La sirena del harem

Joan Davis is the traveling companion to princess Peggy Castle, rightful heir to a Middle Eastern Kingdom. There are the usual intrigues, and lots of good guys and bad guys who want to marry Miss Castle, but properly, that's only a sideshow to Joan's clowning. Unfortunately, it's in the hands of Edward Bernds, who learned everything about clowning from the Three Stooges, which in my book is almost nothing. Also, he doesn't bother to match shots and even the sound editing is inconsistent -- and Bernds spent fifteen years as a sound mixer and editor at Columbia.

Fortunately, Miss Davis' physical clowning and her puzzled delivery of her comic lines is excellent. Nevertheless, the movie is a disappointment, and would be her last appearance on the big screen. No worries! She would settle onto the small screen for I MARRIED JOAN, which made much better use of her talents than this mishmosh.

I had taped this movie off of TCM, and was really enjoying it when my tape ran out halfway through! But the part that I saw was very funny, thanks to the actress playing Susie, who I'd never seen before. I started watching assuming this was going to be a typical corny 1950s Arabian adventure movie, but when Susie started cracking wise with her man-hungry and self-depreciating comments it was a delightful surprise! It was like an episode of "I Love Lucy" in Arabia, as Susie was chased by the villains, danced hilariously with the harem girls, and hid in giant vases and under beds, while helping the princess and her loyal supporters reclaim the throne.

I hope I'll be able to see the entire movie sometime, and others by this hilarious actress!

Funny flick of Joan Davis going to the middle east with exotic princess and then subbing for her in marriage deal with unpleasant sheik. Lots of horseplay and comedy scenes. Joan is quite a comedienne and makes the most of her story. Peggy Castle makes a lovely princess,the rest of the B-cast does well. It has a nice set design from Columbia Pictures. The writers and director were three stooges veterans so the comedy is a sure thing. I especially liked hilarious scene where Joan tries to be dancing girl and end up making a mess as usual. The other funny scene involves Joan in a deserted tomb with rumors of a ghostly presence. I would highly recommend this film and wish more of these type of films made it to DVD.