Flame of Araby

Without leaving California, Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler are transformed into characters from Arabian folklore, and like their faux-location they are not very authentic! She is "Tanya" - a feisty Tunisian princess who is doomed to marry one of the marauding Corsair pirates. Fortunately for her, though, the ever-wooden Chandler ("Tamerlane") is on hand. He is seeking "Shazada" - a stallion of great fame, and it may be that he and this great horse might be the only way of thwarting the dismal fate awaiting the trapped princess. The plot is actually quite fun, but the execution is really poor. There is no chemistry at all between the stars, the sets look like they have been made of polystyrene and the dialogue is about as banal as it is possible to be. This vein of fantasy and mythology ought to have provided for a much richer storyline, but somehow here everyone seems to be just going through the motions and what little action there is, is all too theatrically staged. Maybe nobody liked filming in the desert on a hot day? The advertising was in colour, the film in monochrome - that rather sums this whole thing up.

1951's "Flame of Araby" was a fairly ordinary though well made adventure, aided greatly by the pairing of rugged Jeff Chandler and ravishing Maureen O'Hara, shot in saturated color as first "Wildfire," then "Flame of the Desert." It's strictly by the numbers scripting by Gerald Drayson Adams, a stodgy Arabian Knights outline depicting the conflicts between a regal Tunisian princess and a Bedouin chieftain, transformed by the staging of director Charles Lamont into a straightforward Western in the pursuit of a wild black stallion known to be the swiftest horse of them all, Shahzada. Jeff Chandler was described by future costar Jane Russell as more a personality than an actor (specifically 'a charming man'), which works here as his relentless desire to tame that which cannot be tamed equals that of Princess Tanya (Maureen O'Hara), whose hand in marriage has been promised to one of the dreaded Corsair brothers, desperately in need of a champion who can outrace their finest steeds to defeat them both. Much of Maureen's thunder is stolen early on by the stunning Susan Cabot, whose erotic dance before Chandler's Tamerlane made quite an impression on her instructor: "with a figure like yours, the only person who'll look at your feet will be Arthur Murray!" Once interiors conclude at the midway mark, it's an all outdoor feast most appealing to equestriennes everywhere who can appreciate the characterization of the horse Shahzada, his sleek nobility and sheer power essayed by 8 year old saddlehorse Highland Dale, best remembered as the 1946 "Black Beauty," and as Broadway Bill in Frank Capra's "Riding High." Back at Univeral for only his second film since 1945's "House of Dracula," Lon Chaney was cast as Borka Barbarossa, never seen without brother Hakim (Buddy Baer), preying upon the spinelessness of Tanya's ruler cousin (Maxwell Reed) to secure a princess in their midst (two years later, he appeared opposite John Payne's pirate Barbarossa in "Raiders of the Seven Seas"). Appearing unbilled are Neville Brand as a horse trader (reunited with Chaney from Gregory Peck's "Only the Valiant"), Richard Hale as Tanya's dying father, and pretty Dorothy Ford, a tall starlet soon to play opposite Buddy Baer again in Abbott and Costello's "Jack and the Beanstalk."

Bedouin chief Tamerlaine (Jeff Chandler) is engaged in the hunt for the legendary black stallion Shahzada. Also chasing the prize steed is Tunisian Princess Tanya (Maureen O'Hara), who desires to capture the horse to race in competition against hated brothers Borka (Lon Chaney) and Hakim (Buddy Baer), so she will not be forced to marry one of them. After a prolonged and deadly rivalry, Tamerlaine decides to join forces with Tanya to trap the stallion - and in the process, the two fall in love.

Intelligent adventure starring Maureen O hara and Jeff Chandler is beautifully shot, the landscapes and horse chasing are great, but it can be talky in between, and seems to be a bit ponderous, however, if it's a well-shot Arabian adventure with horses you're looking for, then don't look further....

Back in the 1940s Universal studios big star was Maria Montez who hit a gold mine in those Arabian sand and sandal epics with Jon Hall and Sabu. A whole set was built for her and her films.

Now boss Carl Laemmle at Universal was always practical and why waste those sets. So Universal made a whole lot of those films for its post war pin up boys, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, and Jeff Chandler.

But this was one of the worst of them. Of course the obvious flaw is Maureen O'Hara as the Red-headed Arab princess. Ms. O'Hara was great when she was cast right, but here, she looks ridiculous and she knows it.

The plot such as it is involves Jeff Chandler as a Bedouin chief who has one aim, to capture the Black Stallion, Shozada. Along the way he develops a yen for Maureen. Well who wouldn't, redheads being such a premium out there in the Tunisian desert.

Maureen wants the horse too. She wants it so she can win the annual horse race and not have to marry one of the two Corsair Brothers, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Buddy Baer. Yoikes, what a choice.

So hero and heroine find a commonality of interest in the horse and each other.

I've often wondered what Jeff Chandler, who's real name was Ira Grossel, and who took being Jewish very seriously thought about playing an Arab. Remember this is post the Israeli war of independence and Chandler was a noted Zionist. He didn't look thrilled to be in this picture either. Was it politics or was it because it was such a stinkeroo.

Your enjoyment of this will depend on your ability to swallow the preposterous liberties the studios took with casting in the 50's. In this instance we have the Irish Maureen O'Hara, slight lilt intact, and the Jewish Jeff Chandler playing an Arabian princess and a Bedouin chieftain respectively racing around what is obviously the California desert standing in for the Sahara.

Queen of Technicolor Maureen is breathtaking and Jeff properly rugged but most of the acting tends towards woodenness. If you appreciate the campiness of that scenario than this is harmless fun, all others beware.