Aladdin and His Lamp

Every so often,one can find wisdom in the strangest places.To borrow a phrase from our friends in Alcoholics Anonymous,you get a message from the Higher Power.But,you also have to be aware that the message is being sent,and also have to be able to recognize that message.

It's been over 40 years since I've seen this picture.Consequently,my memories are not terribly clear.I believe that,for the most part, it is a run-of the mill Arabian nights movie. What I do remember,however,is the fact that the wishes granted by the Genie are accompanied by a dire price.The Genie openly states that, he is required to kill whoever casts the third wish in a series.This is,of course,quite different than the benign genies seen in many other films of this nature.

Now,there happens to be a price that we pay for whatever we get.And great gifts are almost always accompanied by great costs.Anything worth getting usually requires extreme effort,competition,and/or a tremendous cost.And the wishes the Genie grants in this film clearly illustrate this point.

The fist big good surprise for me is that this little movie is not produced by the infamous Sam Katzman, because it is from Monogram Studios - and not Columbia. Yes, it is rare, very rare, hard to find and I purchased it thru a US retailer who himself got it from a 16mm print. Good little film that could be compared with the Universal Studios One Thousand and One Nights movies : VEILS OF BAGDAD, SON OF ALI BABA, PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF. Lew Landers was a prolific director, and I am sure this movie wwas made in three days. For movie buffs in search for such fantasy adventures yarns from the fifties, it is worth watching.