Les amours d'Omar Khayyam

The 11th century mathematician-poet Omar Khayyam who lived in Baghdad wrote quatrains in Persian which are still quoted. The exact details of his life are unknown, so Hollywood wrote a biography on the tabula rasa of his life. Cornel Wilde plays the often-drunk Omar Khayyam who longs for his sweetheart who the Sultan keeps in his harem as his third wife. Omar Khayyam works in the Sultan's court as a mathematician who is drawing up a new calendar. When the Sultan dies, Omar Khayyam stumbles upon a plot to kill off the Sultan's successor. The poet then goes off to foil the plot. He crosses swords with the Assassin sect whose members are deluded by their leader into thinking that they are in paradise when they actually are in a hashish-induced zombie-like state. In fact, the word "assassin" means "hashish-eaters".

Cornel Wilde who plays Omar Khayyam is unable to be a debonair swashbuckler because he has to play a tortured poet. Michael Rennie as the sinister Hasani is wonderful. His aquiline features suit his Arab role. The rest of the cast is unremarkable. "Omar Khayyam" has all the Arabian Nights cliches - harems, slaves, sultans, thieves and intrigues. It is a type of movie which will not be made again because, these days, the Middle East brings up visions of fanatical terrorists, not innocuous fables of highly intellectual Arabs amidst the magnificence of ancient Baghdad.

(Reviewed by Sundar Narayan)

This Hollywood film from the major studio PARAMOUNT is about the Persian poet and scientist Omar Khayam, who lived in the 11th century AD.

A perfect hero role for Cornel WILDE! Unfortunately, the film by Oscar nominee William DIETERLE (1893-1972), who was born in Ludwigshafen on the beautiful Rhine, turned out to be an overly slick studio production. The cardboard backdrops and artificial flowers are too obvious. That's just how films were made in the era of the big studios. But the attractive actors like Debra PAGET, who was soon to move to West Germany for TIGER VON ESCHNAPUR, and John DEREK, who was to make films in Italy shortly afterwards, are worth seeing.

The film offers an unusual setting by taking place in early Persia, but overall this is not used convincingly enough.

Omar Khayyam is no biopic or documentary on the life and works of the poet, astronomer and mathematician but a fine adventure romance flick of the 50s shot in beautiful Technicolor. So if you are in the mood for some classic shot of the 40s and 50s (Arabian Nights, The Thief of Bagdad, Son of Ali Baba and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad to name a few), Omar Khayyam may just provide the right shot of adventure and nostalgia. I watched this one per chance for the first time these days and the movie send me right back to that glorious and simple times of Hollywood adventure movies in Technicolor. For sure not one of the best of that era, but a solid and fun one.

Unfortunately we do not have a lot of biographical detail on Omar Khayyam, one of the world's greatest mathematician, astronomer and poet, and a philosopher as well. His tomb, still existent in Iran is a great monument of Islamic architecture. This movie is a monument to Hollywood's inability to capture any of those values and turn it all instead into a vapid adventure story with miles of cheap fabrics that look 'exotic'. We even get a band of "assasins' that is very similar in spirit, logical plan and training to today's Taliban.

Cornell Wilde is unable to project the charisma and genius of this Persian poet. He looks like a retired banker that lives in NY, has a mild interest in the theater and is doing this movie because he wants to have a tax right-off. He should have been played by Omar Shariff. Margaret Hayes is great camp as Queen Zarada, the queen mother whose ambition will stop at nothing to secure the throne for her sons. She is also capable of sustaining a platinum blond mane in the midst of the harem with great aplomb, as a symbol and reminder that all queens should be white, blond and preferably from Philadelphia. She is always trailing several yards of Technicolor blue cape behind her every move. Joan Taylor is so ferociously loyal and annoyingly organized as Yaffa, Omar's slave, that one is relieved to see her being pushed from a cliff. Debra Paget plays Sharain, Omar's great love and inspiration for his poems, as a secular nun who also clearly has a cross-eyed problem. This role should understandably have gone to Arabian Night-resident-Hollywood-expert Maureen O'Hara. Michael Rennie is the EVIL Hasani Sabah, and gives the best performance in his role as the ruthless leader of the Assassins sect. One laments not to see him shirtless and wearing a pendant cabochon emerald from one of his handsome earlobes.

As a vapid Arabian Night action movie it has all the polyester, plated gold, architectural plaster and Technicolor spectrum of saturated glamorama to while away a lazy summer afternoon. Great double feature with a Sinbad or Baghdad movie.

And this time, this is not a Cecil B De Mille's movie, not TEN COMMANDMENTS, not SAMSON AND DELILAH but another One Thousand and One Nights tale without Maria Montez or her heir Maureen O'Hara or Yvonne De Carlo but Debra Paget, and with Cornel Wilde instead of Tony Curtis or Jeff Chandler. This is a tremendous film, full of this magis exotic, Arabian - or may I say Persian - charm, this enchanting Victor Young music, this amazing production design and settings. I saw this movie on the French TV when I waas a child a sunday afternoon, during the early seventies. It is a rare Paramount major film, so rare. Bill Dieterle was really a good director, who unfortunnately finished his carrer in Italy, like Andre De Toth, Jacques Tourneur, Hugo Fregonese, Douglas Sirk, Rudy Maté.