Youssef Wahbi, an Egyptian actor and director, recognised the young actress's talent so he offered her a lead role in the 1946 film
Malak al-Rahma (ملاك الرحمه,
Angel of Mercy). The film attracted widespread media attention, and Hamama, who was only 15 at the time, became famous for her
melodramatic role. in ''
Korsi el-e'traf'' (1949) In 1949, Hamama had roles in three films with Wahbi: ''
Korsi el-e'traf (كرسى الاعتراف, Chair of Confession
), Al-Yateematain (اليتيمتين, The Two Orphans
) and Sitt al-Bayt (ست البيت, Lady of the House''). All were successful films. The 1950s were the beginning of the golden age of the Egyptian cinema industry, and Hamama played a significant part. Hamama was also able to make it to Hollywood; in 1963 she had a role in the crime film,
Cairo. In 1947, Hamama married producer/film director
Ezz El-Dine Zulficar while filming the
Abu Zayd al-Hilali (أبو زيد الهلالى ) film. They started a production company which produced the film
Maw`ed Ma` al-Hayat (موعد مع الحياه,
Date with Life) in which she starred. This film earned her the title of the "lady of the Arabic screen". She and Zulficar were divorced in 1954. One year later, she married Egyptian film star
Omar Sharif. Meanwhile, Hamama continued to act in films directed by her first husband Zulficar, who was also married in the same year to fellow actress Kawthar Shafik. In 1954, while filming a
Youssef Chahine film,
Struggle in the Valley, Hamama refused to have the Egyptian actor
Shukry Sarhan as a co-star, and Chahine offered
Omar Sharif the role. Sharif had just graduated from college then and was working for his father; she accepted him as her co-star. Hamama's marriage to Sharif in 1955 started a new era of her career, in which the couple made many films together.
Controversy in the late 1960s Hamama left Egypt from 1966 to 1970, claiming that she was being harassed by Egyptian Intelligence. She had been a supporter of the
1952 Revolution, but later became an opponent of the
Free Officers and their oppressive regime. '' (1965)|upright While she was away, then President
Gamal Abdel Nasser asked famous writers, journalists and friends to try to convince her to return to Egypt. He called her a "national treasure" and even awarded her an honorary decoration in 1965, which she accepted. However, from 1966, she did not return until February 1970. Following her return she played roles conveying messages of democracy. Her first film after her return to Egypt was alongside the Egyptian leading movie star
Salah Zulfikar in the 1971 TV
short film named
Witch (ساحرة,
Sahira), and in the same year, she starred in the 1971 film
Thin Thread (الخيط الرفيع,
Al Khait Al Rafie). She often criticized the laws in Egypt in her films. In the 1972 film
Imbratoriyat Meem (إمبراطورية ميم,
The Empire of M), Hamama presented a pro-democratic point of view and received an award from the Soviet Union of Women in the
Moscow International Film Festival. Her most significant film was
Oridu Hallan (أريد حلاً,
I Want a Solution), produced by Salah Zulfikar through his production company;
Salah Zulfikar Films Company. In this film, she criticised laws governing marriage and divorce in Egypt. After the film, the
Egyptian government abrogated a law that forbade wives from divorcing their husbands, therefore allowing
khul'.
Later career As Hamama aged, her acting roles declined and she made fewer films compared to earlier in her career, but nevertheless her films were successful. She made her first television appearances in her late career. She starred in the TV mini-series
Damir Ablah Hekmat (ضمير أبله حكمت, ''Mrs. Hekmat's Conscience''). Despite some criticisms, the mini-series received much praise and acclaim. Hamama was awarded the Egyptian Best TV Actor of the Year and the mini-series won the Best TV Series Award in the Egyptian Radio and Television Festival. She entered history as the highest-paid actress in an Egyptian television miniseries until 2006, when another actress was paid more. , in
I Want a Solution (1974) Before the 1950s, Hamama had leading roles in 30 films, in which she often played the role of a weak, empathetic, poor girl. After the 1950s, Hamama was in search of her real identity and was trying to establish herself as a distinct figure. During this period, her choice of material and roles was somewhat limited. However, film producers soon capitalised on her popularity with audiences in local and Middle Eastern markets. She began to play realistic, strong women, such as in ''Sira' Fi Al-Wadi
(صراع فى الوادى, Struggle in the Valley'', 1954) where she portrayed a rich man's daughter who, contrary to stereotype, was a realistic woman who helped and supported the poor. In the 1952
Mahmoud Zulfikar's production
Miss Fatmah (الأستاذه فاطمه), Hamama starred as a law student who believed women were as important as men in society. In
Imbratoriyat Meem (امبراطورية ميم,
The Empire M), she played the role of a widow who takes care of her large family and suffers hardship. Her most influential film was
Oridu Hallan (أريد حلا,
I Want a Solution) which criticized the laws of marriage and divorce in Egypt. A law in Egypt that forbade
Khul' (خلع) – a divorce initiated by the wife – was annulled immediately afterwards. ==Acting style==