A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS

US, 1945, 89 minutes, Colour.
Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes, Phil Silvers, Adele Jurgens, Rex Ingram, Shelley Winters.
Directed by Alfred E.Green.

1001 Nights is an old-fashioned Arabian adventure - with a comic satiric touch. It indicates the origins of so many of the television series and specials in succeeding decades. The film seems near in spirit to Mel Brooks and his send-ups of the past. This is seen in the introduction, the appearance of Phil Silvers ahead of his time, wearing (like Woody Allen) glasses in the past. He has a lot of corny turns and burlesque jokes culminating in his being dubbed with Frank Sinatra's voice at the end.

Cornel Wilde is hero - the type of film that he did very well. It is reminiscent of his mid-'50s Omar Khayam. Evelyn Keyes enjoys herself as Babs the genie, and Adele Jurgens is the princess. While there are the usual variations on Arabian adventure, The Thief of Bagdad, including Rex Ingram as a genie, and the story of Aladdin and his lamp, the film blends the tongue-in-cheek serious touches of Arabian adventures with very good comedy.

The film is a cinema oddity.