Le mille e una notte

I remember seeing this film when it appeared in 1942, during WWII, a time of tension and uncertainity. It was great escape. The villains were villainous, the heroes heroic. The drama was dramatic and the storyline warm and fuzzy. Seeing it on video has allowed me to revisit that past time when as a child the world was uncertain and it was possible to escape into a costume-splendoured fantasy where the hero gets the girl, saves the kingdom and justice is served. There's nothing ever wrong with that.

Classic and big budgeted story dealing with a Sultan and his two sons : John Hall, Leif Erikson , as two brothers fight for the throne and the affection of the sultry dancing girl Scheherazade : Maria Montez. Dasing Thieves of Baghdad .. riding out of the magic of the Oriental City . Bagdad ...Desert Port of Forbidden Allurements !

A typical Oriental casting overcomes the somewhat sluggish storytelling that combines a number of familiar tales from " One Thousand and One Nights" . This is the sequel to "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" bearing a similar style to previous entry . The cast is full of riveting people . John Hall plays the brave hero saving the damsel in distress who is submitted to slavery . Beautiful Maria Montez is is the Lady in bright and desperate who joins his lover against the villain usurper prince . And the young Sabu delivering sympathy in his usual style . And the bad guys well played by Leif Erikson and Thomas Gómez. Furthermore , the Norwegian character actor John Qualen -John Ford's regular- playing the fabulous Aladdin and other secondaries as Turhan Bey who also played a number of Oriental Fantasy , the usual baddie Edgar Barrier , Billy Gilbert and Shemp Howard later one of The Three Stooges . It displays enchanting gowns and expensive production design that augment the fantasy atmosphere.

Brilliant cinematography in early Technicolor by great and prolific cameraman Milton Krasner . As well as moving and thrilling musical score by Frank Skinner . This Technicolor fantasy was glamorously and professionally directed by John Rawlins who seems to have proper control over contrasts for crowds and colour . Other films concerning Scheherazade tales are as follows : Scherezade 1963 by Pierre Gaspard Huit with Anna Karina , Gerard Barray , Antonio Vilar . Arabian Nights 1974 by Pier Paolo Pasolini with Ninetto Davoli, Franco Citti , Inés Pellegrini. Arabian Nights 2000 by Steven Barron with Mili Avital, James Frain, John Leguizano, Rufus Sewell.

This film began a cycle for Universal Pictures of making all kinds of fantasy adventures set in the Moslem world. Quite frankly with there being a war on I'm surprised they splurged for color and for the lush sets that they did. But they got use out of them as for the next several years these sets got used and used again in many film. The studio got its money's worth.

Arabian Nights was the first screen teaming of Jon Hall and Maria Montez as she plays the enchanting Scheherazade and he Haroun Al-Raschid the legendary medieval Caliph of Bagdad. Hall is in a bind, he's the victim of a palace coup involving half brother Leif Erickson and the Wazir Edgar Barrier.

Hall seeks refuge in Billy Gilbert's troop of strolling Moslem players which include Montez and acrobat Sabu. Also among the troop are John Qualen as Aladdin who would like to find that magic lamp he lost years ago and Shemp Howard as Sinbad who spins tall tales for the crowd's amusement. As you can see quite a bit of comic relief.

It still a sumptuous looking film for the eye and the action keeps moving. Arabian Nights got four Oscar nominations for sound, music score, color cinematography and art&set design.

If your taste runs to fantasy of this kind Arabian Nights is your movie.

...with an unpretentious appeal to the child in many of us. In ancient times, the caliph of Baghdad, Haroun-Al-Raschid (Jon Hall), has his throne taken from him by his treacherous brother Kamar (Leif Erickson). The caliph is a fugitive marked for death, but he's rescued by acrobatic performer Ali Ben Ali (Sabu) who introduces the former leader to beautiful dancing girl Sherazade (Maria Montez). All three team up to win back the caliph's throne.

This goofy distraction was a big hit with wartime audiences looking to escape the horrors and worries of the time. And this is certainly "leave your brain at the door" entertainment, has little in common with the source stories, and is targeted at the least discerning of viewers. It fails to live up to the overheated camp heights of the noted Montez-Hall team-up Cobra Woman, though, and that lack of kitsch makes this a more tedious slog. Maria Montez may have been, to put it kindly, limited as an actress. But she had an exotic appeal that made her perfect for these kinds of cheesy sand-and-sex costume adventures churned out by Universal during the war.

Billy Gilbert's performance, in which he seems to scream most of his dialogue, also becomes nails-on-a-chalkboard irritating. As ridiculous as the movie is, it earned 4 Oscar nominations, for Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Art Direction.

Since I've recently written an article on MARIA MONTEZ, let me quote directly from it to describe this Maria Montez/Jon Hall/Sabu outing:

"The fact that she couldn't sing or dance seemed to be no obstacle to Maria since she was brimming with confidence--although aside from voice dubbing, it was later revealed that a dance double was used to perform parts of her routine.

With Walter Wanger in charge of its lavish production, she was given "Arabian Nights" ('42), a classic fantasy tale that--fortunately--no one was expected to take seriously. As if to make sure of that, the trio of stars were supported by one of The Three Stooges (Shemp Howard) as Sinbad. Another supporting player in the cast was Turhan Bey who would eventually be promoted to co-starring roles with Montez. The boyish Sabu, no longer under contract to Alexander Korda, proved to be one of the most charming ingredients of the film and played a huge role in the story which had Montez captured by an evil caliph and rescued by Sabu who rides through the desert sands to rescue her.

With Montez in filmy silks, gaudy baubles and turbaned headdress looking like a fairy-tale princess and muscular Jon Hall sharing the romantic interludes, audience response was enthusiastic. The lavish production values, exotic settings and personable trio made the tale satisfying for patrons seeking easy-on-the-eye entertainment. Lee Mortimer of the N.Y. Daily Mirror noted: 'After her performance in this opus, Maria Montez climbs several steps in everybody's estimation.'

And apparently, the public agreed because it was a huge hit."

For pure escapism, you couldn't beat these Maria Montez-Jon Hall films with the accent on adventure and romance in exotic settings and all designed to showcase her Latin beauty. More discriminating viewers noted that the acting was on a grade school level despite the big budget of most of the technicolor films she appeared in.

By the way, the article will appear in an upcoming issue of CLASSIC IMAGES.