A Thousand and One Nights

Comical variation on the Aladdin story. Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) falls in love with Princess Armina (Adele Jergens) but is forced to flee the kingdom with his sidekick Abdullah (Phil Silvers). He finds a magic lamp with a genie (Evelyn Keyes) inside and uses her wish-granting powers to help him return to his princess.

This is definitely a different-looking Cornel Wilde than I'm used to, with somewhat effeminate hair and makeup. Particularly in the early parts where there are lots of close-ups of him. His performance is good, though. He's suited for parts like this. Phil Silvers, who I'm not always crazy about, is lots of fun here. Adele Jergens and Evelyn Keyes, blonde and redhead respectively, are both beautiful in Technicolor. Keyes is the highlight of the film for me as the genie Babs. Dennis Hoey, of Sherlock Holmes series fame, is quite good in a different role. Two roles, actually. Shows he had some range. Lovely Technicolor, great sets and costumes, and nice effects. It's a fine piece of escapism.

Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) falls in love with Princess Armina (Adele Jergens). She loves him too but she can't marry a poor man. Aladdin finds a lantern, rubs it and our comes a female genie named Babs (Evelyn Keyes). Aladdin orders her to make him a rich prince so he will be able to marry the princess--but Babs starts to fall in love with Aladdin! Abdullah (Phil Silvers), Aladdin's buddy tags along.

If you take the Arabian Nights stories seriously this will probably have you horrified. However if you take it for what it is (a fun, silly movie) you'll love it. It was shot in bright Technicolor with huge sets, a large cast and excellent special effects. It's obvious that Paramount spent a LOT of money on this. The script moves quickly and one-liners (mostly by Silvers) go flying left and right. Some of the lines are groaners but (more often than not) they're right on target.

Acting--Wilde is tall, hunky and incredibly handsome. He even sings a few songs (!!!). Silvers could have very easily been annoying--but he's actually quite funny and full of life. Jergens and Keyes are both beautiful and good in their roles. Also Rex Ingram has a pointless (but interesting) cameo as another genie and Shelly Winters plays a harem girl! Cute, colorful, lavish and lots of fun. Worth catching. Perfect for the whole family.

The funny elements of this actually is well done. Especially for this being of that era. This movie is taken from the fairytales, and there are some beginning parts I think are like whatever and about to not check this, but it gets better, and you just accept all of the comedy which is capably done. This coulda been a by-the-book fairytale of the Nights yet the comedic take is a wise but also tall order to make it function for audiences, let alone audiences of like eras later. Another thing is mixing of genres: I am for sticking to one genre and using its qualities solely to make it good, not lazily latching on to another genre to make the movie function better when they cannot figure out how to make the genre's own qualities function, heck genres exist for a reason, when audience craves this or that: salty or sweet snack? What is astounding is the main funny man, the picaro, glasses-wearing guy is very reminiscent of the same similar glasses-guy 2 decades later in Mad, Mad, etc. World, of the hat-wearing glasses guy in that movie with the same comedic style, but done 2 decades prev. Whoa. THAT guy is probably the funniest character to me in that movie, and here it is like that type. The main hero is acceptable, especially during the reign of Flynn, for sword wielding heroes, and the genie lady manages to also add levity to this thing, which rather than do a rote-version of this tale which could have happened, making these fairytales as sources to make a comedy around is actually genius.

A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1945) is a Technicolor "Arabian Nights" romp with its tongue planted firmly in cheek. The lightweight script contemporizes the tale of sultans, sorcerers, magic lamps, and romance in Old Araby. The film is pretty weak, but it seems like the kind of movie that would be fun for kids and young folk. (Or at least young folk in 1945.) The colors are vibrant, there are some "magical" special effects, a few songs, and a sense of exotic adventure. Plus more than a few winks at the modern audience.

Phil Silvers is a walking anachronism, complete with 1940s slang and a variation on his signature specs. He plays the comedic sidekick to Cornel Wilde's Aladdin and is a vehicle for pop culture references. His shtick is nigh insufferable here. Wilde plays a rather bland hero, a handsome vagabond who makes women swoon with his singing in the marketplace.

The best thing about this film is Evelyn Keyes. I know her from 1950s noirs like THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950) and THE PROWLER (1951). Here she is adorable as the redheaded genie who grants wishes for Aladdin. She shows up about twenty minutes into the movie and makes the whole thing worthwhile. She looks great in Technicolor and steals every scene she's in. As the genie can only be seen by the person who possesses the magic lamp, she's always skipping around, up to some playful mischief while "invisible". It's fun watching her, even when she's not the focus of the scene.

Keyes's genie falls in love with Wilde's Aladdin when he first rubs the lamp, and she's rather put out that he only has eyes for the daughter of the sultan. Still, she has no choice but to help Aladdin get the girl. The princess is played by Adele Jergens, a blonde Virginia Mayo type. She's beautiful, but personally I would've run off with Evelyn Keyes.

The cast also includes the lovely Dusty Anderson as the princess's handmaiden, Dennis Hoey as the sultan (and his evil twin), Philip Van Zandt as his scheming vizier, Richard Hale as a random cave-dwelling sorcerer, John Abbott as a poor tailor with a thing for redheads, and Rex Ingram seemingly recreating his diaper-wearing giant role from THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940).

As with other Arabian Nights films, like the 1924 and 1940 versions of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, it's interesting to note the similarities to Walt Disney's ALADDIN (1992). In this film particularly you have a vagabond named Aladdin (with a pickpocket sidekick) who falls in love with the sultan's daughter. The evil vizier conspires against the sultan and wants to marry the princess. Aladdin uses a genie's magic to pass as a prince and enter the palace to woo the princess. There's even the scene with the old sorcerer in the cave ("Let us out!" "First give me the lamp!"). I don't know if the folks at Disney screened all these old movies for inspiration or if the plot points are just common to the traditional Arabian Nights tales.

A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS is not a great movie, but it's a fun spin on Arabian Nights adventures. The film certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. There's little substance for the serious film buffs, but it's a colorful curiosity and an interesting product of its time. The closing bobbysoxer gag is great.

"Oh, if only I had a gun... No, wait, they haven't been invented yet!". Phil Silvers brings a distinctly pantomime effect to this retelling of the Sinbad meets Arabian Nights story. To keep up the swash and the buckle, we have the dashingly mischievous "Aladdin" (Cornel Wilde) who falls in love with the ultimate in forbidden fruit, the princess "Armina" (Adele Jergens). She is the daughter of the caliph Dennis Hoey who also doubles up as his own dastardly twin with designs on both the throne and his neice. "Aladdin" and his sidekick "Abdullah" (Silvers) have a wheeze going on that sees the former entertain the crowds whilst his pal surreptitiously relieves them of their valuables. When he spots his forbidden love and faces years in the dungeon, they abscond into the mountains where he finds a lamp. Of course he rubs it, and out pops "Babs" (Evelyn Keyes) to hear and to obey. Sure, she accommodates his wishes to impress at the court, but she also has taken a little bit of a shine to her new master and she is not averse to a little mischief of her own to get her man. Fans of Silvers and his screwball, bespectacled, humour might enjoy this but I'm more a fan of the Korda-style telling of these stories (indeed Rex Ingram appears in the same red costume here from "The Thief of Bagdad" from 1940) and I found the comedic antics and the breaks for obviously dubbed musical numbers spoiled the adventure element. That really only comes to the fore in the last ten minutes and isn't up to very much. Wilde's in his element and Keyes in clearly enjoying her role here, but if there is such a thing as a fantasy purist, that is me - and this just fell between too many stools. It does look great, though, and there are a few clever visual effects, but original is usually best and this is neither.