
Badr

Paula

Cast

Three women each have their own ambitions and aspirations. The first dreams of fame and fortune and meets a rich, married man she attempts to court. The second is a secretary with designs on her boss, even though he too is married. Having learned from her friends' experiences, the third takes an altogether different path.

The brothers Aziz and Latif own a commercial company that employs an honorable accountant. They frame him with a charge that puts him in prison. They appoint a beggar to work in his place as a bet on what turns a person into a criminal. The accountant and the beggar discover the bet and plan revenge.

The film is an Egyptian adaptation of a play by Marcel Pagnol, transposed into an Egyptian and Arab context. It follows the story of a shy, naive professor who allows himself to be exploited by an aristocrat or influential figures—depending on the interpretation—in a gambling scheme or a con. As the plot unfolds, the professor undergoes a moral transformation, coming to accept and eventually adopt behaviors that were initially alien to his nature. The narrative explores two central themes: the temptation of corruption and the clash of cultural codes—specifically between Western culture and the Arab/Cairene society depicted in the film.