Le voleur de Tanger

Arabian Nights adventure style with glamorous gowns , noisy action , sword-play and dealing with a Prince who was a thief . More fabulous than the tales of the Arabian Nights , more exciting tan the travels of Marco Polo , more spectacular tan the splendors of Kublai Khan . In 13th-century Tangiers, regent Mustapha (Randolph) wishes the Caliphate's throne. Baby Prince Hussein is next in line to the throne but he is too young to rule . As Mustapha hires a paid assassin to kill baby Prince Hussein in order to usurp his throne but the alleged killer has second thoughts and takes the baby for himself. Yussef (Everett Sloane) raises the baby (grown-up is Tony Curtis) as his own and teaches him his peculiar skills . Here Tony Curtis is a valiant hero/thief of the people who comes to take his throne , being helped by Piper Laurie . As a thief swears to retrieve the throne and he is soon involved the twisted intrigue and mysterious plots .. A Legend In Battle! Her Kiss Of Surrender... The Prize Of Victory! .Exciting as an Arabian Night's Adventure!

This was an utterrly unexpected hit at boxoffice that shot Bernie Schwartz , alias Tony Curtis , and Rosetta Jacobs , alias Piper Laurie , to stardom , two sensational new young stars , at the time . Adventure and stirring movie set in North Africa , including bandits , schemers , astute rulers , gorgeous dancers , intriguing sheiks , romance and many other things . Another look at ¨The prince who wa a thief ¨ today reveals it to be a bit short on action but here outstanding the sympathetic and funny Rosetta Jacobs , alias Piper Laurie . Curtis plays a young boy to be one of the best thieves in Tangiers , using his cunning and shrewness he managed to spring from this ridiculous camp Oriental Adventure outing to stardom . Tony as the fearless thief is pretty well in this adventure set in ancient Tangiers , Curtis work is well up to his ordinary high standards , being inspired from the Arabic fairy tales of One Thousand and One Nights . He is well supported by Piper Laurie who really was a pretty package and she was worth the price of admission to see her , thanks to her gym skills and slithering throughout a maze of iron bars . Support cast is very good such as : Everett Sloane , Peggie Castle , Jeff Corey , Betty Garde , Marvin Miller and uncredited King Donovan , Susan Cabot and Larry Storch .

Universal International Pictures made a lot of Oriental adventures , being the main film ¨The Thief of Bagdad¨ by Raoul Walsh that created the Arabian subgenre , following Arabian nights 1942 by John Rawlins , Ali Baba and the forty thieves 1949 by Arthur Lubin , The Desert hawk 1950 by Frederick De Cordoba , The Golden Blade 1953 by Nathan Juran . And produced by other Production Companies as Kismet 1949 by William Dieterle , A thousand and one nights 1945 by Alfred E Green , Sinbad the sailor 1947 by Richard Wallace , The Magic Carpet 1951 by Lew Landers and some financed by Ray Harryhausen as 7th voyage of Sinbad by Nathan Juran and Captain Sinbad 1963 by Byron Haskin . Former camerman Rudolph Mate directs it all in stylish Technicolor .Polish-born (Cracovia) and passed away Beverly Hills (1964) Mate was an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund , director Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer . Dreyer was so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on The Passion of Joan of Arc . Mate is considered to be one of the best cameramen of cinema story . Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947 . Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive ,especially his sci-fi ¨When the worlds collide¨ (1951) , his labour as cameraman was excellent . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres as Adventures : ¨The Black Shield of Falworth¨ , ¨Seven Seas to Calais¨ , Western about themes of card players on riverboat as ¨The Mississipi gambler¨(1963) and ¨The rawhide years¨(1956) and about conflicts between Indians and cavalry as ¨In the siege at Red River¨(1954) and Noir films : ¨Union Station¨ , ¨Second chance¨ . He also directed Epic films as ¨The Barbarians¨ and ¨The 300 Spartans¨ . The films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic ¨DOA¨ (1950). ¨Rating : Passable and acceptable , 6 . Well worth watching .

