AllMovie

Samia Gamal is widely regarded as the finest belly dancer of all time; King Farouk called her "the national dancer of Egypt," and her performances, in which she blended the influences of ballet and Latin dance into the free-flowing beauty of Arab dancing, set a new standard for the art of belly dancing and helped spread its popularity around the world. Gamal also enjoyed a romance with film star Farid Al Atrache, with whom she starred in a handful of successful motion pictures. The Fabulous Samia Gamal is a documentary that follows her life and career from her birth in a small town in Egypt in 1924 to her passing in 1994; the film includes extensive footage of Gamal in performance at the height of her abilities.