Kismet

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

1.4K

YOUR RATING

Marlene Dietrich and Ronald Colman in Kismet (1944)

In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.

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Adventure Fantasy

In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

1.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 1 win & 4 nominations total

Marsinah
(as Joy Ann Page)

Florence Bates

Karsha

Harry Davenport

Agha

Hobart Cavanaugh

Moolah

Robert Warwick

Alfife

Eddie Abdo

Aide to Mansur
(uncredited)
…

Jimmy Ames

Major Domo
(uncredited)

Morris Ankrum

The Caliph's Messenger
(uncredited)

Leslie Anthony

Handmaiden
(uncredited)

Lynn Arlen

Handmaiden
(uncredited)

Noble Blake

Nubian Slave
(uncredited)

Carla Boehm

Handmaiden
(uncredited)

Dick Botiller

Aide to Mansur
(uncredited)

Director
- William Dieterle
Writers
- John Meehan
- Edward Knoblock
All cast & crew
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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The decision to paint Dietrich's legs gold was a last resort. Initially, they had made fine mesh tights for her, like chain-mail. It took several hours to close the links up the back using jeweler's pliers. However, after she was encased in the mesh, it was discovered she couldn't move, so they undid the tights and resorted to gold paint.

Goofs
Ronald Colman's character eats with his left hand, which is taboo in Arabic culture.

Quotes
Karsha: [Referring to Hafiz's daughter, Marsinah] You think she's going to wither away waiting for your fairy tales to come true?
Hafiz: She's waiting for her fate in all its splendor.
Karsha: The fate for a beggar's daughter is a camel boy.
Hafiz: Silence, misery!

Connections
Featured in That's Dancing! (1985)

Soundtracks
Tell Me, Tell Me, Evening Star
(1944) (uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
Partially sung by Marlene Dietrich
Sung by Joy Page (dubbed by Doreen Tryden)

User reviews30

Featured review

6/10

The 42 Year Old Marlene Dietrich

'Kismet' marked Marlene Dietrich's final concession to Hollywood frivolity before getting into uniform for the sake of war work in Europe by appearing in Metro's version of the sort of Technicolor nonsense Maria Montez was currently making for Universal; albeit with a much starrier cast.

An Arabian Nights fantasy of the type being made back in Germany when William Dieterle was there directing silents (including a couple featuring Dietrich) with remarkably similar production design. Despite Ronald Colman's usual quiet authority in the lead, its most memorable feature has to be Dietrich performing - in the only one of her four scenes lasting longer than a minute - an exotic 'dance' with - as Elkan Allan once described it - "that fabulous body painted gold", owing more to editing than choreography and anticipating Shirley Eaton in 'Goldfinger' by twenty years.