Arabian Nights (Universal Cinema Classics)
by John Rawlins
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Billy Gilbert, Jon Hall, Leif Erickson, Maria Montez, SabuDirector: John Rawlins
Brand: Universal
Cinematographer: Milton R. Krasner
Editor: Philip Cahn
Producer: Walter Wanger
Writer: Michael Hogan
Writer: True Boardman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Restored, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Arabian Nights (Universal Cinema Classics)
Movie Review: A Great Old Style Spectacle
Summary: 4 Stars
I've always been a sucker for, "Old Hollywood" movies, with all their grandeur, great costumes, and pomp. Arabian Nights was a wonderful trip down memory lane to a movie I last saw on Bill Kennedy at the Movies, many, many years ago.
This is a 1942 gloriously technicolor movie that was just what America needed to take it's mind off our boys fighting in WWII. It starts off in a harem, where an older gentleman is sleeping/ snoring when he is supposed to be teaching the ladies in a harem a story. When he finally awakens, the story that is unvieled is about a beautiful dancer named, "Sherazda" who sends a spurned lover off on what she thinks is an unattainable quest...to become the Caliph. Little does she know he is the brother of the Caliph and does exactly that.
Sherazada is breath-takingly played by Maria Montez, who can chill or warm a man with one look from her eyes. The girl has got it goin' on. She is a member of a traveling circus and it was foretold to her that she would marry into royalty and reign. Joining her in the circus is a wonderful diverse cast of characters, including, I was excited to see, the man who played, "Shemp" in the three stooges, and a gifted young actor named, "Sabu".
While doing what we would now call a, "pyramid", with Sabu on the very top, Sabu ( Ali ) sees the good Caliph shot with an arrow ( his brother had taken Sherazada's words to heart and started to take over the kingdom ). Jon Hall plays Haroun-Al-Roschid, the good Caliph, and he and his would be assassin tumble a couple of stories to the ground. Sabu sees this while performing and comes to Jon's rescue. Sabu hides the true Caliph's identity, knowing that the Caliph's brother would continue to hunt him down. Sabu removes the Caliph's ring and places it on his would be assissin's finger ( the assissin's face was smashed beyond recognition during the fall, thus ensuring that the Claiph's brother would think that the Caliph was dead ).
Jon's wound is tended to by Sabu and his fellow circus comrades, the only one knowing his true identity being Sabu ( Ali ). Though Sherazada wants her foretold future, she is drawn to Jon's honorableness and loyalty and begins to fall in love with him. He too feels himself falling, even though he knows this woman was what triggered his brother to try and usurp and kill him.
What follows is a great adventure with betrayals, horse chases and laughs. The acting occasionally is a bit over the top, thus the 4 out of 5 stars, but it was still a really fun, carefree way to spend a few minutes of my day.
Summary of Arabian Nights (Universal Cinema Classics)
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 02/06/2007 Run time: 87 minutes Rating: NrWarning: Technicolor silliness ahead, as Universal's nutty series of turban-and-camel movies comes into view. Arabian Nights was the first of these confections, and after it became a big wartime hit it spawned a series of follow-ups, most of them starring some combination of Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu, and Turhan Bey. The story is nonsense, with Hall as a deposed caliph battling his half-brother (Leif Erickson) while remaining incognito amongst a group of traveling players. Montez plays dancing vixen Scheherazade, and her crazy costumes and limited acting range give ample evidence for her later enshrinement as a camp icon. The film's level of seriousness is aptly demonstrated by the casting of Shemp Howard (of the Three Stooges--like there's another Shemp Howard?) as Sinbad; John Qualen plays Aladdin, and vaudeville pro Billy Gilbert plays the leader of the troupe. Coming off best is Sabu, the young star of The Thief of Baghdad and The Jungle Book, whose innate likability is infectious even in these inane circumstances. Arabian Nights probably isn't the most fun of these movies; check out Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Robert Siodmak's crazed Cobra Woman, too. They work on two fronts: family-movie fodder and high camp. --Robert Horton
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