The Favorite (1989 film)

The Favorite (also titled Intimate Power) is a 1989 Swiss-American historical drama film based on the unsubstantiated story of Aimée du Buc de Rivéry that takes place at the dawn of the 19th century. It was the final film of director Jack Smight.

Premise
A young French woman named Aimee is kidnapped and forced into a Sultan's harem in the Ottoman Empire. Fiercely independent, she resists, but must make choices in order to survive. She begins to influence the Sultan toward more fair manners of solving his conflicts, but finds herself at odds with another one of his wives, who wants her son Mustafa to become the new sultan. As the years pass, she must deal with the new Sultan's advances while protecting her adopted son Mahmud, and helping the Ottoman Empire against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792.

The source for the story is a novel by Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark titled Sultana - La Nuit du Serail.

Cast

 * F. Murray Abraham as Abdul Hamid
 * Maud Adams as Sineperver
 * Amber O'Shea as Aimée Dubucq de Rivéry
 * Ron Dortch as Tulip
 * James Michael Gregary as Selim
 * Laurent Le Doyen as Sebastiani
 * Francesco Quinn as adult Mahmud
 * Andréa Parisy as Mihrişah
 * Tom McGreevey as Uncle (as Thomas McGreevey)
 * Celeste Simpson-Boyd as Zinah
 * Robere Kazadi as Orchid
 * Garth Wilton as British Consul
 * Reuven Bar-Yotam as Algerian Captain
 * Farouk Peker as Baktar
 * John Kennedy Hayden as Chief Janissary
 * Mike Johnson as First Mate
 * Thomas Rosales Jr. as Third Mate
 * Michael Saad as Jeweler
 * Dale Dye as French Officer
 * Joseph Darrell as Manservant
 * Ayse Gungor as Harem Girl
 * Starr Andreeff as Harem Girl
 * Erica Zeitlin as Harem Girl
 * Victoria Dakil as Old Woman
 * Roz Witt as Nun
 * George Marshall Ruge as Kamir
 * Joe El Rady as Boy at the bazar
 * Jonathan Vuille as Young Mahmud
 * Glenn Scarpelli as Mustafa

Production

 * Director: Jack Smight
 * Production Company: Ascona Films, Inc.

The film was shot in Turkey. Smight says half way through the production the producer Georges-Alain Vuille, ran out of money so a company run by Steve Friedman took over the film. Smith finished the film "and in my estimation, it turned out better than expected, but once again 'into oblivion'."