Sudan

In the 1940s, Universal Studios discovered that placing Maria Montez and Jon Hall into wild adventure films really paid off at the box office. Their films were ridiculous in a way...utter fantasy and with over-the-top sets and scripts. While this sounds bad, they were very entertaining, such as their "Cobra Woman". Realistic? Not in the least...but big, colorful and fun. Such is also the case with "Sudan"...a film which is actually bad in several ways but still is well worth seeing.

First off, I must point out that this film about ancient Egypt probably took the writers and researchers at least 10 minutes to fact-check....maybe even 15 minutes! In other words, it is very little like ancient Egypt in look or style...it's all 1940s Hollywood kitsch. So, if you are a history teacher, archaeologist or are just reasonably intelligent, you'll realize all this very quickly. But, if you can manage to turn off your brain and just accept it for what it is, you might enjoy the movie.

The story finds the princess (Montez) betrayed by her evil advisor. Now, for audiences of the day, THEY knew that the advisor was evil, as he was played by the slimy George Zucco...who was wonderful playing villains, which he normally always did! She is actually sold into slavery by the guy and it all appears hopeless...until she meets up with two guys (Jon Hall and Andy Devine) as well as a handsome stranger (Turhan Bey). Do the quartet stand any chance to restore the princess to her throne?

Silly and occasionally nonsensical, it is also nice escapism and was filmed in color...because it was a real prestige picture for Universal.