L'Aigle rouge de Bagdad

Considering "The Magic Carpet" is a costume drama starring John Agar, this film isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

After the Caliph is murdered, his son (baby Agar) is placed on a magic carpet that spirits him away. It lands in an alley, where the baby and carpet are picked up by the guy who played Pete on the TV series "Fury." The grown boy (adult Agar) is now a physician's assistant. He pulls out a tongue depressor and tells one of his patients to open his mouth and say "Ali Baba." (I kid you not.) Meanwhile, the new Caliph, played by Gregory Gaye, aided by Raymond Burr as the Vizier, is taxing the populace to death.

It's time for a hero. Agar becomes (drum roll) the Scarlet Falcon!!

I must admit, Agar looks simply stunning in red. Apparently, he is the only clean-shaven man in the Middle East. He also displays feats of derring-do, with some nifty sword fighting and a few wrestling moves (he takes out a few dudes with a monkey flip and hip toss). Agar may have had a career doing some action flicks, instead of the 1950s-60s sci-fi crap in which he was saddled.

Agar manages to infiltrate the Caliph's lair by curing the old geezer's hiccups. We get a gratuitous shot of Agar in Arabian bathing trunks. Fortunately, the producer (Sam Katzman, who else?) spared us the sight of Burr in similar garb.

George Tobias is on hand for some comic relief. Patricia Medina plays Tobias' sister, and she has eyes for Agar. She also dances for the guys. She's pretty.

Did I mention Lucille Ball is in this? She plays the evil Caliph's sister. She discovers Agar is really the Scarlet Falcon, so it is off to the chopping block for Agar.

Can the Magic Carpet save him? Will Agar take his rightful place on the throne? Will Agar and Medina get to do a little nookie-nookie on the Magic Carpet?

THE MAGIC CARPET is great fun. A Sam Katzman Supercinecolor bargain counter costume extravaganza with Lucille Ball and John Agar... what's not to like? It made me want to see Monogram's ALADDIN and HIAWATHA made he same year also in Super cine-color... which I thought was fantastic and rich in every mad hue possible. What a calling card for Super Cinecolor! You actually could have a whole weekend watching all these films and top it off with RKOs SON OF SINBAD. Any scene with Lucy and a very confused Raymond Burr is hilarious and she clearly is between TV shows and running not walking through this silly funny film. Tin swords that clatter, people stamping about on the floor, and a flying carpet that looks like a stiff beach towel..... yippee! It's a masterpiece of razzle dazzle cine-color whizziness. See it and laugh.

Harry Cohn making use of those sets he constructed for Cornel Wilde and A Thousand And One Nights made this B film The Magic Carpet that starred John Agar, Lucille Ball, and Patricia Medina. It looks like it should have come from Universal which specialized in these Middle Easterns in post World War II America churning them out by the dozen for its young contract stars, Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis, and Rock Hudson.

But John Agar never attained the stature of these guys and doesn't quite cut it in sword, sandal, and camel. Poor Lucille Ball she was just waiting for I Love Lucy to start and just running out her contract. Lucy especially put all the emoting of George Raft into her role as the usurper princess. Of course her red hair looked as out of place in these films as Maureen O'Hara did.

As this story opens the Caliph of Bagdad is proclaiming his infant son his heir when he's struck down in a palace coup. Before the revolt is finished the Queen is also killed, but not before she dispatches the infant like Moses not in a waterproof basket, but on the family flying carpet, set on autopilot and to the home of William Fawcett a physician who brings up the kid in his profession never revealing to the kid who grows up to be John Agar his true identity. Fawcett even keeps the carpet which proves of immense help.

Patricia Medina who appeared in more than one of these kind of films has the proper spirit playing the girl who Agar really likes. But I sure can't believe she's George Tobias's sister. Raymond Burr who appeared in some great films and some not so great like this one is always good, here as the villainous vizier of the false Caliph who discovers who Agar is and tries to destroy him.

The Magic Carpet is a mediocre sand and scandal story with leads who just can't really summon up any conviction.

Okay, this movie is a cheap Saturday matinée type film from the 1950's, but heck, that is all it is meant to be. It is one of those silly Arabian nights movies that is fun to watch. I wish it were released on DVD, as I would gladly buy it. As a child, I liked this movie when I saw in on television, and just recently saw it again and still like it. Runs in the family as those 1950 Universal Studio Tony Curtis "Son Of Ali Baba" type films and "Son Of Sinbad" with Vincent Price. These movies may not be great in any sense of the word, but they sure are fun to watch one right after the other when there is nothing else to do!! And besides, like my summary said, where else can you find a film that has Lucy Ricardo, Perry Mason and Abner Kravitz in it??

The leads are the main guy, the funny guy assistant kinda dopey amusement, the good girl, and the evil girl played by the famous lady, so basically I think they have a good fun thing here. The script is actually just routine, however this is even made up for the dir. wisely somehow understanding this and filling the movie with just action scenes after another which is a success, also the magic carpet itself is nifty. I think this is a fun movie.