Pictured is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Moaty to promote
the 1984 103-minute Henry Barakat color film The Widow and the
Devil [al-armala wal-shaytan] starring Safia El Emari based on
story and screenplay by Rafiq al-Saban, dialogue by Hesham
al-Salambouni and cinematography by Kamal Korayem. Plot summary: The
wealthy widow Hanan [Safia El Emari] lives in Ismailia with her nanny
Om Hamdi [Souraya Helmy]. She refuses to remarry because her suitors
are all just after her wealth. Lobna [Maali Zayed] is a woman who
works for the seamstress who makes Hanan's clothing. Hanan
sympathizes with her because she is pregnant and needs to marry her
fiance Atef [Farouk Al-Fichawy], who does not have an apartment; she
gives Lobna a small building rent-free in the garden at her villa were
she and Atef can live, and she also hires Atef as her driver. She
does this over the objections of Om Hamdi, who is suspicious of Lobna.
Then Atef makes a pass at Hanan and begins showing other signs of
affection for her. This upsets Lobna and leads to violent arguments
between her and Atef, one of which ends with Lobna's death. Hanan and
Atef wrap the body in a shower curtain, put it in the trunk of her
automobile and take it to a field, where Atef buries it. This
collaboration seems to cement their once tentative and forbidden
relationship. Hanan receives blackmail letters and telephone calls
threatening to report the crime and demanding huge amounts of money;
then she learns Lobna's death was a ruse and that she is still alive
living in an apartment with Atef. The remainder of the film is about
Hanan's revenge.