This was made by Universal as part of the grooming process aimed at turning Tony Curtis from contract player into a star ,allowing him to build up an audience over the years.It is just as well he was a busy actor and other product came along to obscure just how very bad this is. Curtis is the eponymous Prince ;earmarked for assassination while still a baby he is spared by the soft hearted would be assassin who raises him as his own son As an adult Curtis becomes involved in a nonsensical plot to recover a priceless pearl and in so doing rescue his native city from attack by heartless enemies.Along the way he falls in love with the scheming princess ,not noticing the vivacious Tina (Piper Laurie )until it is almost too late

Insultingly slipshod in every respect -poor acting ,garish colour ,weak sets etc .This is juvenile and unengaging and wastes everybody's time in watching and the talents of those who made it.

Tony curtis will and always be remembered as a fun loving Actor from Some Like it hot to the Persuaders and the this film showed what he could do and I wonder how many female fans he aquired after this was released good few I remember watching this when I was a child and wishing I could watch it all over again there's not many kissing scenes which make you shudder but this one does,

Am a huge fan of classic film and 'The Prince Who Was a Thief' interested me. Mainly to see a very young Piper Laurie and Tony Curtis in his tenth film (credited) in just three years, though his first film as the star, and how they would fare individually and as a partnership. Also because the story on paper seemed intriguing if silly.

Saw 'The Prince Who Was a Thief' with the mind-set of not expecting a masterpiece and just 90 or so minutes of escapist entertainment without expecting too much or everything to be of superb quality. 'The Prince Who Was a Thief' achieved this goal. It may not blow the mind and it may not be one of Curtis's best films or contain one of his best performances. A lot is done right however and it compels and entertains throughout its length, which didn't feel too long or too short.

The story sure is pure nonsense and the silliness occasionally goes overboard, complete with some over-familiarity. The costumes are somewhat unlikely and don't look as appealing, in colour and style, as the rest of the production values.

Curtis's accent is a bit of a stretch too.

However, he is at his most athletic and is both youthful and charming, clearly having fun with his role. Lovely Piper Laurie matches him in the charm factor and is equally spirited. Their chemistry has a real warmth and playfulness. Everett Sloane in particular has fun as a suitably hissable character of the more than able supporting cast. The script is not one with many surprises, but has wit and lively character. The direction has an efficiency that suits the adventurous element of the story perfectly.

It is very difficult to dislike the story completely. For all its ridiculousness and predictability, it is not a dull one and clips along at a breezy pace, with a clear idea at what it was trying to be and appeal to without trying to do more. The characters are archetypes but likeable ones. The action-oriented parts, especially towards the end, excite and the music is rousing. 'The Prince Who Was a Thief', costumes aside, is shot with vibrant colour and the setting exotic-looking if perhaps not evocative.

Overall, good fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox

To begin, I've always found movies with Arabian Nights settings to be curiously seductive, even if infested with clichés. The exotic (though studio bound) locales, pastel colours, lavish interiors, voluptuous dancing girls, and lively daring-do provide, if not quality, an irresistible recipe for pure escapism. Universal Studios regularly churned out these carpet rides during the late '40s and early '50s, often using them as proving grounds for many of its young contract players.

THE PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF may well be the best of the lot. It is a happy combination of above-average script sourced from a short story by Theodore Dreiser, technically competent direction, and fortuitous casting of the two leads.

Tony Curtis plays a young Prince of Tangier, marked for assassination as an infant but raised into adulthood by thieves and becoming one himself until he can reclaim his birthright, all with the help of fellow thief, Piper Laurie. Both players, who went on to better films and even critical praise, attack their roles with a boundless energy that's contagious, yet they avoid upstaging each other. So appealing was their on-screen rapport that they would make three subsequent films together. Here, the accent is on acrobatics and the athletic Curtis and the agile Laurie deliver in spades, performing all of their own stunts with the exception of Laurie's (she was 19 at the time) climb to the top of a high wall on the backs of men near the climax. A playful banter between the two throughout adds a good-natured battle-of-the sexes to the proceedings and keeps the story humming along.

Direction was deftly handled by Rudolph Maté, a Hungarian ex-pat who had previously apprenticed with Alexander Korda as cameraman and with Fritz Lang and René Claire as cinematographer. While none of his later work produced what can be called certified classics, his films, such as D.O.A., Branded, and The Mississippi Gambler remain effective and visually appealing as evidenced here.