Son of Sinbad

Fans of Howard Hughes will appreciate this colorful little gem -- but even if you haven't got the slightest interest in the famous capitalist, there's a lot in this lost classic to grin at. Allow me to adjust your expectations. . .

Imagine how many lovely starlets must have said to the amorous billionaire, `Gee, Howard, I'd do just ANYTHING to get into motion pictures!'

Well . . . they DID it -- and Howard made this one to satisfy all those promises he made to seventy or eighty gorgeous, desperate young ladies who wanted to break into the movies. Okay, sure, the plot is weak, but it moves along moderately well, and the true stars of this Arabian Nights tale (Howard's harem of young starlets) are given plenty of chances to strut their stuff.

For example: the first ten minutes of the film are dedicated to a slinky belly dancer who wiggles and jiggles for costar Vincent Price. Price plays poet Omar Khayyam, the loyal comic side-kick of Sinbad, played wonderfully tongue-in-cheek by Dale Robertson. Price contributes a wealth of humorous moments, doing dead-pan double takes at Robertson's single-minded pursuit of amorous conquests.

Think of this as Howard Hughes' personal fantasy, with Robertson portraying the Arabian alter-ego of America's most notorious girl-chasing billionaire.

Sexy Sally Forrest is captivating as the girl who steals Sinbad's heart. The provocative dance she does for Robertson near the end of the film is extremely daring for 1955. Lovely Mari Blanchard (star of `She Devil' and `Abbott and Costello Go to Mars') sweetens the scenery with her attractive presence. Lilli St. Cyr is positively slinky as the Arabian ruler's main squeeze who has a yen for Sinbad.

The production has other strong points besides the girls. The rousing music is by veteran composer Victor Young. Famous 1950s voice-man Paul Frees has a brief but funny role in the opening scenes as a fortune teller. In fact, the cast is loaded with notable character actors who make this low budget (but slick-looking) production a joy to watch. Don't blink or you'll miss Woody Strode in a very brief role as a harem guard!

But there's no denying the fact this is a girl-watcher's movie. Anyone who makes an honest effort to count the number of gorgeous girls in the cast will agree that there has never been a film packed with more pretty faces ( -- etc.). If you doubt this claim, go to IMDBs' `full cast and crew' and count the number of young ladies listed as `raiders' in the cast. These are the daughters of the `Forty Thieves' of Arabian legend -- and there's almost fifty of them in the cast, alone! Add to this a herd of harem girls and other lovlies, and the result is a girl-watcher's extravaganza, unequaled in Hollywood!

You might not be thrilled by the plot, but if wall-to-wall babes can hold your interest, this one won't bore you.

P.S. If you're hankerin' for a suitable second feature to match this unique film, try `Princess of the Nile', starring a young and breath-taking Debra Pageant. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

A couple years ago I taped Son of Sinbad but gave up on it when two of the early scenes involved a surprisingly long, mediocre dance sequence and a surprisingly long dialog between Lil' Sinbad and Omar Khayyam. But I'm an inveterate fan of the Eastern genre, and by 8 July 2008, when TCM ran a morning of Sinbad movies, I'd forgotten my earlier dismissal and gave the film a longer chance. The Houston Chronicle's TV Week gave it only one star, which is close enough, but a little patience is redeemed by offbeat treats and occasionally upscale production values.

As for the treats, Dale Robertson is a game Sinbad, Vincent Price is a trooper as Omar Khayyam, and eventually the onslaught of female pulchritude becomes embarrassingly charming in its exuberant abundance of blonde and redheaded Arab harem girls, sheer hosiery, intensive coiffures, and tear-away clothing that makes many of the dances more like G-rated strip routines. Wordsmith is right that the extended dance scenes throw off the film's pacing, but the action keeps recovering its pace, and the sets glow with the candy colors of 50s childhood.

