of the pyramids and temples. Schaffner, the director of "Patton" and "Planet of the Apes," gives it an old-fashioned adventure feel, though critics found it slow.