Siren of Bagdad

I stumbled across this movie on TMC by accident, and I'm glad I did. Filmed in a time when movies steered towards the dramatic, seeing Paul Henreid in this role was refreshing, and probably something he wanted to do to spice up his versatility as an actor. As soon as I saw Hans Conreid as his sidekick Ben Ali I knew this movie would be great fun, and I stayed for the duration. Very campy but this is the kind of movie to enjoy and not take seriously (despite my jealousy over those beautiful dancing girls). Of all the sand and sandal movies I have seen, this one is definitely my favorite. I highly recommend it to all, but right now I have to catch my crosstown camel!

It's a minor film indeed Paul Henreid, a boring lead But Hans Conried? I'd watch him read!

This is the kind of movie that happens if you are running an assembly line. Sooner or later everybody gets a little slap-happy and and stops taking the enterprise seriously. The story, and I suppose there is one, takes place in that fuzzy movie middle-east, the one that never existed. It clearly is set before the onset of electricity but after the invention of brightly colored fabric dyes.

Henreid plays a womanizing, swashbuckling magician with a girl in every, uh dune. This is the light-hearted breezy Paul Henreid. If anything, it shows he had a wider range than you thought. His pal/companion/assistant/whipping boy is the glorious and goony Hans Conreid. Somehow bandits "steal" all Henreid's dancing girls, and in getting them back he has to fight a corrupt Caliph and his evil assistant. The Caliph, incidentally, is dubbed by voice powerhouse Paul Frees. Can't imagine why but it's great to hear him.

Given this tired setup it's not too surprising that the enterprise just goes over-the-top goofy. They throw in film in-jokes, anachronisms, and magic tricks that would be more appropriate in a Las Vegas showroom. You're a little disappointed that Hope and Crosby don't wander in for a cameo, but they'd have to cross studio lines to do it.

I'll put it this way. If you watch too many old movies, it's pretty fun. If you never seen an old movie, this might put you off them forever.

"I realise they have't been invented yet, but do you have a match?". Ha! The spirit of Phil Silvers and Bob Hope are alive and well in this surprisingly decent little Arabian adventure. No, it's not especially original but it's tongue is firmly in it's cheek, the production is really quite decent and there are plenty of adventurous antics to pass an hour and a half easily. Things all kick off when travelling magician "Kazah" (Paul Henreid) is violently relieved of his dancing girls and so has to travel to Bagdad with his factotum "Ben Ali" (Hans Conreid) to fetch them back from the clutches of the grand vizier "Soradin" (George Keymas) who successfully pulls the chains of the Sultan and rules with a rod of iron. It isn't long before our reluctant hero discovers that that the real sultan was deposed and lives in the cellars of the city with his feisty daughter "Zendi" (Patricia Medina) so they have to gang up on the malevolent usurper and it will hopefully all end happily ever after. Add to the mix some rabbits from hats; a very deep-voiced belly dancer and you might even get your name up in candles! This is quite an entertaining feature that I did enjoy.

That immortal line sums it up, folks. This campy desert feature has even more gags than it has harem girls, and they're often as funny as they are unbelievable. Paul Henreid plays a dashing magician (with a dash of Vaudeville) in a kind of low-rent "Arabian Nights" empire. Henreid's famous role in "Casablanca" must have led to a fascination with the Sahara, because he did more than one sword-and-sandal picture later, though they were an odd fit. Patricia Medina, who had her own long career in costumers, is beautiful as the "siren" but doesn't have much chemistry with Henreid. The great character actor Hans Conreid, as Henreid's wise-cracking sidekick, utters the immortal line quoted above, among others. I would like to think that some minor studio executive said, "Paul Henreid and Hans Conreid? Aren't they the same guy?" That's the spirit in which this one was made.

While many have panned this film, the dancing and theatrics were excellent entertainment.

Costuming and sets were well done and while the plot lacked a lot of depth, the mirth and special effects were interesting and ahead of other offerings from the mid 1950's.

Casting was done with relative unknowns that worked diligently at coming across as middle eastern while obviously actually being from Mexico or South America...(distinct Spanish dialect in the accents).

Dancing and magic was fun and believable. Sit back and enjoy, but don't expect any surprises...