The Magic Carpet

THE MAGIC CARPET is great fun. A Sam Katzman Supercinecolor bargain counter costume extravaganza with Lucille Ball and John Agar... what's not to like? It made me want to see Monogram's ALADDIN and HIAWATHA made he same year also in Super cine-color... which I thought was fantastic and rich in every mad hue possible. What a calling card for Super Cinecolor! You actually could have a whole weekend watching all these films and top it off with RKOs SON OF SINBAD. Any scene with Lucy and a very confused Raymond Burr is hilarious and she clearly is between TV shows and running not walking through this silly funny film. Tin swords that clatter, people stamping about on the floor, and a flying carpet that looks like a stiff beach towel..... yippee! It's a masterpiece of razzle dazzle cine-color whizziness. See it and laugh.

This low budget adventure stars John Agar, Raymond Burr of TV's Perry Mason, and a very pregnant Lucille Ball The poor production values used to make this movie give it the look of a Technicolor, Three Stooges episode. It's really too bad I would have enjoyed a good Arabian Adventure, starring Lucille Ball!

Okay, this movie is a cheap Saturday matinée type film from the 1950's, but heck, that is all it is meant to be. It is one of those silly Arabian nights movies that is fun to watch. I wish it were released on DVD, as I would gladly buy it. As a child, I liked this movie when I saw in on television, and just recently saw it again and still like it. Runs in the family as those 1950 Universal Studio Tony Curtis "Son Of Ali Baba" type films and "Son Of Sinbad" with Vincent Price. These movies may not be great in any sense of the word, but they sure are fun to watch one right after the other when there is nothing else to do!! And besides, like my summary said, where else can you find a film that has Lucy Ricardo, Perry Mason and Abner Kravitz in it??

Considering "The Magic Carpet" is a costume drama starring John Agar, this film isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

After the Caliph is murdered, his son (baby Agar) is placed on a magic carpet that spirits him away. It lands in an alley, where the baby and carpet are picked up by the guy who played Pete on the TV series "Fury." The grown boy (adult Agar) is now a physician's assistant. He pulls out a tongue depressor and tells one of his patients to open his mouth and say "Ali Baba." (I kid you not.) Meanwhile, the new Caliph, played by Gregory Gaye, aided by Raymond Burr as the Vizier, is taxing the populace to death.

It's time for a hero. Agar becomes (drum roll) the Scarlet Falcon!!

I must admit, Agar looks simply stunning in red. Apparently, he is the only clean-shaven man in the Middle East. He also displays feats of derring-do, with some nifty sword fighting and a few wrestling moves (he takes out a few dudes with a monkey flip and hip toss). Agar may have had a career doing some action flicks, instead of the 1950s-60s sci-fi crap in which he was saddled.

Agar manages to infiltrate the Caliph's lair by curing the old geezer's hiccups. We get a gratuitous shot of Agar in Arabian bathing trunks. Fortunately, the producer (Sam Katzman, who else?) spared us the sight of Burr in similar garb.

George Tobias is on hand for some comic relief. Patricia Medina plays Tobias' sister, and she has eyes for Agar. She also dances for the guys. She's pretty.

Did I mention Lucille Ball is in this? She plays the evil Caliph's sister. She discovers Agar is really the Scarlet Falcon, so it is off to the chopping block for Agar.

Can the Magic Carpet save him? Will Agar take his rightful place on the throne? Will Agar and Medina get to do a little nookie-nookie on the Magic Carpet?

Lucille Ball didn't have to do THE MAGIC CARPET and chose to make it just to finish off her contract with Columbia and move onto her planned new TV show, and we all know the result of THAT. Columbia did not believe that Ball would accept the role in this film, but she outfoxed them all and played the villainess in this Arabian Nights-type fun film. I saw it initially when it was first released, and I LOVE LUCY was already a smash hit on the tube. It was the second half of a double bill, and the audience enjoyed every minute. It was an unintentional(??) riot to see Ball so out of the character that we had come to expect already from LUCY. The SRO audience hooted, laughed, giggled, and had a great time. I don't even recall what the main feature was.... But THE MAGIC CARPET is still remembered, and I would love to find a copy.