Arabian Adventure is not a great movie by any means, but it is a perfectly good one. It attempts to recreate the style of movies from the 1940's such as The Thief of Baghdad, while at the same time making use of some then modern special effects trickery. I remember seeing this movie when it came out way back in 1979. It was produced by John Dark and directed by Kevin Connor, and was the fifth movie these two had teamed up to deliver. Some previous films were The Land that Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, and The People that Time Forgot. The big draw for me in this movie is the participation of Christopher Lee as the villain Alquazar. He is in top form and the screen bristles when he's on it. Also, on hand his friend Peter Cushing in a small supporting role.
(Emma Samms)
Less impressive to me were the lead actors Oliver Tobias and Emma Samms in her first movie role. They are the obligatory young lovers in this one who are denied their chance at romance by the villain and the hero has to successfully complete a dangerous mission to win her hand. He is assisted by Milo O'Shea who is excellent as the duplicitous henchman. This one has a kid in it too who has a big role, and while as a rule I don't cotton to kid actors, this little fellow was okay. Mickey Rooney shows up in a wonderful role which evokes the Wizard of OZ.
The movie is a charming distraction.
Rip Off
In the '70s Oliver Tobias starred in a TV series called "Arthur Of The Britons" which was an attempt to make the King Arthur legend more realistic. Arthur (played by Oliver Tobias) was more like a tribal chief than a king and everyone lived in mud huts rather than Camelot.
ReplyDeleteThat show sounds interesting. I will have to check into it. Thanks.
DeleteI saw this in a theatre the same week I screened APOCALYPSE NOW, and the contrast between Old and New was a mildly diverting experience in its own right. I like the fact that in later interviews Lee said he was trying to tap some of the qualities of Conrad Veidt's Jaffar in the 1940 THIEF OF BAGDAD, which is a film that remains the gold standard for all "Arabian adventures," as well as for fantasy films generally. I have not re-watched ADVENTURE since 1979 but hope to get around to doing so some day based on my generally positive memories.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear from someone who also experienced this little gem in the theater. I used to go all the time, now almost never.
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