Son of Sinbad is a dull film, more or less only watchable at scan speed. But what redeems this film is the performances by some of the top names in burlesque during the 1950s. A big thanks to Howard Hughes and those responsible for making this film. Burlesque Queen Lili St. Cyr is breathtakingly beautiful, and wears some of the most glamorous and lavish costumes seen in any harem-themed movie. Wonderful exotic dancing sequences featuring Nejla Ates and Kalantan make this film a must-see for fans of burlesque. Unfortunately, there's no stiptease here, but Son of Sinbad features a bevy of beauties in colorful costumes that make for some delectable eye-candy. There's no doubt the girls are the main attraction here, with a little story, plot, and action built around them.

I just saw "Son Of Sinbad". According to Robert Osborne of TMC(Turner Classic Movies) there were a total of 127 women in this film. It is a girl watchers paradise but, arabian type women with zippers on their costumes and high heels in the dessert! It doesn't get any better than this. When Vincent Price the comic relief, as Omar Khayyam, sells the availability of men to the raiders he literally is on top of what you may call a soap box. This movie could well push the cause of Women's Lib back 50 years. No one but Howard Hughes could have produced a sexest, yet tongue in cheek, film like "Son Of Sinbad". I recommend it for anyone who wants to laugh out loud at the antics and Vincent Price's double takes. He is "Priceless". The film was originally made in 1953. Due to the risque costumes of the women Hughes held up the release in order to cash in on the publicity. Also, according to Mr. Osborne, the film was made in, that Edsel of film processes, 3D but release in regular format in 1955 after the hipe died along with those awful glasses! See it. I couldn't stop laughing.

False statements, repeated often enough, can reinforce false impressions. I believe this is what has happened to "Son of Sinbad". As a writer and aficionado of Grecianzed Near-Eastern adventures, I admire the construction of the plot, the dialogue, the characters and the execution of the visually-lovely little gem. I suppose some have fallen in with the maker's jest at Dale Robertson's Oklahoma accent; but in the main, he is charismatic, intelligent and virile in the part of the son of Sinbad, a man who loves adventure even more than he loves women and who is afraid of neither. The film is all but stolen by Vincent Price, essaying another bright comedic part as Omar Khayyam, poet and victim of Sinbad's ill fortune after he is caught leaving the Sultan's harem. Sally Forrest as Amir is lovely and does quite well with her difficult role as palace servant, secret agent, lover and jealous woman. Leon Askin is superb as the vainglorious Sultan, and Mari Blanchard is very good as a long-lost love, as is Jay Novello as the sinister court buffoon. The plot line is a good and straightforward one. The Mongols are threatening the Sultanate; Simon Aristides and his daughter come to court just in time to save Sinbad and Omar from being executed; when the old man is murdered for his secret of Greek fire, the atom bomb of the ancient world, Sinbad is allowed at his suggestion to take Omar with him and try to retrieve the weapon before the Mongol General who stole it can get its secret from Aristides' daughter and deliver it to his Mongol Khan. Enter Amir, and her organization, with whom Sinbad leagues to use the Greek fire in battle and destroy the Mongol general and his army. The satisfying conclusion of the film finds Sinbad second to the Sultan, his allies, female descendants of the forty thieves, as the Sultan's new bodyguards and Amir and Sinbad II united in matrimony. The film features four extended exotic dance numbers, with lovely music by Victor Young, rousing direction by action-film veteran Ted Tetzlaff, and a surprising number of interesting dialogue-rich scenes, some lovely outdoor scenery and some tongue-in-cheek humor at the Sultan's expense. The costumes are delightful, the art direction is colorful and very fine and Larry Germain's hairstylings are a great asset. This film was never intended to shock, as are so many bad recent films. Its maker, Howard Hughes, however, did intend it to violate silly taboos on the exhibition of females in film; the result is a movie than is fun, very attractively photographed and choreographed and a fine entertainment. If it has suffered, it is because those who have spoken most often about it have not seen it nor perhaps considered its many merits as an attractive "entertainment".